When I mention this website to local friends, they always ask if I’ve had the Tap Mac at Tallgrass Taphouse. It’s an institution and for good reason. This mac and cheese is packed with interesting flavors you don’t see in typical mac and cheese fare, and it works beautifully.
Tap Mac Sauce
Cheese sauce is what makes mac and cheese. It’s what offers the trademark cheesy flavor and adds important texture.
It’s important to include a variety of cheeses in your mac and cheese that offer a well-rounded flavor experience. You can learn more about my process here, but the gist is that some cheeses have flavor at the beginning of the bite (openers) that fade away quickly while others have flavor at the end of the bite (closers) that carry throughout the end. The Taphouse menu isn’t terribly forthcoming on which cheeses they use in their mac, but that they make use of three cheeses. All of the ingredients balance beautifully and offer plenty of interest in the dish.
Pasta in Tap Mac
The pasta you use in your mac and cheese can make or break your dish. If your pasta is too large, it is cumbersome and difficult to eat. On the other hand, if your noodles are too small you lose valuable texture benefits.
The perfect mac and cheese pasta sits right in the middle ground between too large and too small. Tallgrass Taphouse uses cavatappi in their Tap Mac. This pasta is notable with its fun corkscrew design that will perfectly hold onto sauce, making sure every bite is full of cheesy flavor.
Tap Mac Toppings
Toppings can take a good dish to great. A beautiful cheese sauce paired with great pasta can only take you so far. Toppings add more dimensions of flavor, color, and texture that add interest to your dish.
Taphouse’s mac and cheese makes use of bacon, plum tomato, and arugula for a bright, rich mac and cheese. For an up-charge you can add chicken or pork belly to take it up to another level.
Add a Fork
The Tap Mac at Tallgrass Taphouse is a great cheesy option for a night out in Manhattan. It’s packed with interesting flavors that you don’t typically see. An order of Tap Mac will set you back $16, unless you want to add chicken ($4 extra) or pork belly ($6.50 more). This is a steal for mac and cheese that feels this elevated.
