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THE ORIGINAL
RACLETTE SPECIALTY
RESTAURANT IN THE U.S.




    Raclette, (a word derived from the French verb racler, meaning, "to scrape") has been a tradition in Europe for hundreds of years. A traditional meal comprising Alpine cheeses melted on the wheel and then scraped onto accompaniments such as potatoes, other vegetables bread and meats, it has been a favorite particularly among inhabitants of the regions where it originated, namely the Valais and Haute Savois regions of Switzerland and France.

    Raclette, the restaurant, brings this tradition to life in the East Village of Manhattan with authentic Raclette de Valais and Raclette de Savoie cheeses melted on half wheels and scraped tableside directly onto customers' plates.

    Customer can choose among a traditional or more contemporary preparations of potatoes, and cured and cooked meats.








Traditionally, the Swiss dish raclette was made by melting cheese over a roaring wood fire, ideally one located within some cozy mountain chalet. Presumably having realized the logistics involved in melting cheeses over wood fires inside eight-seat Alphabet City storefronts were prohibitively complex, Edgar Villongco, the chef-owner of this terrific, two-month-old café, opted for an alternative. His electric countertop cheese-melter may look like something you’d lock a two-by-four into to facilitate sawing, but it gets the job done...

— ROB PATRONITE and ROBIN RAISFELD


It's hard to know where to begin when talking about Raclette, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it eight-seat eatery that opened recently on Avenue A. For one, talking about my favorite food—cheese, of course—can be tricky, because I just get so excited about it. And secondly, because this place is so delicious I almost don't want to tell you about it. But I will, dear readers, for not sharing the gospel of molten cheese is a black mark upon my soul as a fromage fanatic...

— NELL CASEY




For many years, New York’s turophiles essentially had one option when looking for a serious melted-cheese fix: fondue...

— THE WALL STREET JOURNAL




Edgar Villongco's Raclette honors the eponymous Swiss cheese and dish of the same name from a tiny fourteen-seat space that briefly housed an artisanal pigs-in-a-blanket shop. But what the petite operation lacks in physical size, it more than makes up for on the plate with bold European flavors...



— THE VILLAGE VOICE
     



Sweet dreams are made of cheese, and a restaurant called Raclette in NYC is making your wildest fantasies come true. The restaurant, as implied by its name, specializes in raclettes, a popular Swiss food that's essentially melted wheels of cheese. You can choose from a variety of raclettes, which are all scraped tableside; a waiter literally brings your own personal sizzling wheel of cheese to the table and scrapes off every last melted bit onto your plate. If this sounds too good to be true, you're going to want to keep reading - we assure you, it's not...

— ERIN CULLUM 


The chef at Raclette stood by the table, holding a great half wheel of warmed cheese that had started to blister and bubble along its exposed diameter. He tilted it, pressed a long knife to the top and scraped down. The cheese seemed to shrug, the melted surface giving way like the side of a mountain coming undone...

— LIGAYA MISHAN




Traditionally, the Swiss dish raclette was made by melting cheese over a roaring wood fire, ideally one located within some cozy mountain chalet. The logistics involved with melting cheeses over wood fires inside eight-seat Alphabet City storefronts being prohibitively complex, Edgar Villongco, the chef-owner of this terrific café, opted for an alternative. His electric countertop cheese-melter may look like something you’d lock a two-by-four into to facilitate sawing, but it gets the job done...

— NEW YORK RESTURANTS
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