DISH OF THE WEEK: Miso-Maple Salmon Head at CHEZ SARDINE

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

SADLY, CHEZ SARDINE IS NOW CLOSED.

Nose-to-tail dining is the practice of serving all parts of the animal. There’s no waste and some of the more delicious pieces are actually the ones that usually get thrown away. Things like crispy skin or fried pig tails. They sound strange and perhaps scary to your typical American, but serving these dishes is a good way to practice responsible carnivorism.

Chez Sardine is operating on a different level. They’re doing head-to-head eating. You can really get up close and personal with your dinner through their popular miso maple salmon head.

Gabe Stuhlman’s restaurant is a tiny, but exciting hub in the West Village that is blending the experience of eating Japanese izakaya (bar) food with the refinement and technique of a French restaurant. It’s a unique fusion of flavors and most everything we tried works.

The miso-maple salmon head is really just that – a head. After you say hello and stare your meal in the eye, you can start tearing apart the flesh like a culinary science project. The browned head is broiled with a healthy glaze of miso and maple syrup – giving the head a rich, sweet flavor. A tangy radish salad with lemon juice helps cut the richness. Every morsel of fat and meat is amazingly flavorful – in fact, bits like the cheek and collar are probably the most flavorful part of the fish. Who needs the rest of the body??

Plucking up pieces of salmon fat from the cartilage is rewarding, fun, and delicious. And somehow, I feel less guilty about eating salmon face fat than I do a fatty chunk of ribeye. And without any waste. Completely guilt-free!