Chef Samuel Clonts and general manager Raymond Trinh created their version of the dish as an ode to their Arizona roots
“When people ask us about what type of food [we serve], we kind of fall back on saying ‘Modern American’ or ‘New American,’ but I think overall it’s very much a New York-style menu,” says 63 Clinton co-owner Raymond Trinh. “There are things from all over the world and all over the country, and for me, that’s very New York. This is the most diverse city I’ve ever lived in or got to experience.”
Diners at 63 Clinton can experience a tasting menu filled with ingredients, flavor influences, and cooking techniques from from Japan to France to Arizona — where Trinh and chef, co-owner, and friend Samuel Clonts are from — and beyond. For example, the first course on the tasting menu is Clonts and Trinh’s own spin on the classic breakfast taco, a nod to a dish they ate often growing up. 63 Clinton’s version features a homemade grilled flour tortilla, topped with a slice of an ajitama seasoned egg, salsa verde, a fried hash brown, and a dollop of trout roe.
“We’ve been cooking in restaurants a long time, doing other people’s food...,” says Clonts. “But we never really told our story or our background, and we’ve been able to bring that to the menu.”
“I think that’s why the breakfast taco is so important to us,” adds Trinh. “It kind of offers a little bit of our past.”
Check out the full video to see how the two make a baked Alaska in a pizza oven, and incorporate Japanese influences like tamaki with caviar and a house-made tofu dish.