Anthony Bourdain knows from decadence. The bad-boy Les Halles chef, TV Food Network star, Kitchen Confidential author, and global traveler has scarfed down miniature guinea pigs in Peru, quaffed rice whiskey with bear bile in Vietnam, and partaken on more than one occasion of the singular life experience known as $600-an-ounce hydroponic weed. All of which make him a bona fide authority when it comes to planning the post–New Year’s Eve–bacchanal, hangover-tinged meal that is New Year’s Day brunch. Bourdain suggests you begin with Leche de Tigre, the bracing runoff from a spicy seviche that serves as a popular hangover cure in Peru (you eat the fish after you down the juice, of course). Next come scrambled eggs and cubes of smoked salmon swirled with crème fraîche and Osetra caviar and served on top of a buckwheat blini—it’s light but extravagant. Having now relined your stomach with food, it’s time for a hair-of-the-dog mimosa. Finally, there’s a simple dessert of strawberries with balsamic vinegar, sugar, and mint—a positively chaste way to begin the New Year.
Menu for 8
Leche de Tigre with seviche
Scrambled eggs with smoked Nova Scotia salmon, chives, and crème fraîche, topped with a healthy heap of Osetra caviar on a buckwheat blini
Blood-orange mimosa
Strawberries tossed with balsamic vinegar and a chiffonnade of mint
More Holiday Food:
The Perfectionist’s Thanksgiving with Thomas Keller
The Blasphemist’s Christmas with Wylie Dufresne
The Fanatic’s Grocery List: How to Tell a Turkey from a Turkey