Dinner at ABC, Not as Easy as 1, 2, 3

Restaurant Name & Location:
ABC Kitchen
35 East 18th Street
New York, NY 10003
ph:212.475.5829

Chef Name: Chef Jean Georges Vongerichten

Type of Meal: Dinner

What We Ordered:

abc kitchen menu

Fresh Radishes Roasted Turnips, Honey-Thyme Marinade

Roasted Portabellas with Celery Leaves

Roasted Turnips, Honey-Thyme Marinade

Peekytoe Crab Toast

Pear and Apple Salad, Endive & Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing

Mackerel Sashimi Marinated with Ginger

Sautéed Pork Terrine with Arugula & Sherry Vinaigrette

Roast Carrot & Avocado Salad, Crunchy Seeds, Sour Cream & Citrus

Whole Wheat Bigoli, Berkshire Pork Ragu

Sautéed Arctic Char, Sweet-Garlic Crumbs & Romanesco Cauliflower

Grilled Pork Loin, Apple-Meyer Lemon Puree & Swiss Chard

Kasha & Bowtie Pasta, Veal Meatballs

Doughnuts with Blood Orange Marmalade

Chocolate Cake with Malted Chocolate Ganache and Toasted Marshmallow

We are breaking away from our typical NYC restaurant review format for this one because our experience at ABC Kitchen was not a pleasant one.  The service was appalling, and the food was uninspired. This may seem like a harsh review, so let us explain what constitutes a poor and disappointing dining experience for us….

On this evening, the Keeper Team of diners consisted of four people.  We all ordered our dining selections at the same time.  Our first course was served to our table, and only three of the four dishes were delivered. The server told us they would “be right back” with the missing dish, but offered no reason or apology.  This immediately changed the ambiance of our meal. While three of us sat there with our dishes in front of us, the one with nothing insisted that we eat.  We all uncomfortably obliged assuming the server would return any second.  Nearly ten minutes later (that’s not an exaggeration and is a VERY long time in such a situation) the server finally delivered the missing dish, again with no apology or explanation.

For our next course, one of us was served a dish that was not ordered.  While we did mention it to the server, we decided to just keep it after experiencing such poor treatment on the first course – not being able to predict how long it would take to present the correct dish and if it would be of decent quality.  At the end of our meal, we were not offered compensation, reason, or apology for the unacceptable service we received.  Having dined at a Jean-Georges restaurant before, we expected more.  We do understand that this is a hip, young, contemporary, and less expensive restaurant theme; however, there was definitely a disconnect between the back end and front end of the house that night, and our experience significantly suffered as a result.  There would have to be a compelling reason for us to return to ABC Kitchen (which we cannot imagine), even with the recent surprisingly generous review from the NY Times. There are so many more impressive alternatives in NYC for us to spend our dollars.

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