New Chef Steps Up To The Plate At New York Yankees Steakhouse
Executive chef John Schafer carefully oversees every single dish that leaves the kitchen and enters into the crowd at Midtown's New York Yankees Steakhouse in New York City.
Combining a love of sports (during baseball's off-season, every other game on every other channel is on) with modern cuisine, the chef is running more inventive dishes into the stands — er, tables — in hopes of elevating what we've all come to know as typical steakhouse fare.
Schafer has pitched a successful lineup ranging from octopus to flatbread and scallops, and so far, it's scoring pretty big with the fans.
The bison burger is prepared with tomato marmalade, avocado, arugula, and smoked yogurt; and the Skuna Bay salmon has beluga lentils, merguez sausage, and hon shemeji mushrooms. A pan-roasted magret duck breast comes with ramp quinoa and apricot, and a gorgeous beet salad with Leoni burrata mozzarella and honey truffle vinaigrette is an absolute must to start the meal.
Of course, the high-quality specialty steaks are still in high supply, including the NYY signature, which arrives with New York Yankees freshly engraved right on the bone.
Schafer's love for food began at the age of 10. Before setting out to become a world-class culinary expert, Schafer put his restaurant career on pause for six years to serve in the U.S. Navy. After completing his service, Schafer resumed his career and enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, New York, going on to lead the helm of kitchens at PJ Clarke's/Sidecar, Sarabeth's at Central Park South, and Bouchon Bakery.
With plates this well-prepared, we could say he runs a tight ship — but we won't.