ABC Kitchen – JGV Does the Local and Organic
A few months ago I reviewed The Mark, the new restaurant in the Upper East Side by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. I recall having an interesting conversation with the staff about the source of the ingredients, and was told “well he’s Jean-Georges, he has the ability to fly whatever, from anywhere, in whenever.”
Perhaps slightly ironically, 2 weeks after The Mark opened, ABC Kitchen opened in the Flatiron district. The theme here? Local, seasonable, organic, sustainable, biodegradable, no hormones, you get the point.
Look for this sign, ABC is not that easy to find.
Just in case you still have any lingering doubt about what the theme is, flip the menu over (the menu itself is clipped onto re-used corrugated cardboard), and read the lengthy description about this place.
That's a lot of reading...
Your you can read the summary.
Then there’s the location. ABC Kitchen is situated in the depth of the building that houses ABC Carpet and Home, the NYC home decor superstore. Even the website for the restaurant is nested within the site of ABC Carpet and Home, and takes a bit of effort to get to. Most of the furniture and plates used in the restaurant, I was told, could be purchased upstairs. Reminds me of Ikea, just much nicer and much much more expensive.
Inside ABC Kitchen
So far, we’ve described two “gimmicks”. As all discerning New Yorkers know quite well, gimmicks don’t survive in the cutthroat NYC environment. So why do I think ABC Kitchen is different, well the food is damn good.
We kicked off dinner with pork terrine, which was grilled and placed next to a bed of arugula salad. We also ordered two slices of toast from the “Market Table” section of the menu. One was coated with chicken liver, the other with peekytoe crab. The crab is often recommended by other reviewers, and now I know why. It’s absolutely amazing, and quite a value at around $10.
Grilled filets of pork terrine
Crab meat over toast, delicious
For the main course, we both decided to go fish. My steamed halibut was extremely delicate in texture, and placed in a asparagus broth. They give you spoons with these entrees, so I suppose the broth serves as a mini-soup of sorts. The sea bass was seared on one side, and in a broth that included spinach and potatoes. Both dishes were light yet flavorful.
Steamed halibut
Seared sea bass
Desserts looked inviting, but having finished the toast, there was no space left in the stomach. The tab? a little bit over $100 after tip and tax, a tremendous value.
A peek at the open kitchen and ABC Carpets and Home
This is now on the list of my favorite restaurants in NYC, and I recommend everyone to go try it for yourself. Does this make Jean-Georges green and eco? No. Unless he changes his style at his other restaurants, our beloved JGV is still only as green as the hollywood star with 20 gas-guzzling sports cars and one symbolic hybrid. Do I care? No. Because this little eco friendly, earth loving restaurant performs just as well as its other “environmentally non-conscious” cousins.
CS
Rating: 
ABC Kitchen (Make a Reservation)
35 East 18th Street
New York, NY 10003
