Counter Revolutionaries Storm NYC!

(Make that "Counter Revolution takes NYC by storm.")

When dining out, is there anything more fun than eating at the kitchen counter? Several of my favorite restaurants offer mostly or exclusively counter seating, including Canteen in San Francisco and Pinotxo and Cal Pep in Barcelona. Other faves, like A16 in SF and Casa Mono in NYC, also feature counters with a view of the action. For better or worse, these extreme open kitchens release us chefs into the wild, providing us the opportunity to easily interact with our guests and to keep an eye on our wait staff.* For the diner, the combination of theatrical spectacle and access to the kitchen can't be beat.

Recent articles in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Food & Wine indicate that I am not alone in my adoration. Kitchen counters, where diners perch on stools directly across from the leaping flames of the grill, are a hot new trend (in more ways than one). Restaurant kitchen designers of top-tier restaurants, including Joël Robuchon's L'Atelier in Paris, draw inspiration from Japanese sushi bars, Spanish tapas bars, and mid-twentieth century American lunch counters, such as Swan Oyster Depot.

After my visit to New York City over the Fourth of July weekend, I have to add two more places to my list of favorite spots featuring kitchen counter dining: Momofuku Noodle Bar and Degustation. N and I visited both in one day, with lunch at the former and dinner at the latter. I can't recall when I've last eaten as well and had as much fun!

The two chefs at Momofuku, David Chang and Joaquin Baca, apply their experience working at some of New York's top restaurants to reinterpret Japanese and Korean noodles and dumplings.

N and I took the edge off the sweltering New York City summer with a platter of mildly spicy seasonal pickled vegetables or kimchee. The wild ramps and baby turnips were particular standouts. Be sure to save some to eat with your noodles.

We equally loved our other appetizer, baby octopus salad. The tiny cephalopods were cooked until tender and then tossed in a spicy Vietnamese-style dressing with tangles of kombu (a type of sea vegetable), shredded carrots, and mushrooms.

N ordered a spicy bowl of kimchee stew, which came with a side of steamed rice. It was rich and satisfying, but not as photogenic as the Momofuku ramen I ordered. This bowl of noodles is a pork-lover's fantasy. Braised Berkshire pork shoulder and belly bathe in a bacon-infused pork broth along with noodles, sweet peas, slivered scallions, mushrooms and a slow-poached egg. For the uninitiated, slow-poached eggs are a product, I believe, of the molecular gastronomers (I first sampled one a couple of years ago at WD~50). The egg is poached in its shell in 140˚F/60˚C water for 45 minutes or so, resulting in an ethereal custard-like consistency.

Speaking of WD~50, that restaurant's mutton-chop-sideburned chef, Wylie Dufresne, sat a few seats down the bar from us while we dined at Degustation later that same day. In contrast to San Francisco (where avant-garde Winterland was forced to shutter this weekend due to lack of business), New York diners have started to embrace El Bulli-inspired molecular gastronomy. Our exciting dinner at Degustation included a smattering of foams, gelées, and, not surprisingly, another slow-poached egg (this time served with fried asparagus and jamón serrano). The young (26 years old!) chef, Wesley Genovart, is of Mallorcan descent and worked in Spain's most experimental kitchen outside of El Bulli, Mugaritz, so the cuisine is decidedly Spanish.

Degustation differs from Momofuku and most other kitchens that feature counter dining in that Chef Genovart faces the diners as he cooks. Since he never turns his back to you, the feeling that you are watching a one-person performance is amplified. I, for one, would lose my mind if I were in his clogs, but Chef Genovart didn't seem to mind the attention.

Highlights of our multi-course dégustation (French for "tasting menu") included a one-bite "tortilla." You know you're in for some culinary hi-jinx when you see those tell-tale quotation marks. In this case, Spain's iconic potato omelet transmogrified into paper-thin strips of potato surrounding shallot confit and a quail yolk. The yolk explodes in your mouth as soon as you bite down, so you have to act fast to keep yolk from embarrassingly dribbling down your chin.

Other favorite dishes included the endangered dish known as foie gras. Chef Genovart seared the foie then served it atop bittersweet caramel water gelée and sweet-tart cherries.

We also particularly enjoyed the squid stuffed with short ribs and the crispy pork belly with grilled scallions, shimeji mushrooms and pickled jalapeños in a sherry gastrique.

I was impressed with the well-edited wine list of mostly Spanish offerings, which naturally pair well with the menu. We had glasses of sparkling Cava from Pere Ventura, a lively white Basque Txakoli from Txomin Etxaniz, and a smooth red from Ribera del Duero from Viña de Val.

Check out my Flickr slideshow for more pictures and descriptions of our meal at Degustation.

Momofuku Noodle Bar
163 First Ave.(10th & 11th Sts.)
212.475.7899
No reservations, serve lunch and dinner, open 7 days

Degustation
239 E. 5th St. (2nd Ave.)
212.979.1012
No reservations, serve dinners only, closed Sunday
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* We cooks quickly realize that these wide open windows between kitchen and dining room work both ways. As I learned from first hand experience cooking at the now closed L'Amie Donia, a top-rated French bistro in Palo Alto that included 8 counter seats, diners can see and hear everything, including some things I'd wish they couldn't. They hear our curses and witness our mistakes, including the inevitable cuts and burns. Unlike the powdered and perfectly quoiffed celebrities on the TV Food Network, we cooks aren't at our prettiest during the dinner rush. Our white coats are smeared with some combination of sweat, soot, and sauce. Being on stage all the time with no place to hide adds an extra layer of stress to an already pressure packed job. Will I incorporate a kitchen counter into my eventual kitchen design? Stay tuned....

Food|and Drink|Restaurants|Review|New York

Comments

[Joy]

The counter is my FAVORITE. Well, Txacoli (and from Txomin Extaniz in particular) is my other favorite (we call it anniversary wine, and I will tell you that story when I see you next). Just ask Fatemeh.

[Gerald]

Genovart's stuffed squid is outstanding and I loved the pickled jalapenos too. Now I only wish I tried the seared foie after seeing your picture - next time!

[alice]

I am a big fan of the counter seat too. Many of the best Japanese reaturants (in Japan) are small places with only counter seats. I enjoy the interaction very much!

By the way, the slow cooked egg is a traditional Japanese item called Onsen Tamago. :D

[lucas juan genovart]

hi has wesley got an email, im his half brother

[Linda]

i adore momofuku!