DINING REVIEW: Nosh

EDITOR’S NOTE: Generally, we review a restaurant two months or later after it opens. Then, if we return for a follow-up visit, it’s likely to be a decade or two later. Nosh is an exception. This is the third review of the restaurant since it opened in 2007. Why all this attention on a little downtown bistro? Because this place is continually reinventing itself, with new menus and new concepts, some brilliant, some not-so-much. It opened as our critic’s first five-star restaurant. A year later, it had lost some of its sheen and one of its stars. Now, the dazzle is back, and so is that fifth star.

Here is a testament to the talents of the new chef at Nosh, 22-year-old Shane Lyons: Since taking over the hip downtown eatery last fall he has turned Brussels sprouts into the top-selling menu item.

Brussels sprouts.

Granted, these are pretty spectacular sprouts. Lyons halves them, then roasts them until the outer leaves are slightly browned, then tosses them in a pan with butter, sweet mirin wine, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and the secret ingredient, gochujang — a strong Korean paste made from red chiles and fermented soybeans, aged in an earthen jar. He adds a little honey and wilts fresh radicchio in the sauce, then spoons it over a gentle, fresh polenta.

He then sprinkles the steaming dish with crisp, sweet strands of deep-fried candied lemon peel and soft, sharp shavings of Manchego sheep’s-milk cheese from Spain.

The dish ($7-$13, depending on the size and time of day) is a sure conversation stopper. To call it east-meets-west fusion is an understatement. This is east and west run away from home, fall in love in New York and write home that they are joining a free love commune.

“It’s a weird dish,” Lyons said. “I wasn’t sure it was going to work, and even if it did, I was not sure anyone would order it.”

It is just one of the Asian-inspired, French-infused, wildly spectacular dishes on the new menu at Nosh.

Just as good is the roasted cauliflower ($7-$13) tossed in roasted garlic, miso and caramelized onions with huge leaves of fresh, wilted basil and candied cashews.

“I don’t think you don’t need to have a high-priced piece of meat to have an excellent plate of food,” Lyons said. “These dishes really show that.”

Lyons draws his influence from working in some of the best restaurants in the country.

The Colorado Springs native and sometimes TV actor (You can read a profile of him at gazette.com/food) landed in New York a few years ago, where he worked at superstar rebel chef David Chang’s wildly popular artisan noodle bar, Momofuku, and at hyper-hip bistro Café Boulud, owned by the city’s Frank Sinatra of French, Daniel Boulud.

Lyons brought home a solid knowledge of arcane eastern ingredients and a perfectionist’s drive to craft everything from scratch.

At the new Nosh, buns and bread are now all made in-house. So is the paté. So is the bacon. In Lyon’s grand vision, a can of any sort will never enter the kitchen.

His exacting creativity even turns up in a humble hamburger.

The burger ($7-$9) starts three days before it is served as a 20-pound brisket rubbed with salt, sugar and spices, then air cured for two days.

It is then rinsed very lightly so that much of the rub can be ground into the meat and seared until it has a thin mahogany robe of crust cloaking a rich, juicy-red center. It is served with a sweet roasted green chile relish and impossibly thin fried onions. You can ask for it well done, but you will hurt the chef’s feelings.

The chicken sandwich ($7) shows the same inspired exactitude. Instead of the standard spongy, flavorless breast, Nosh piles rich pulled dark meat on super-thin, toasted homemade bread with roasted tomatoes and a light, zesty herb pistou (French-style pesto).

Most of the best dishes can be had at lunch for unreasonably good prices. At dinner Lyons rolls out some more formal options.

The greatest crowd pleaser is the scallops ($9-$17) set on a crimson smear of onion and beet soubise; the perfectly (almost un)cooked scallops make a pedestal for a fountain of corn silk-fine sugar-based threads rising a good 6 inches over the table.

It is airy, almost nonexistent candy. With each bite it melts with the rich taste of browned garlic. No one can fail to be impressed. (He used to serve a single large scallop for this dish, but people complained.)

More humble, but just as delicious is the spicy shrimp ($10-$19). Wild shrimp poached in butter with garlic and chiles, then tossed in an intense broth of roasted Anaheim peppers and jalapeños with fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, gochuchang and Swiss chard.

I never thought I would find myself saying this, but with dishes like this, Nosh probably deserves the crown of “Best Asian” in the city.

Other things at Nosh have not changed. A great happy hour and exceptional servers have kept it near the top of my go-to list.

Lyon’s experimentations may push it to the No. 1 spot.

He has no plans to play it safe with a new menu coming out in May. He already knows he wants to serve crispy cornmeal trout heads with homemade pickles.

“I’m stoked about them. A lot of cultures really love fish heads. I think at first it will be like the Brussels sprouts. People will be afraid to order it, but I think I can win them over.

NOSH
★★★★★
(5 stars out of 5; Phenomenal and inventive)
Address: 121 S. Tejon St.
Contact:   635-6674, Nosh121.com
Entrees: $5-$25
Hours: Lunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; dinner 5 p.m.-close daily
Alcohol: Full bar
Vegetarian: Some of the best in town.
Credit cards: Yes