Tuesday night I stopped into Jean-Georges' new ABC Kitchen located in the ABC Carpet and Home store. It was fully packed with people dining on food where Jean-Georges and chef Dan Kluger are "passionately committed to offering the freshest organic & local ingredients possible".
It's a large, white space. Very modern and earthy, with wooden ceilings in the dining room, melding barnyard chic, or what I would call "rustic sleek". I took a seat at the beautiful bar up front and ordered two dishes.
My whole wheat pizza ($17) with clams, mint, parsley, and fresh chilies was fair. I did enjoy the kick the chilies gave to the pizza, but I would say that this pie was not memorable at all, and I would never order it again.
What was memorable, was the Akaushi cheeseburger ($21) with aged Bloomsday cheese, herbed mayo, and pickled Japanese jalapeños. Ladies and gentleman, I present you one of the BEST burgers in all of NYC! This burger was mind-blowing! (Akaushi is a Japanese Wagyu breed of cattle which produces beef that is richly marbled with fat and very tender and flavorful.)The meat was so juicy and flavorful, that after my first bite, I had a mini-orgasm. I blushed and teared at the same time. Fabulosity! The herbed mayo and pickled jalapeños were amazing too. They added more delicious and wonderful flavor to one of the best burgers I had ever eaten in my entire life. I still cannot get this burger out of my mind. Since eating this pattie of joy I have lost sleep, and have not been able to focus. I've been trying to focus, but brief images of this burger keep flashing in my mind. I think it is the reason I am still single. (Ladies, if we are ever intimate together, and I scream the name "Akaushi", instead of yours, please forgive me. It's not you, it's me...and that titilating burger.) The accompanying fries are fine too.
So, head on over to ABC Kitchen, you can do some shopping and grab some local, organic, fare. Order that burger, and leave with maybe a couch, but definitely your mind blown.
ABC Kitchen
35 East 18th Street (bet. Broadway and Park Avenue South)
New York, NY 10003
212-475-5829