From Game Day to Gourmet: The Surprising (and Delicious) Return of Onion Dip
Dinner at Le B in Manhattan’s West Village can include all manner of indulgent delights, from a Dungeness crab Wellington to crepes Suzette flambeéd tableside. But one of the most exciting items on chef Angie Mar’s menu is something you might actually have last made at home.
Onion dip, the classic American party staple, has gone from basic to bougie, and is now gracing fine dining menus and captivating a new generation of enthusiasts. Today’s versions are far from the simple mix of a packet of onion soup stirred into sour cream, however; they have become genuinely gourmet creations.
Leave it to Mar, known for her uncanny ability to breathe fresh life into culinary stalwarts, to create perhaps the most luxurious and decadent rendition yet. For her Onions Nancy, named after her mother, Mar slowly caramelizes alliums in butter and foie gras drippings before mixing them with creme fraiche and caviar and serving the concoction in a vintage Mikasa glass bowl with house-made pommes soufflé. Like many of the items on her menu, it is inspired by family and childhood memories. “My mother never really learned how to make anything American. So when my brothers and I returned home from school, she gave us Lipton’s French Onion Dip as a snack," she says. "This is our modernized version of that favorite, to be enjoyed before dinner begins."
Sol Han, head chef and owner of Little Mad, the Korean-accented New American eatery in NoMad was also inspired by the dip he had as a childhood snack. (Was this in the Asian mother handbook?) Han’s sophisticated riff involves roasting a whole onion, hollowing it out, and blending the caramelized insides with sour cream and garlic confit before returning it to the onion shell and topping with chives, more caramelized onion, and edible flowers. Instead of traditional chips, the dip is served with tempura fried maitake mushrooms tossed with umami powder.
A slightly more classic version can be had at the glamorous new Portrait Bar in the recently opened Fifth Avenue Hotel. Here, Chef Andrew Carmellini gives the dip a creative punch by pairing it with ranch-brined potato chips and crispy onions—making it a perfect accompaniment to any of the creative libations mixed by bar legend Daryll Chan.
When all is said and done, the reappearance and evolution of this 1950s classic is all about nostalgia and comfort. By transforming a familiar favorite into a refined culinary experience, chefs like Mar, Han, and Carmellini, bridge the gap between past and present, creating dishes that honor their roots while exciting modern palates. In the T&C office, we’re known to thwack caviar on top of grocery-store onion dip and scoop it up with Lay’s. This shows how even the simplest foods can be reimagined to evoke both memory and marvel, proving that comfort food, no matter how elevated, always finds its way back to the heart of dining.
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