A Watermelon Salad at Toby's Public House

Last week , but this week I fell in love with a salad of an entirely different nature. The Watermelon Salad at Toby's Public House on Sixth Avenue and 21st Street is a lesson in the truly versatile capabilities of watermelon.

For most or my life, this summer staple has been relegated to summer fruit salads or consumed solo, cut into giant wedges with juice streaming down your chin bite after juicy bite. But in recent years, I've been turned on to this fruit’s more savory applications, like here, in Toby’s excellent watermelon salad.

At Toby’s, juicy, fresh chunks of watermelon gets tossed with fennel, scallions and kalamata olives. Then the whole thing gets marinated in a balsamic reduction.

It's simple, fresh and delicious, with the dressing and olives sharply contrasting with the watermelon’s sweetness to bring out the amazing complexity of the watermelon. It’s savorier that you would imagine—a great compliment to a beer and Toby’s excellent wood-fired pizza on a hot, sticky day.

At Toby’s, the pizza often distracts from sampling the greener things on the menu, but this salad is not to be missed.