For chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley, the draw of The View wasn’t the novelty of the rotating restaurant or the history behind the space. It was the new owners — Union Square Hospitality Group. The restaurant group reopened the historic restaurant earlier this year. After a career working at popular restaurants in Northern California, New York City, and Washington, D.C., including stints at Bouchon, Per Se, and Zaytinya, and with STARR Restaurants at St. Anselm and Pastis, Meek-Bradley was brought on to create the new menu for the View.
The menu blends nostalgia with her background and experience.
“I really do love that classic New York chop house kind of vibe,” she said when describing what inspired the menu. “I’m a big fan of Keens. I just think it’s such a fun place. And so I definitely pulled a lot of inspiration from those classic American chop houses and steak houses, but also wanting to bring a bit of seasonality, a bit of that kind of Union Square hospitality and Northern California energy that I have and bring it to the menu here.”
The Picanha, a cut of meat more commonly served in Brazilian steakhouses, is her favorite. “It’s a pretty unique cut of meat that you don’t necessarily see on too many menus in the style of a restaurant, or this side of the hemisphere,” she said. “It’s cooked in the broiler, just salt and pepper. It’s so simple, but so delicious.”
Delicious and simple, or deceptively so, is a recurring theme in her menu. Take the side dish of peas and carrots, which were inspired by Swanson TV dinners. When Meek-Bradley describes the process of cooking the vegetables, including cooking carrots in carrot juice, it’s easy to see the care and consideration that goes into this dish, which becomes so much more than the sum of its parts.
“It’s just taking those classic dishes and trying to make them the best way that you can and as straightforward as you can while still making it special and delicious,” she said.
