Chefs have no shame. In their relentless effort to trigger diners’ pleasure centers, some canny cooks are resurrecting the ultimate comfort food: Anglo-Irish sausage rolls. You might know these porky treats by their degraded form—frozen pigs and blankets, rattling around in hors d’oeuvres combo boxes—but those chemical snacks are the sad end to a beautiful start. In the dish’s original iteration, finely ground pork sausage is snuggled in a crumbly short pastry. Impossible to resist, these salty, porky, buttery (and unapologetically greasy) bites are evilly good: they’re heroin for the stomach.
• Zephs’ Peekskill (914) 736-2159
Titled on her menu “pig in a poke,” Chef Vicky Zeph’s subtle ode to the humble sausage roll is made with delicate, mildly-spiced house-made sausage and a lavishly buttery (yet still shatteringly light) pastry.
• Sweet Grass Grill Tarrytown (914) 631-0000
Chef Tommy Lasley’s brawny version is both large and delicious, made with finely-house-ground Stone Barns Berkshire pork and equally house-pickled onions.
• Blue Hill at Stone Barns Pocantico Hills (914) 366-9600
This elegant, recurring bite on BHSB’s changing menu shows that street food cleans up nicely. Expect haute minimalist plating and delicate garnishes, failing to disguise the carnal, guilty pleasure of sausage and butter.
