NBA Legend Earl Monroe Serves Up Southern-inflected Haute Cuisine in New York City

While I’ve heard that jeans are the new black tie attire, I really wished upon driving up to Earl Monroe’s Restaurant that I hadn’t been wearing them. There’s nothing like valet parking to make a person feel underdressed. And the eatery’s façade, sleek and modern, seemed dressed up by a necklace of shimmering lights on the George Washington Bridge in the distant, inky night sky.

One could have guessed. This is NBA legend, Earl ‘The Pearl’ Monroe’s restaurant. His ball handling in his prime was described as dazzling; Of course a restaurant bearing his name would shine too.

Anomalous just a stone’s throw from the well-disguised sewage treatment plant in Harlem’s Riverbank State Park, this elegant 150-seat eatery has been serving good ambiance and fun, flavorsome southern-inflected haute cuisine since opening in November 2005.

Not your typical athlete’s restaurant, there are no photos of Monroe or basketball hoops hanging from the ceiling. In fact, the only decorative allusions to the sport I could spot were the menus, covered in clever basketball-like material and the light wood floors that reminded me of a playing court. The space is large and open, its floor to ceiling river views its main attraction.

I’ll start the meal in the fourth quarter. With no mention of dark chocolate on the dessert menu the restaurant set itself apart from others I’ve visited in Northern Manhattan recently. Chef Christopher Falkner’s tropical fruit ambrosia was a refreshing toss of ripe produce—delightfully simple and bare (unsweetened), the fruit’s natural flavors were balanced by a coconut sorbet drizzled with mint sauce. The pineapple upside down cake was a delicious, single-portion confection served with ice cream. All the desserts are a fair $7. I look forward to trying the blueberry white chocolate bread pudding and the red velvet molten cake.

Pineapple Upsidedown Cake

Credit: Cori Morenberg

Copyright: Cori Morenberg