Delmonico’s opened its doors in 1837 in lower Manhattan and is often cited as America’s “first fine-dining restaurant.” Prime beef and seafood have long defined the menu, including the iconic Delmonico Steak.
Another Delmonico’s classic is Chicken a La Keene, a creamy chicken dish said to be invented in the 1880s by Charles Ranhofer, one of the restaurant’s former notable chefs. It was frequently a “carte du jour” special at the restaurant in the 1940s and appeared on and off the menu until Delmonico’s closed in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.
When the restaurant reopened last September under the direction of Dennis Turcinovic, the entrée returned to the menu. Although it’s still popular, current owner Turcinovic is aiming for a menu mix of classics with more forward-looking dishes. So he partnered with consulting chef Natalie Prhat to recast Chicken a La Keene with plant-based ingredients, offering guests the option of a vegan version of the favorite.
A classic gets a makeover
Prhat is a plant-based chef who has worked with the Four Seasons Hotels and other luxury concepts to add more meatless items to the menu. Vegetarian dishes are available at Delmonico’s, but “when I asked Dennis [Turcinovic] if there was demand from guests for vegan options, he said ‘there haven’t been requests.’ But I told him if you put it on the menu first, people will ask for it,” she said.
While taste was of top importance in developing the plant-based dish, Prhat, who has a background in nutrition, also wanted it to provide good nutritional value. “I had to make sure it included all the macronutrients—protein, carbs and fat—and also be calorie-conscious,” she said.
The original Chicken a la Keene features a chicken breast in sherry cream sauce with vegetables.
Chicken a la Keene is traditionally made with white meat chicken, a creamy sherry sauce, English peas, cherry tomatoes and asparagus. To closely mimic the texture and appearance of the chicken, Prhat turned to lion’s mane mushrooms, “a meat-like variety. If you char them on the outside, they taste very meaty,” she said. To heighten the umami, she adds tamari and a little liquid smoke to the preparation.
The cream sauce was a little trickier to replicate, since dairy-based butter and cream were off limits. “Most of the cream sauces I’ve developed before were cashew-based, but I wanted to elevate this a bit more for fine dining,” said Prhat.
Instead, she chose a cream base made from lentils and found it gave the best texture and appearance; white miso, port wine, nutritional yeast and vegan butter enrich the flavor. “I tried a soy-based cream, too, but it broke down from the high cooking temperature,” said Prhat. “I needed a more stable product.”
Lentils play other roles in the recipe as well. Prhat tops the plate with crispy, flash-fried lentils infused with nutritional yeast to add “cheesy undertones” and crunch, and the creamy dish is served over artisanal lentil pasta. Guests also have the option to swap in imported Italian wheat pasta, but Prhat’s original idea was to make the menu item allergen-free as well as vegan.
Delmonico’s on-site chef, Edward Hong, prepared a homemade vegetable stock to sub for the traditional chicken stock. The tomatoes, asparagus and peas remain the same as in the original recipe, and both the chicken and plant-based versions are priced at $44.
Steak lovers’ seal of approval
When Prhat presented the finalized dish to Delmonico’s executive team, “they agreed it tasted very similar to the classic Chicken a la Keene,” she said.
Although there’s a selection of plant-based chicken analogs available to foodservice, Prhat feels “it’s a cheat to use plant-based meat products and fine dining doesn’t really allow for that,” she said. “I like to use elements of nature to create vegan recipes, so every bite gives you a textural and sensorial experience.”
The plant-based “Chicken” a la Keene joined the menu at the beginning of July, and so far, is doing well. “If you can get people going to Delmonico’s to order a plant-based dish instead of a steak, that’s the pinnacle of change,” said Prhat.
She and Chef Hong are working on revamping other recipes into vegan options, including a Caesar Salad and a dessert.