Hook & better

Chef Matt Masera had an exciting 2016, moving from high-profile restaurant duo Mother and Empress to the splashy but short-lived Saddle Rock. In November, he jumped to Hook & Ladder, now in its fifth year.

As the second executive chef, taking on the job after opening chef Brian Mizner, Masera has the challenge of combining his brand with that of an established restaurant. “It takes a long time to turn a big boat around,” he points out.

Owner Kimio Bazett seized the opportunity to do some rebranding as well. One of the most notable changes is the design and size of the menu. The original layout, while eye-catching, was always hard to read in the restaurant’s low lighting.

The new design benefits from a major streamlining as well. There are fewer menu choices, allowing the small kitchen to learn Masera’s style and improve quality over quantity.

“Mother was so punk rock,” he says, “and Saddle Rock had a story behind it. We were telling people what to eat. Here, there’s already a base.”

So longtime fans will still find pizzas and pastas and fabulous drinks from bar manager Chris Tucker. Flashes of Masera style have already infiltrated the menu, though.

One of the best items is the English pea hummus ($9, $8 at lunch). The hummus makes a beautiful pale-green spread across grilled flatbread. You can see Masera’s touch in the thinly shaved radish, celery and carrot garnishes and the delicate curls of pea shoots.

Another notable change is daily brunch. Bazett says lunch never caught on there, so they recently made the switch. Most of the items still skew lunchy, but with butter cakes ($9) and cinnamon rolls ($5) added in.

One enjoyable lunchy item was the grilled chicken sandwich ($14), layered with brie, bacon and frisée. The soft bun didn’t quite withstand the plentiful dijonnaise spread, though. I also longed for a pickle slice to add some acid to the rich flavors.

You’ll find excellent housemade pickles alongside the H&L burger ($14). Masera wanted a burger that wasn’t too “chefy,” so it has two thin, but juicy, beef patties with straightforward toppings of cheddar, bacon and lettuce. The one fillip is Calabrian chili aioli. Outstanding skin-on fries alongside were perfectly fried and salted.

The brunch fritters ($7) are made with pâte &#;agrave; choux dough like the memorable gougères at Empress. Here, they were fried and flavored with apple and cinnamon, like crunchy doughnut holes—in the very best way. But the thick apple-based sauce underneath didn’t complement as well as I’d hoped.

The kitchen also has their fryer skills on point with the Falafel Wraptor ($14), a great vegetarian option. The housemade garbanzo fritters come nestled in soft lavash with tzatziki sauce and bright yellow cubes of barely sweet beets.

Masera is working on a separate menu for dietary challenges so that the kitchen will be prepared for special requests. He intends to use his well-honed skills in vegan cooking to add more of those dishes to the regular menu as well.

Another round offering shows up in the dinner strangolapreti ($16), which are bread-based dumplings made with kale and ricotta. This unusual pasta looks almost like baby potatoes, with pan-browned exteriors and a fluffy interior. They stood out for the textural contrasts with al dente green beans and frizzled leeks on top, all bathed in a rich brown butter sauce.

Masera started as a pastry chef, and his signature sweet has followed him to Hook & Ladder—the legendary brown butter cookies ($5). Their slight saltiness went well with a scoop of mango-black currant sorbet ($4).

Hook & Ladder feels like it’s still in transition as Masera matches his skills to the audience. As he points the ship in a new direction, the changes are likely to be all good.