My favorite spot in NYC. Fabulous as always.
pomme soufflée
lobster paioise
chicken oyster
striped bass, mustard greens, rye bonji
lobster, blood orange, chili
ko egg
beef au poivre
razor clam, pineapple, basil
tomato, broken rice, sea urchin
pork, shishito, cabbage
foie gras, lychee, pine nut, riesling
mandarin tarte tatin, cheese
Momofuku Ko
Night #3. Clearly I cannot get enough. Actually I could eat the fried chicken everyday.
Cote
It took me far too long to get here. So completely worth the wait and even better than I expected.
Momofuku Ko
Night #2
Empellon Midtown
guacamole with seven salsas
one pound lobster cocktail
black quinoa salad with pumpkin seeds and english peas
fish tempura tacos with lime mayonnaise
octopus tacos with celery and salsa verde
corn
Infamous avocado
The first of three nights in a row at the Ko bar. Clearly my favorite place to be in NYC. I cannot say enough good things about the food. Maybe its a good thing that I no longer live here or I would overdose on the pork pie yet I wish I could be here everyday.
Atla
Deserted on a frigid and snowy morning but excellent as always and worth making the trek for.
arctic char and farmers cheese tostada
ranchero eggs
Ko
Very belated and a bit sad in retrospect as this was my last visit to the Ko bar before the space was renovated. I will eventually catch up to the new space and menu (which is awesome) but I loved the old one as well.
Perhaps I avoid getting caught up on this blog because revisiting my favorite places in NYC just makes me too sad. Yet another fantastic dinner at my favorite spot topped off by a perfect chocolate fernet dessert.
black bass, rye bonji, perilla
sea urchin, chickpea, hozon
ko egg, caviar
beef au poivre
razor clam, pineapple, basil
striped bass, eggplant, tomato
lamb, radish
foie gras, lychee, pine nut, riesling jelly
cheesecake
foie gras, lychee, pine nut, riesling jelly
chocolate, mint, fernet branca
Yet another fantastic meal at one of my favorites, Momofuku Ko. This was actually my first visit for lunch and I especially loved the new-to-me pork and squash dish. I’m missing a few photos but I overcast about Ko anyway!
chicken oyster
black bass, rye bonji, perilla
sea urchin, chickpea, hozon
ko egg, caviar
beef, au poivre
lobster, lobster mushroom
pork, squash
foie gras, lychee, pine nut, riesling jelly
strawberry, vanilla
It was a very easy choice for where I wanted to spend my birthday. Much love for the team at Ko and another stellar meal.
black bass, barrel aged bonji
sea urchin, chickpea, hozon
ko egg, caviar
beef, au poivre
razor clam, pineapple, basil
skate, vin jaune, katsu roll
duck, broccoli rabe
foie gras, lychee, pine nut, riesling jelly
One never knows about these visiting chef dinners. Often with great chefs they are not that successful due to just being out of their element, having to source different ingredients, or a kitchen staff that they don’t know. But when the rare one works it can be fantastic. I’ve been trying to come up with something that tops this but haven’t been able to so far. Perhaps because while I would not have mistaken this menu for a Ko dinner (ok maybe I would have if I went less), it still felt just like Ko.
peas, white chocolate & macadamia
radish, chevre, sea moss & mustard
sunchoke, grapefruit, fennel, uni & shoyu
beets, berries, avocado & pistachio
pappa al pomodoro, ramp kimchi & burrata
fava bean & sorrel cacio e pepe
morels en papillote, foie gras & egg yolk
strawberry with polenta soffits
pork, kumquat, kohlrabi & dill
beef, brassicas, green peanut miso & marrow
lavender almonds
fresh ricotta & strawberries
bread au chocolat
One of my earliest NYC food memories is of the wonderful truffle tasting menu at old Alain Ducasse at the Essex House. At the time I couldn’t afford these types of experiences. But I am blessed to have an aunt & uncle who prefer French restaurants and every time they came to town would invite me to dinner. I am often asked how I got so into food. I attribute it partially to the endless hours that I watched the Food Network in its early years. But my love for fine dining came from these visits to places like Alain Ducasse, Bouley, and Daniel.
Anyway I have been a complete sucker for truffles ever since. So there is just no way this could have been anything other than fantastic. It is difficult to pick favorite courses in this amazing menu by Sean Gray (but I would certainly love if the honeynut squash made a reappearance next winter). Excellent wine pairings from Chase Sinzer and service from the rest of the Ko team. I wish I could do this one all over again. ❤
chicken oyster – montepulciano white
lobster – mornay, aragon black
otoro – scallion, dashi
scallop – sunchoke, aragon black
honeynut squash – benton’s ham, aragon black
royale – foie gras, naked pruner, montepulciano white
king crab – tofu, montepulciano white
madai – sweetbreads, aragon black, shellfish
dry aged beef – aragon black, lettuce
clementine
buckwheat waffle – montepulciano white, vanilla ice cream
Hozon blondie to go
Ko continues to be my favorite restaurant in New York and the one always at the top of my list of recommendations for foodie friends from out of town. I have stopped including in this blog my many visits for the shorter bar menu otherwise you may tire of these posts, but this trip was for the full menu. I am still trying to figure out why I like the sea urchin-chickpea dish so much considering I dislike urchin and have texture issues so that this dish on paper is something I wouldn’t even want to try. After much contemplation I think that the olive oil is the magic component. The ko egg will never ever get old. Of the new-to-me dishes on this menu it was a tie for my favorite between the sweet potato-brown butter and beef-au poivre. If you haven’t been yet, GO.
pomme souffle
lobster paloise
chicken oyster
blackfish – barrel aged bonji
sea urchin – chickpea, hozon
ko egg – caviar
sweet potato – brown butter
beef – au poivre
razor clam – pineapple, basil
bouillabaisse – potato, saffron
duck – squash
foie gras – lychee, pine nut, riesling jelly
wild rice – kombu
melon – honey, mint
A
Wildair
Still one of my absolute favorites and I love being able to bring friends who haven’t been here before. Although I admittedly wish it wasn’t quite so popular as even a few minutes after opening you are lucky to get a seat.
Beef tartare, smoked cheddar, chestnut
Tallow roasted beets, kumquat
Bass crudo, pineaple, nduja
Ko
And for dinner number 2 of the evening, on to my other favorite for the bar menu at Ko. I cannot say enough how much I love this place. Perhaps the most complete package of great food and hospitality in New York. And foie 2.0 gives the original some serious competition.
In the past few months Ko has quickly become on of my absolute favorites in NYC. Often I stop by just for a drink as I feel a bit guilty indulging in tasting menus too often when I’m not traveling. I love when any restaurant can take a food that I typically am not crazy about and make me love it. On this menu for instance, I generally dislike razor clams, uni and monkfish. But these particular preparations are outstanding. As I’m writing this post 6 weeks later the menu has already undergone several changes which means that its fortunately time for another visit. #firstworldproblems
potato waffle. pommes soufflees. lobster paloise. millefeuille.
madai – consomme, shiso, fingerlime
scallop – tonburi, citron
uni – chickpea, hozon
razor clam – apple, basil
beef – rutabaga, green peppercorn
caviar – potato, fermented radish
monkfish – liver, poblano
pyramidi – broccoli, aged cheddar
venison – kale, olive berry
foie gras – lychee, pine nut, riesling jelly
carrot cardamom – meringue 
chocolate – mint, fernet branca
Macaroon 
While I probably will not make a list of my favorite dining experiences of 2015, if I were to do so this dinner would easily be in my top 5. This was my first time sitting at one of the two tables instead of the counter and certainly some of the presentations are just far more impressive for a larger group. There was not one course which I did not absolutely love which is consistent with previous visits. Our essentially second course could have been a meal in itself and if it had ended at that point I would have gone home very happy. If there were not any witnesses I probably would have eaten the guinea hen to the point of making myself sick. Food aside I just love the entire environment of Ko 2.0. I am often down on friendliness of service in New York restaurants but Ko embodies the concept of hospitality. Now that I am somewhat thinking about my favorite experiences of this past year, the stand outs are the ones that not only have amazing food and impeccable service but also have figured out, for lack of a better description, the ‘it’ factor in hospitality. I am definitely looking forward to many more visits in 2016.
a blank canvas
vegetable roll. pommel soufflés. lobster paloise. millefeuille.
black bass, madai, uni, mackerel, chickpea, finger lime, bonji, shiso, sudachi
razor clam – apple, basil
siberian sturgeon caviar – radish, potato
sourdough bread & radish butter
halibut – cauliflower, hungarian pepper
guinea hen – matsutake, black vinegar
celery root – white truffle, tandoori
beef – daikon, scallion
foie gras – lychee, pine nut, riesling jelly
carrot cardamom – meringue
pistachio – apricot
chocolate – fernet branca
I will quickly sum this up – I loved my second trip to the new Ko just as much as the first. I still feel like it’s an entirely different restaurant from the original, at a minimum Ko 2.0, and am still impressed by how much service has improved. The menu was largely the same as 2 months earlier (which I have posted about previously) so I will spare the descriptions but do have to mention that the epoisses potatoes with the venison were to die for. If you haven’t been…go!
It had quite some time, actually way too long, since I visited the old Ko. So the memory may have faded slightly but it still feels like the new Ko is an entirely new restaurant – the more grown up and refined version of the original. The new space is industrial yet quite homey and I can’t wait to visit in summer when I hope the garage doors will be open. Service is much more friendly than I remember and the chefs a bit more chatty. Of course everything that we ate was fantastic and its difficult to pick favorites, but I am a sucker for soft scrambled eggs. Keep an eye on the reservations as we got lucky fairly last minute. And it didn’t photograph well, but I cannot fail to mention the very unique take-home menu presentation.
Aperitif – verjus, cappelletti, soda
Apple soda
Lobster paloise. Tartlet
Vegetable roll
Millefeuille
Madal – green chile, shiso, consommé
Razor clam – pineapple, basil
Beet – brown butter, anchovy, furikake
Venison – fermented black bean, Brussels sprouts
Mackerel sabazushi – ginger, dashi ponzu
Mushroom – scallop, asian pear
Soft scramble – potato, osetra, herbs. Bread and butter
Celery root – black truffle, tandoori
Branzino – artichoke, sumac, yogurt
Lobster – sweet potato, tonsure, sauce
Foie gras – lychee, pine nut, riesling jelly
Duck – lime pickle, watercress
Clementine – campari
Coconut – banana, rum
Mignardises
iwillmakeualist 