Restaurant review: with ABC Kitchens, Jean-Georges Vongerichten produces yet another multi-layered venture
Constantly in motion as he spreads his name across continents, cuisines, and venues of various sizes, the elder statesman of the stoves returns to the UK
‘I am far from bored!!’ says Jean-Georges Vongerichten over a detailed email. Like other mega-restaurateurs distinguished for their continent-spanning portfolio – Nobu Matsuhisa, Wolfgang Puck and Alain Ducasse included – Vongerichten is constantly stimulated, travelling most months of the year in order to keep up with the rapidly beating pulse of his global outposts (and to also tick off a few bucket-list destinations on the way).
‘When new projects are discussed, whether in NYC or around the world, it’s hard for me to say no,’ he states.
Vongerichten, 67, is an elder statesman of the pots and pans and one who, from the outside at least, has seemed to have lived many, many lives. He has pedigree in the coal business; washed plates and prepped produce for restaurants; did time as a boat cook, docking at places such as Copenhagen, Lisbon and Casablanca, and discovered spices at the latter. He’s run kitchens in Asia and the US, exposing himself to ingredients that went beyond the limited pantry back home in Alsace, France, he moved up the ranks, he racked up the stars and the reviews and the A-list reservations. He stamped his mark on New York and became known as the toque who popularised the molten chocolate cake. Retirement, Vongerichten once said to The New York Times, “sounds like a disease.”
Jean-Georges Vongerichten in Columbus Circle, New York, 2001. Image via Getty.
More importantly, within the restaurant universe, Vongerichten, a man of versatility and one hostile to stasis, has made his renown not just on his capacity to consistently scale-up his operations, but also by not jettisoning any of the quality or standard in the process, a skill matched perhaps only by Matsuhisa’s string of failsafe – yet respected and deeply revered – hotels and restaurants.
‘Openings are so magical for so many reasons,’ says Vongerichten, who, at the time of writing, manages and operates 60 restaurants worldwide. ‘Most of our style is created in New York, but is applied and translated locally.’ Dune, in The Bahamas, for example, is located in a conservatory-style setting on a white-sand bluff, with a menu that includes local-lobster pizza. Curiosa by Jean-Georges, in Doha, replete with tiles and vibrant hues, features a menu that has rib-eye and tenderloin. (Local produce and local tastes, it must be noted, feature heavily on his menus, too; seafood from Tsukiji fish market is the main draw at JG Tokyo.)
An interiors enthusiast, one key reason behind Vongerichten’s infatuation with taking on new projects is the design element – the piecing together of that side of things helps him exercise a creative muscle separate from that used for formulating recipes or constructing a dish. There’s also another factor, one that many within hospitality point to when explaining why they stay within the industry: people. ‘I really enjoy getting to know our teams on a deeper level – in the kitchen, during service and during training, there isn’t much room for personal conversations, but I always make sure we have dinner as a team after service or at the end of every night to create and forge that relationship.’
Vongerichten at work in New York, 1995. Image via Getty.
Luminaries within the restaurant-sphere have long documented the pressures they feel to perpetually expand – to open bigger, bolder places, not necessarily for hubris, but to keep attention on the brand and, ultimately, keep money rolling into the business in order to ensure staffers maintain their positions and their wages. Does the weight of expectation sit heavily on Vongerichten?
‘With restaurant openings, there is always a pressure to be an immediate success. I want to make sure that the concept is working and well received by residents and foreigners alike. Are the chairs comfortable? Is the lighting too bright at 7pm? Does the soundtrack match the ambiance of the space and the mood of the guests? The right answers to all of the questions do weigh on me’, he admits, ‘but I wouldn’t say it’s painful – it’s more ensuring that we did everything right and, if not, knowing where to make changes, quickly.’
‘As soon as the ink dries on a recently signed contract, our boots are on the ground’, Vongerichten continues to say, regarding his approach to every new launch and the procedures that come with it – what some have labelled as ‘the formula.’
Vongerichten in New York, 1994. Image via Getty.
‘We are meeting new partners, touring spaces, visiting local farms and farmers. We are involved with each restaurant opening from the ground up, from the design to the menu, lighting, furniture and soundtrack… Obviously, we can’t be in Kyoto for a year non-stop (even though I would love that), but we ensure our communication is ongoing with everyone involved.’ Part of this multi-faceted process consists of core members of the JGV team being sent to each new restaurant to act as lieutenants who maintain the standards, training back and front of house, spending roughly two to three weeks hammering away any kinks, polishing the machine.
Then, anchoring the culinary DNA are three pillars – ‘it has to consist of spice, acidity and precision’ – but, other than that, unlike, say, at a faceless chain, there is room for manoeuvre. ‘Of course, we have our encyclopaedia of recipes, where everything is measured and weighed precisely,’ Vongerichten says. ‘Once our culinary team understands the elements that go into our recipes, we, of course, encourage them to try new things, whether from scratch or as a building block.’
The dining room at ABC Kitchens. Image courtesy of ABC Kitchens.
His latest opening is ABC Kitchens, at The Emory, London, a new all-suite hotel by the group responsible for Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley. (Vongerichten has been stationed in The Connaught since 2017, building his menu around British staples – cod and chips, Cornish lamb chops – and Southeast-Asian-style dishes.)
This is the first time Vongerichten has taken his ABC concept, the mini flagship restaurant group within his wider restaurant group, outside the US. ‘London is particularly close to my heart as I opened my first restaurant in the city 25 years ago. With this new opening, it feels like a homecoming to me’. This London outpost is also the first destination within his portfolio where three different types of cuisine have been brought into a single menu, blending the farm-to-table spirit of ABC Kitchen, the plant-forward thinking of ABCV and the ‘Latin-inspired’ fare of ABC Cocina, all in New York. And it’s at this point where we should state that layered, oh-now-it’s-hit-me flavours permeate throughout most of Vongerichten’s dishes. (In Alsace, Vongerichten’s mother often drew upon Melfor, a local vinegar that makes use of plant infusions and honey – a nice balance of acid with floral and sweet touches.)
Image courtesy of ABC Kitchens.
So, the Dorset crab on toast is hit with a bit of green chilli, lemon aioli, a few scores of dill, and one or two edible flower heads tweezered on top. The carpaccio of heirloom beets – beautiful, ragged cuts of deep purples that bleed into sunset oranges and reds – is dabbed with a puréed avocado, while pickled pieces and a scattering of capers give it the acidic touch that’s often used in a tartare.
And those luscious cuts of Galician octopus that are gently poached in a broth singing with rosemary and kombu before hitting the flame over oak and arriving to the table with smoked crème fraîche and a bit of paprika and squirted with a glug or two of vinaigrette laced with guajillo chillies? The serving plate of shrimp heads floating on a lava-hued slick of fried garlic, lemon, chilli and parsley? The pork-confit tacos whose tortillas exude the sour-sweet aromatics of nixtamalized corn? They may bring to mind the time you did a year out along the South American coastline.
A serving plate of shrimp heads. Image courtesy of ABC Kitchens.
Could the fried chicken – served with creamed corn and a hot sauce of fermented scotch bonnet, and comprising equal parts juicy flesh and crackling batter – send you into a mealtime trance? Will the tres leches cake, soaked with coffee and decorated with a swirl of meringue and one or two shavings of chocolate, have you move your belt buckle down a few notches? Most likely. And you’re in for a pretty good evening.
In terms of size, too, ABC Kitchens is placed somewhere in the middle of the pack – not as small-scale as Jean-Georges at The Shinmonzen, a 14-seat counter space in Kyoto, nor does it touch the expansive proportions of Prime Steakhouse, Las Vegas, which includes an 80-seat patio that has front-row viewing of the Bellagio fountains. It takes over a pretty decent part of The Emory’s ground floor, where Rémi Tessier’s interiors are a rich scheme of burnt oranges and yellows, shapely banquettes, Damien Hirst artwork and really great glassware, with window vistas of a key Knightsbridge thoroughfare and the lush vegetation of Hyde Park beyond it. ‘Large enough to be buzzy, intimate enough to feel cozy,’ says Vongerichten.
By setting up in such a high-tone neighbourhood, but still serving populist classics – the menu also lists pizzas, pastas, a cheeseburger, and a salted-caramel ice-cream sundae – you kind of get the impression that Vongerichten still likes to impart his serious cooking with the approachable spirit he’s so synonymous with.
To get a real sense of the chef’s easygoing feel, you could do worse than flick through a few episodes of Ugly Delicious, David Chang’s two-series show that spotlights the cultural significance of certain foods. In his appearance during a part about home cooking, Vongerichten is asked to discuss the contents of his fridge and freezer.
“I always went to sleep with a piece of chocolate in my mouth. I wake up in the morning, I have sweet dreams – nice,” he says. He opens the freezer door to show a box of Häagen-Dazs treats. “55 years later, I’m still having my piece of chocolate after I brush my teeth. Every night.”
When we asked what his dreams usually consist of, the answer was one very much expected from a man constantly on the go and never wanting to stop.
“Food and travel, always in all ways.”
- ABC Kitchens, The Emory, Old Barrack Yard, SW1X 7NP, the-emory.co.uk
- Starters from £12; mains from £17; desserts from £12
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