Flatiron Faves - ABC Kitchen with Jean-Georges

There are some restaurants that just fit you. Everything on the menu seems interesting. The atmosphere feels like something you recognize from a forgotten dream. The whole experience smacks of déjà vu. In restaurants like these, it’s like someone reached into your head, found your ideal restaurant, and made it happen. If I were to make a foray into haute cuisine fine dining, ABC Kitchen with Jean-Georges, would be that restaurant.

Jean-Georges is a titan of the restaurant industry. He’s tossed his toque into just about every culinary ring at one point or another. It was only a matter of time before he undertook the locavore trend. Organic, local, farm-raised, grass-fed, line-caught: the menu reads like a sustainability bingo card. It doesn’t stop with the food either. The menus are made from recycled paper and served on cardboard from ABC Kitchen’s boxes, the furniture is reclaimed, and the placemats are compostable. Don’t let all this get you carried away, though. Although this type of verbiage can often translate to lawn-flavored smoothies or pasta that tastes like burlap, the food at ABC Kitchen is far from those heavy-handed bulgur/wheatgrass concoctions. It’s artfully plated, delicate, and well-balanced, yet somehow maintains a rustic, comfort food quality to it.

Serving Pure Food has always been a priority for me, from Beecher’s Handmade Cheese to Maximus/Minimus. Regardless of the type of food, I want people to be sure they know how it’s made and where it comes from. It’s hard to do that with exotic-seeming haute cuisine, but Jean-Georges is able to do it, and well. I appreciate that and I’m always excited to get a chance to dine there again.

View Beecher's and ABC Kitchen in a larger map

Thank you for following my little walking tour through my Flatiron Faves. Remember that if you’re curious about my other selections, head back to the original post for a list and a map.

Next week, we’ll return to our regularly scheduled recipeblog!

Kurt's Flatiron Faves - Union Square Greenmarket

In my travels, I always keep my eyes out for farmer’s markets. in a new town it can be hard  to know where to get the good stuff, especially when it comes to produce. Really though, that’s just the beginning. A lot of my best ideas for the kitchen actually come to me while I’m watching the motley market-goers pass by those many marvelous treasures.

The Union Square Greenmarket is exceptional because there are so many local sources represented there. I’ve seen food from New York rooftops and suburban New Jersey yards, even Pennsylvania and Connecticut. And that’s really what New York’s all about, isn’t it? It’s that vibrance that comes from so much diversity in such a small area. It really is pretty inspiring.

Do you have any good stories about the Union Square Greenmarket? Or maybe a favorite vendor there? Please share in the comments!

View Beecher's and Union Square Greenmarket in a larger map

Walkabout of BCNY - 4 months later!

Wow! It's hard to believe that it's been a scant four months since the doors of Beecher's Cheese New York first opened to the public. If you've been following me on facebook or twitter for a while, you might remember the "20 Hours And Counting" video I posted those many moons ago. It's been a whirlwind of great food, wonderful guests and all those exciting "first times" that go along with a restaurant opening.
But you don't have to take my word for it. Watch for yourself!

Have you visited the Beecher's in New York yet? Tell me what you thought in the comments!

Kurt's Flatiron Faves - Casa Mono

Some celebrities are infamous for satisfying much more than their wanderlust during their travels. You hear stories of illegitimate children springing up in town after town, suspiciously nine or so months after they’ve passed through the area. There is even evidence that suggests that Genghis Khan is the aggressive ancestor of over 16 million people in Asia today.

Mario Batali is about as far as you can get from Genghis Khan,  but he has something in common with these “prolific” celebrities. It seems to me that everywhere Mario goes, it’s not long before there’s a new restaurant popping up somewhere, inspired by that recent visit. His redwood of a restaurant family tree is unique in that they are all SO GOOD.  It’s difficult to maintain a standard as high as Mario does with what seems like hundreds of restaurants under his purview. He’s got an immense litter of Italian restaurants that seem to proliferate like rabbits.

Casa Mono, my Flatiron Fave this week, is the result of his travels through Spain and his partnership with Joe Bastianich. The Iberian peninsula is famous for its many culinary jewels, particularly jamón ibérico, a special type of ham made from at least 75% black Iberian pig. To digress a little, did you know that the finest of this type of ham is made from a pig that is fed exclusively on acorns?  Amazingly, this all acorn diet means that the fatty flecks in this cured ham is oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat, which is just about the best type of fat you can eat. Basically it's a cholesterol-lowering cured meat. That's the miracle of pure food, of knowing where your food comes from and what it's made of.

Of course, great ham does not an amazing restaurant make. It never hurts though. My favorite dish there is an incredible frisée salad with crisped ham. It was light, fresh, and crunchy, and somehow didn’t suffer from the blandness that afflicts a lot of trendy frisée dishes. It’s another testament to Mario and his staff’s dedication to keeping things simple and delicious.

View Beecher's and Casa Mono in a larger map

We’re nearing the end of the Flatiron Faves tour. There are only a couple more spots to go. Are there neighborhood places that you think I’ve missed? What do you think of the ones I’ve written about so far? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!

Kurt's Flatiron Faves - Gramercy Tavern

A while ago I found myself touring New York with Seattle culinary legend, Tom Douglas. Tom and I have known each other for a while and I was sure that he would have a laundry list of restaurants in New York that he would want to visit. A creative mogul like Tom would certainly need to visit new places and old favorites for inspiration and nostalgia alike. I was mistaken. There was one place he said he needed to go: Gramercy Tavern.

I don’t blame him.

It’s the granddaddy of Flatiron restaurants. It may be the second of Danny Meyer’s places, but you could easily argue it’s his flagship restaurant. You can sense its prestige from the moment you walk in, but then everything shifts when you’re greeted by the staff. Gracious and unassuming, they don’t make you feel like you’re necessarily walking into one of the top rated restaurants in New York City (which, of course, you are). The food is unmistakably gourmet, well executed cuisine, but all the dishes seem to stem from old favorites and trusty stand-bys. From the door to dessert, that’s Gramercy Tavern to me. Everything looks pretty fancy, but at the heart of it all is comfort and great hospitality.

Next week we’ll cross Park Avenue to check out my next Flatiron Fave, Mario Batali’s Casa Mono!

View Beecher's and Gramercy Tavern in a larger map

Kurt's Flatiron Faves - Veritas

Welcome back to my little Flatiron tour! I hope you enjoyed the recipe I posted last week. Make sure to let me know if you try it! I’d love to know how it turned out for you and what little tweaks you may have added.

Back to New York! From 22nd Ave, we make our way back down Broadway to take a left onto 20th. En route, we find ourselves across the street from Beecher’s itself. That doesn’t mean we’re anywhere near done though! We’ll be coming back to Beecher’s from the south at the end of our tour.

That this week’s restaurant, Veritas, follows last week’s visit to Almond, makes sense not just geographically, being just off of Broadway on the north side of 20th, but also thematically. As you’ll remember, Almond had an atmosphere of comfort that I really enjoyed because of the great way it translated the neighborhood French bistro into an urban, Big Apple living room.

Veritas was a really big deal when it opened in 1999 to rave reviews and a three star review from Ruth Reichl in the Times. Over time, its reputation waned from being an exciting scene for new food to just another expensive New York restaurant.

I guess my return to New York was well-timed, because the whole restaurant was apparently re-imagined last November, which is when Chef Sam Hazen took over the food side of things. I’ll have to admit, I didn’t actually get a chance to dine in the restaurant itself – I just spent time in the bar.

Similar to Almond, what struck me was the warmth and friendliness of the staff, which I almost didn’t expect given the more haute cuisine style of food it seemed to offer. The “haute-r” you get in the culinary world, the more difficult it is to avoid that exclusive pretention that has historically stigmatized really creative chefs and dedicated kitchens. Some places fight this perception tooth and nail, which often ends up in a contrived sense of pseudo-informality.

Veritas seems to take the opposite approach. The tooth and nail strategy is replaced by keeping it simple: engaging staff and a warm, welcoming atmosphere surrounded in unobtrusive earth tones. I should note that I’m not the only one who thinks they’ve done well in their transformation. Sam Sifton of the Times recently bestowed another three star review of Veritas as well.

From one haute New American restaurant to another, next week we’ll cross the street to Gramercy Tavern, the second of Danny Meyer’s restaurants on my list of neighborhood favorites.

Have you been to Veritas? Or any of the other places on my list so far? I’d love to hear what you think about them in comments, especially specific dish or drink recommendations! See you next week!

View Beecher's and Veritas in a larger map

Kurt's Flatiron Faves - Almond Restaurat and Bar

Last week, I took you through Mario Batali’s Eataly, exploring Italian cuisine through the market-style family of shops and mini-restaurants. It would hardly be fair for me to focus on a single country’s cuisine, and it just so happens that my next Flatiron Fave concentrates on classic French bistro fare.

Almond is located on East 22^nd, just east of Broadway. This was a place that I could always stop by for an easy (and delicious) bite after work while we were opening Beecher’s. Its creators, Eric Lemonides and Jason Weiner, somehow managed to combine the warmth of an old-style drawing room with the bustle and conviviality of a Parisian bistro. Add to that a really friendly staff, and the second incarnation (the first is out in Bridgehampton) of Almond makes out to be a surprisingly cozy neighborhood haunt.

Their menu adds to this casual sense of the refined. It’s comforting without being comfort food. It’s like going to your friend’s house instead of your grandmother’s house for dinner. They both cook really great food (at least, I hope your friend cooks great food!), but when you’re at your grandma’s you might act a little more polite and refined. That’s not to say you’re a boorish brute at your friend’s house, but you can enjoy great food and company there and still lean back a little and laugh a little more freely.

Next week, we’ll head south on Park Avenue and head back up 20^th half a block so I can show you Chef Sam Hazen’s Veritas, a stalwart of contemporary American cuisine. In the meantime, check back on Tuesday for my next recipe post – Cedar-grilled salmon with corn risotto and roasted lobster mushrooms!

View Beecher's and Almond in a larger map

Kurt's Flatiron Faves - Eataly

You can almost see my next Flatiron Fave across 5th Avenue from Madison Square Park and Shake Shack. It's Mario Batali’s Eataly.

When you think of “superstore,” what comes to mind? Walmart? Target? Maybe even Costco or Sam’s Club? Well, Eataly is what I would consider a REAL superstore. It’s not a department store, but it’s like taking a walk through the entire culinary landscape of Italy, from meats to cheeses, from pastas to desserts. Like I said last week, I don’t think it’s inaccurate to call it the DisneyLand of Italian cuisine. I mean, take a look at this map! I half expect to see Land of Lasagne and Linguineland or something. At least a monorail or a gondola to get from one side to the other!

I haven’t spent as much time eating here as I have simply browsing and exploring. The breadth and depth of the offerings here almost lift it to the status of a museum, a comprehensive homage to all things food from Sicilia to Veneto and then some. I’m no expert in Italian cuisine (or geography, for that matter) and that makes Eataly almost that much more entertaining to meander through. The dining area seems like a mish-mash of various different concepts seated together or near each other. I think it’s what “food courts” were intended to be, before the term effectively became a four-letter word thanks to the popularity of shopping malls (and the cheap food associated with them) during the 50s and beyond.

In this case, Eataly is a space where different people can have different dining experiences while seated almost side by side in the same space. It feels like a sincerely modernized old-world market. This makes for some great people-watching while I browse the aisles and displays of seasonal and regional specialties (some of which I only recognize the way I remember characters from some high school reading assignments).

Next week we're going to make our way down back down to 22nd and just east off Broadway, where I'll show you the cozy, convivial, Parisian bistro-inspired Almond restaurant.

View Beecher's and Eataly in a larger map

Kurt's Flatiron Faves - Shake Shack

Last week, we came back down the revitalized Broadway to visit the Calexico Taco Cart in General Worth Park. This week, as the sun is setting, let’s head into the middle of the Madison Park, where there’s a bunch of tables and chairs that are illuminated by what seems like countless strings of suspended lights attached to a small-ish building. From that little shelter extends a line of people that sometimes gets so long that it stretches out to the edge of the park onto the sidewalk of Madison Avenue. The building is the first location of Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack.

A little history: Danny Meyer has opened a number of critically-acclaimed restaurants, all known for impeccable service, incomparable culture and innovative cuisine. These include Union Square Café, 11 Madison Park (just across the street from this Shake Shack), Gramercy Tavern (which we’ll visit later) and many others. If you’re counting, he’s gotten 24 James Beard Awards (kind of the Oscars of the restaurant industry) over the twenty-some years he’s been in the business. His approach to business is very people-focus and he attributes his restaurants’ success to making his staff the top priority.

Before Danny Meyer started opening restaurants there, the Flatiron/Gramercy neighborhood was known as unsavory and largely unsafe. Danny Meyer’s opinion was that bringing good business into the neighborhood would make it a better place to work and live, even when everyone thought it was a horrible idea. “A rising tide lifts all boats” was his philosophy in locating restaurants, with Shake Shack opening right in the center of the questionable Madison Park. What used to be a place many people wouldn’t dare to go soon became a place where all kinds of New Yorkers, families included, could come to enjoy quality, wholesome versions of American staples: burgers, hotdogs and shakes.

I wrote in my last post about how the city of New York focused on making public spaces more enjoyable, and I want to emphasize that Danny Meyer’s restaurants, like Calexico Cart from last week, serve as an example of how that type of transformation is never one-directional. Yes, there’s a top-down part that the city plays in developing spaces, investing in public works, etc. But more importantly, there’s the bottom-up, foundational effort from the local business owners and residents that is necessary to really make a difference. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that his ventures have been so successful while being so community minded, both externally and internally.

Next week we’ll cross the street from Madison Park to the brainchild of another culinary mogul, Mario Batali’s Eataly, which I like to refer to as the DisneyLand of Italian cooking. See you then!

View Beecher's and Shake Shack in a larger map

Kurt's Flatiron Faves - Calexico Taco Cart

Coming back down Broadway from last week’s favorite spot, No. 7 Sub, we come to the small General Worth Park at West 25^th Street. Right there on the street you’ll see the next place I want to show you, the Calexico Taco Cart.  I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for street food, not just because of our own Seattle-based food truck, Maximus/Minimus, but also because it makes great food even more accessible to the public at large. Calexico, the winner of the 2008 Vendy awards (the Oscars of the street food world), has since expanded from one cart in SoHo to three carts AND two brick-and-mortar locations, one in Greenpoint and one in Redhook. They brought their second cart to this Flatiron location just after this year’s Madison Square Eats food festival back in June.

For me, Calexico is more than just a taco cart. It’s a symbol of the strides that the Big Apple has made in building a greater sense of community in their outdoor spaces. Years ago, I remember being more nervous than excited to go out on the street in New York. Now, the public spaces seem so much more welcoming, thanks to more food trucks on the streets and sidewalks, and a vibrant, urban park culture.

That’s not an accident, of course. The city of New York has made an amazing effort to cultivate these outdoor spaces. The drive behind this is to strengthen the quality of life within the city by developing a greater sense of community. Instead of a marketing campaign with posters and billboards, they invested in providing and improving spaces where this type of growth happens: public works, outdoor friendly restaurants and retailers, bike transit accommodations, and more.  The city invested in changes people could see every day. The idea was that the more people that come outside to enjoy themselves, the more meaningful the outdoor spaces would become. It’s a “build it and they will come” scenario that has worked really well. I no longer feel like some pachinko ball ricocheting its way through crowds of people; I feel like part of a collective stream of people that might, at any time, literally stop and smell the roses.

Specifically in the Flatiron neighborhood, they’ve made bold moves like closing parts of Broadway itself to car traffic and filling it with public seating. If New York can do it with one of the most famous streets in the world, I can’t help but think, “What’s stopping Seattle?” Imagine, for example, if Seattle were to turn Pike Place or the Westlake Center-Park corridor into a full-on pedestrian-only zone, maybe with more vendors, tables, or even art installations.

Standing on the street by General Worth Park, waiting for some Calexico tacos, I like to admire the bustle of Madison Square Park across the street. It gives me exciting hopes for what the urban outdoor spaces could mean in countering that sense of isolation and lack of community that is often associated with urban living.

Next week, we’ll eat at another example social public space, just across the street in the heart of Madison Square Park: Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack. See you then and bring your appetite!

View Beecher's & Calexico Taco Cart in a larger map

Kurt's Flatiron Faves - No. 7 Sub

Last week, we went north from Beecher’s to The John Dory Oyster Bar in the Ace Hotel on 29^th. I think the people behind the Ace must have a handle on what’s good, since the second place on this virtual tour is also part of the Ace, a sandwich shop called No. 7 Sub, just a little south of the Dory itself. 

Like the Oyster Bar, No. 7 Sub is an off-shoot of another New York restaurant, called No. 7 in Fort Greene.  Tyler Kord, the man behind these “No. 7’s,” is known for using interesting ingredients to create multicultural comfort foods. At No. 7 Sub, you can find eggplant parms with jalapeños and BBQ potato chips, ceviche sandwiches, roast beef hoagies with Gouda and pickled blueberries, and more. My favorite has roasted Brussels sprouts, Russian dressing and potato chips in it. Sounds weird, I know, but it is DE-licious.

Although the ingredients come from all over the world, Kord and his partners opened Caputo Bakery in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn to supply bread to No. 7 and No. 7 Sub. It doesn’t get more local than baking all your own bread. Honestly, one sandwich is great, but there are so many interesting flavor combinations that I really recommend going with other people and getting a taste of as many different Kord creations as possible.

Well, it’s time to make our way back to Madison Square Park, where next week I’ll show you around the Danny Meyer burger phenomenon, Shake Shack.

Until then, good eats and good walks!

View Beecher's and No. 7 Sub in a larger map

Kurt's Flatiron Faves - The John Dory

Welcome to the first stop on my culinary walking tour of the Flatiron neighborhood!

We'll start from Beecher's and head straight up Broadway to 29th, where we come across The Ace Hotel, its bar, The Breslin, and its restaurant, The John Dory Oyster Bar (which what we've come for).
Now, the Breslin and the John Dory are run by the same people. The Breslin is a hip place to hang out, it's true, but more of a bar than anything else, whereas the John Dory is serving some really amazing food, and that's where I get really excited.

It's mostly seafood, with a raw bar that boasts numerous types of raw oysters with varied mignonettes and other shellfish, including whelk. When was the last time you had whelk? It's kind of like walking down the center of the US and scooping up the best oysters from both sides. Of course, that's exactly what they're going for: there are two giant, glass globes above the bar, one with sea life from the Pacific Ocean, the other full of Atlantic Ocean denizens. On the crudo side of the raw bar where you can find interesting takes on branzino, scallops and others.


I really enjoyed most of what I had there, but the must-try dish for me is the Kedgeree, a haddock-studded rice dish garnished with lime and crispy red onions.

Click photo for the website menu

The story behind this place is actually kind of interesting. It's actually the second John Dory, the first being open for barely a year in the meat-packing district.  Same restaurateur (Ken Friedman) and same chef (April Bloomfield), they re-invented the whole concept after the first version closed, turning it into a more casual place with a splash of kitsch that focuses more on small dishes than the standard "appetizer-entree" trope that the old one relied on.
I had been to the old John Dory and I think they made a great choice in making this iteration more accessible and convivial, especially in this neighborhood where formal meals are just as common as spontaneous ones. It can be a little difficult to get in if you're not a hotel guest (as they don't offer reservations otherwise), but it's worth the wait.

Click photo for the NYT review

Have you been to the John Dory Oyster Bar? Had you been to the old John Dory? What do you think about the new one? How do they compare for you? Let me know in the comments!

In the meantime, who's up for some oysters?

View Beecher's & the John Dory Oyster Bar in a larger maphttp://thejohndory.com/info.html

Kurt's Flatiron Faves - Intro

Wow. What an amazing month of July it's been!
Beecher's New York opened at 900 Broadway on June 24th and it has been CRAZY in the best possible way. I was really excited to see it open, but I could not have imagined how wonderfully welcoming and enthusiastic New York would be. I could hardly have asked for more.
As most of you know, I've been in New York for a while now and I've had plenty of time to explore the city, especially the Flatiron neighborhood surrounding BCNY (our short-hand for Beecher's Cheese New York).
I've had such a great time working and playing here, I thought I'd take a blog post (or several) highlighting my favorite nearby places, sort of our super-neighbors.
That's how I got the idea of doing a series on Kurt's Flatiron Faves.  Over the next couple months, I'll do a little post at the end of each week about one of these local spots. Expect a little history, a recommendation or two and some photos. As I go along, I'll build a map so you can see where all my favorites are in reference to Beecher's (which I'm sure will be everyone's starting point).

You can always come back to this post to see where we've been so far. Like an evolving table of contents!

1) The John Dory
2) No. 7 Sub
3) Calexico Cart
4) Shake Shack
5) Eataly
6) Almond
7) Veritas
8) Gramercy Tavern
9) Casa Mono
10) Union Square Greenmarket 11) ABC Kitchen with Jean-Georges	View Kurt's Flatiron Faves in a larger map