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Will Morton’s Rotisserie offers a totally different kind of barbecue, more akin to what you might find in the state of North Carolina than in Texas or Kansas.  The food is tamer, too, and sauce plays second fiddle to the main ingredient.  Smoking is kept to a minimum, so there is no smog to cloud the windows overlooking Railroad Avenue.

In this kitchen, pulled port has not a smidgen of tomato in it.  It’s claim to fame is Mortons vinegar-based sauce, which tenderizes the meat and helps snap your taste buds to attention.  Morton’s food has a clean taste to it, as if the vegetables were picked early that morning; chicken has the unmistakable sweet flavor of organic poultry.

Morton first smokes his chicken, then finishes them on the rotisserie so the fat renders out and you end up with more healthful fare.  In fact, turkey, duck, pork butts and pheasant get the same one two punch in various dishes.  The juicy venison burger, all half pound of it and enriched with pork fat, is downright decadent with its companions of provolone, caramelized onion and bacon.  Since it’s not a menu staple, you grab it when it’s listed.

The Rotisserie has the look of a French bistro, and it’s spotless, with polished wood tables and red and black webbed chairs, a few potted seedling evergreens in the window bay, some posters and mirrors to make the small space appear larger and funky, low-hanging ceiling lights.  Here too, the kitchen is open to the dining area and you can see Morton handling all burners from midmorning to late evening.
 
At lunchtime, when the place literally buzzes with take-out orders and the kitchen runs like a over-wound Baby Ben, you are on your own if you want to eat in, placing and retrieving your own paper-lined tray of food.  When the pace slows a bit at dinner, you get the privilege of table-side service, but be forewarned: Commuters who have punched in their orders on the Web before they left New York zero in fast and furious between 6 and 7:30 p.m. There can be a line of people—men in suits, mothers with small children, laborers in coveralls—waiting to pick up their dinner and snaking right behind your back.

Greenwich-reared, Cordon Bleu Paris, trained Morton melds several cuisines in his quick, casual eatery: American barbecue, French classics and Asian fusion—definitely several scales above typical barbecue hangouts.  One night the specials included a delicious mélange of ramps, parsnips and fennel that had been braised in a savory vegetable stock and served with thick slices of perfectly roasted loin of lamb.  Another dish featured hot, spicy shrimp on top of salad of mixed baby greens.  Hardly fast-food fare.  And the sides are anything but ordinary: already seasoned zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli and baby bok choy; an assortment of root vegetables; fixings for salads; and slices of roasted sweet potatoes rolled in molasses and tossed with sugar, salt and pepper and further seasoned with yellow, green and red chilies.  There are hot and cold sandwiches, soups and salads, and appetizers with intriguing seductions like smoked pork dumplings or smoked mozzarella with roasted tomatoes.  The Cobb salad (you choose what smoked protein you want added) includes roasted corn and tomatoes with the avocado and Gorgonzola.

One night, two of us shared a sampler of pulled pork, chicken, ribs and sirloin.  All of it was perfect, moist and tender, each distinct from the other in taste and texture, a truly nice accomplishment.  There are plenty of sauces to jazz up your dish as you wish.  The wine list scores hits with an international prestige, although the Stella beer made an ideal match for all that seasoned poultry and meat.  Since Will Morton’s Rotisserie is outside the hub of downtown Greenwich, next door to Pet Pantry, it’s destination stop, but with all the available parking on the street and in back, there’s no hassle.  And the food is worth the trip.


Written by Rosemarie T. Anner
Greenwich Magazine
June 2007