Food Rave: The NYC Foodie Returns Home

If you were casually taking a morning stroll at 6:45am last Thursday around West Campus, and you saw a girl at Baker flagpole impatiently pacing back and forth with a suitcase waiting for a Short Line Bus to New York City – that was me. Being a native New Yorker, I always count down the days until I am reunited with my brightly lit and noise-filled cement streets, but one of the main reasons I cannot wait to return home is – you guessed it – the food. By the time I return home, I’ve already outlined an eating schedule to make sure I hit all my favorite restaurants. I might write about some of those places later on, but this week is about a new restaurant that I tried, which is now right at the top of my list: ABC Cocina.

I have been going to ABC Carpet & Home since I can remember. At first glance, it is a home decor store, but if you continue to the back you will find a variety of high-quality restaurants, and its newest addition, Jean-Georges’ ABC Cocina, is a gem. As with all new ABC restaurants, for the first year or so, the restaurant is so popular that one has to book weeks in advance for dinner, so I stopped by for lunch and was lucky enough to walk right in and be seated.

We started off with a guacamole with sungold tomato salsa and warm, crunchy tortillas, which was spot on and packed with flavor. My one complaint – not enough salsa!  We then continued with sweet market pepper and potato empanadas with a lemon yogurt. The crust was beautifully crisp and the heat from the peppers was a perfect complement to the cooling yogurt.

After, we tried the chipotle chicken with a grilled jalapeno salsa, which was equally successful, and the crisp chicken skin sprinkled on the top brought it to the next level. Although these were some amazing appetizers, the standout for me was the arroz con pollo dish. I have had many arroz con pollo dishes in my life, and this by far blew the others away. The dish was literally glistening in the dim light. The rice was moist, the flavor exploded in my mouth, and it was mixed with tender chicken chunks.

Normally, I share a dessert at the end of the meal, but we just could not decide, so we ended up with three desserts (although one was complimentary!). The first was a trio of popsicles (strawberries and cream, coconut and chocolate, and caramel apple). All three blew me away. They achieved the perfect balance of consistencies, at one point smooth, but also icy, and the combination of flavors was just amazing. The second dessert was a passion fruit sundae, consisting of one scoop of passion fruit sorbet and one scoop of passion fruit ice cream, which sat upon a gelatin of…. passion fruit (!), and was topped with a dollop of whipped cream and crumbs. So ethereal! The crunchiness of the crumbs paired nicely with the creaminess of the ice cream. At last, after devouring the first two desserts, we finally made it to the salted caramel ‘impossible’ flan! What makes it impossible you ask? It is an inverted cake, which makes it stand out, and what brings it to another level is the salt that is sprinkled on the top.

 

I was so blown away by the meal that I’ve already thought about booking a table for dinner over Thanksgiving break. They have different dishes for dinner, so it will be a totally new experience, but I guess that is what makes the restaurant all the more intriguing. All in all, a must try for any Mexican food lovers!

ABC Cocina, dessert, empanadas, guacomole, Mexican, new york city, Victoria Sadosky