Today, Condé Nast Traveler joins Chef Kwame Onwuachi, owner of Tatiana and James Beard Award winner, in New York City to try three of his favorite places to eat. NYC is a city diverse in excellent food–from the Thai flavors of NoHo's Fish Cheeks and Joji’s world-class omakase in Grand Central Terminal, to the humble halal cart on the city streets. Join Onwuachi as he shares some of the Big Apple’s must-try spots.
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00:00These wings, they're gonna be the best wings you ever had in your life.
00:03Think of like Chinese takeout wings on steroids.
00:12Hey, what's up y'all? I'm Kwame Onwuachi,
00:14and I'm gonna be taking you to some of the best restaurants in New York City.
00:19This is where the chefs eat.
00:20So right now we're in Fish Cheeks, we're in Noho.
00:31There's so many Thai restaurants in New York City, like why is this one special?
00:35To me, it's the love that they put in this food.
00:38It's family style, and when I first walked in here, it smelled like the streets of Thailand.
00:46Today I'm gonna be eating with Nana, who is a critically acclaimed author
00:49and a lover of all food.
00:52My god, well let's go girl.
00:53Good to see you, good to see you man, good to see you.
00:55Good, I'm good, I'm good.
00:56You ready to eat?
00:57Yeah, I'm too ready.
00:58Well, I've ordered a lot of food.
01:00Well, I love eating with chefs because y'all just order like everything.
01:04You got a plethora of stuff.
01:05That's the only way to eat.
01:06And this place is family style, so it's meant for that.
01:08Hey chef, what's up man?
01:10I love it a lot, man.
01:10Thanks for joining us today.
01:11Of course, you already know what time it is.
01:13Some absinthe in the entrees will be right out.
01:15So this is the wings.
01:16Let's have wings on the pork cheeks, crispy garlic.
01:18Thanks, thanks.
01:19Appreciate it, always.
01:20Appreciate you.
01:21These wings, they're gonna be the best wings you ever had in your life.
01:25Think of like Chinese takeout wings on steroids.
01:28That's my favorite food ever.
01:30Yeah, I mean we're from the Bronx, so we speak the same language with food.
01:34They have this like sweet and tangy seasoning on the outside of them.
01:38Yeah.
01:39So like every single bite leaves you like wanting for more.
01:42So without further ado, you should dive in.
01:50Mmm.
01:51Wow, what a great day.
01:52It tastes like the cilantro and the mint.
01:54Yeah.
01:54Like dehydrated lime.
01:55It's kind of almost refreshing somehow.
01:57Yeah.
01:58It's a weird thing to say about a...
01:59A wing.
02:00A chicken wing.
02:00It's light, but you are a...
02:02This is the best wing in New York City, hands down.
02:11Look at that.
02:11First you got crab curry, crab fried rice, the fish pao style.
02:16Enjoy.
02:18So whenever there's a whole fish on a menu, I have to get it.
02:21There's something like visual about seeing a whole fish.
02:24It's like celebratory.
02:25This is the whole branzino and it's steamed in this ginger broth.
02:31Anytime I bring someone here before I let them eat the fish, you got to taste the broth.
02:35Yeah, I'll pass this to you.
02:37Yeah, I'm not gonna feed you.
02:39I'll pass it to you.
02:41It's hot.
02:43Oh my god.
02:45That's great.
02:46Oh lord, yeah, yeah.
02:48Yeah.
02:49So lime, ginger, chilies, so much fruit.
02:53So much flavor.
02:54Fish sauce.
02:55I would drink a cup of that.
02:56Yeah, yeah.
02:57But then come in.
02:58Come in and get this piece right here.
02:59This is the belly.
03:00Yeah, go for that.
03:01I want to see your reaction.
03:02Let's zoom in on his reaction real quick.
03:10Straight from heaven.
03:11That's incredible.
03:12I love bringing people here because it never fails.
03:16That's one of the best fishes.
03:17I'm not, not.
03:18That's the next thing that always comes.
03:19One of the best bites of fish I've ever had in my life.
03:23Before we even get to the curry, we're going to focus on this crab fried rice.
03:27So this is another staple in Thailand.
03:29You'll see it all throughout the markets.
03:31And they serve it with these two different sauces.
03:33So build a spoon.
03:36Like take a spoonful of the crab.
03:37Okay.
03:39I'm going to put a little bit of each of this sauce on there.
03:42It's not too spicy.
03:42So, okay.
03:44I don't want to embarrass myself.
03:45Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:46I'm going to just hook you up.
03:47Now take a bite of that.
03:52That's magic.
03:55It's marvelous.
03:56It's marvelous.
03:56That's what I love about New York City.
03:58You know, we have some of the best restaurants, you know, and that's not a secret.
04:03But they are, they're really authentic.
04:05They're the best restaurants that the people that are from the region, they actually eat it.
04:08Now, the last instruction.
04:13Get a little bit of that.
04:14Get a spoonful of that.
04:16Now.
04:17Oh, I see.
04:18Okay.
04:19Now we get a little freaky.
04:21Okay.
04:21Yes.
04:22I see the vision.
04:23This is why you eat with chefs.
04:25But that is the best bite you'll have in a couple years.
04:28For a couple years, I would say.
04:32My job is done here.
04:33My job is done here.
04:40We're here.
04:41Made it.
04:42We're here.
04:42Probably taking the train in a long time.
04:44Bro, are you sure this is all right?
04:46Yes, man.
04:46I promise you there's a restaurant here, man.
04:48Relax.
04:49So right now we're in Joji.
04:51It's a restaurant tucked in Grand Central Station.
04:54Because of its location, you might walk past it.
04:56But if you do find it, you'll find one of the best omakase in the world.
05:00So an omakase is a selection of dishes by the chef themselves.
05:05What's special about this restaurant is that you get the same chef every single time.
05:09Welcome, chef.
05:10What's up, baby?
05:10Good to see you, man.
05:11Good to see you.
05:12Pleasure to meet you.
05:12Always happy.
05:13Always excited to be here.
05:14Great to have you guys back.
05:16For this dish, this is a kegani, Japanese hairy crab.
05:22With uni, both are Hokkaido.
05:24With cucumber vinaigrette.
05:25Beautiful.
05:26Wow.
05:26Just a little bit, huh?
05:29You can smell it too.
05:30It's like, it's so clean.
05:33So pristine.
05:34I feel like a better person just from smelling it.
05:38You know, it's fresh.
05:40The crab is so sweet.
05:42And then the uni as well.
05:44It's like slightly briny.
05:46It's creamy.
05:48It like creates the perfect bite together.
05:50I thought I had uni before.
05:52And now I'm like, what was that?
05:57The final shooter, if I may, of all the juices of the crab and uni.
06:05Thank you, chef.
06:06Thank you to this hairy crab.
06:07Wow.
06:08So for the next course, this is grilled kinki fish with daikon, chives, dashi, and osetra caviar on top.
06:18When you say kinki fish, people are like, did he really say that?
06:22Well, he spelled it differently.
06:24Jeez.
06:25It's like an art piece.
06:26Look at that.
06:27The little flowers.
06:28This is a kind of a dish that really speaks for itself.
06:31Like, there's nowhere to hide in a dish like this.
06:33The fish is really, really fresh.
06:35The osetra caviar is obviously top notch.
06:38If you want to taste something that is best in class, like that's what this dish is.
06:43So for next dish, this is fatty tuna, lightly seared with a hot rock.
06:49Because old toro has white sinew in them, searing it breaks down the sinew and it melts in your mouth.
06:55Thank you, chef.
06:56Enjoy.
06:59Visually, it's stunning.
07:00You know, look at the brightness from the chives right on top.
07:03You know, the beautifully pink tuna belly.
07:07Then you see the daikon like slightly waving out the side of the tuna.
07:12Then it all sits in this ponzu, you know, which is like soy acid, like lemon or lime juice.
07:19It's just a perfect bite.
07:21So dessert, we have hojicha ice cream, which is a roasted green tea ice cream.
07:26But you don't really taste the green tea.
07:27With truffle, it just goes super well together.
07:30You have almost equal parts, like grated truffle on top of the ice cream.
07:35You have this drizzle of honey.
07:37You can see flakes of sea salt on there.
07:39I've never had ice cream with truffle, but I've never had a lot of things we've had today, so.
07:47Oh my god, it's so good, right?
07:49The saltiness and the sweetness, yeah.
07:52Nothing like anything I've ever tasted before.
07:53This is beautiful.
07:54You know, it's like bold, it's earthy, it's sweet, it's salty.
07:59It's like New York on a bite.
08:01You ain't gonna find this anywhere else in the world.
08:05I believe that.
08:05You may not even find this if you're looking for it, because it's in the train station.
08:10All right, our next stop is gonna be a hit of nostalgia.
08:22So we're at our last stop of the day.
08:24We're in Midtown, and we're at the Halal Cart.
08:27Halal Carts feed all of New York City, and it is one of my favorite things to eat.
08:33What's up?
08:34What's up?
08:36How you doing, man?
08:37You didn't think I was gonna take you there?
08:39Halal Cart, a classic.
08:42I mean, you know the kind of food I eat.
08:45I love it too, though.
08:46Yeah, we grew up eating this food.
08:48I know my order from here.
08:49Yeah, what's your order?
08:50I like half chicken, half lamb, lettuce, tomato, and then hot sauce and white sauce.
08:55But more white sauce than hot sauce.
08:57You have to just put a little bit of hot sauce.
08:59What's the white sauce?
09:01Who knows?
09:02It's a mystery.
09:03I don't know.
09:04You don't ask what's in the white sauce.
09:06The white sauce is like mayonnaise, a little bit of lemon juice, a little bit of water,
09:10oregano.
09:11And then the hot sauce is like, like, Kashmiri chili.
09:17And what's in there?
09:21He said yes.
09:22Yeah, so mine is saying chicken and lamb over rice, white sauce, just a line of hot sauce.
09:28But don't, but don't, but don't chop it up too much.
09:30Don't chop it up too much.
09:31I like the large chunks.
09:32This isn't Joji.
09:34They're not going to be talking about the nuances of the fish.
09:37It's a little different from Joji.
09:38It's high quality meat.
09:39It's seasoned to perfection.
09:41And it also feeds New Yorkers.
09:43Pound for pound, dollar to food.
09:45It's probably the best you could get in the city.
09:47Yeah, absolutely.
09:48Yes, boss.
09:49Thank you so much.
09:49Thank you, brother.
09:51Good to see you, man.
09:52I appreciate it.
09:53Appreciate it, bro.
09:54The first bite of like halal cart to me is just like, it's all encompassing, you know,
10:00like it's a full meal.
10:01It's not all cute, but it's going to get the job done in a real way.
10:04You know, this isn't fancy food to a lot of people, but it doesn't mean it's less sophisticated.
10:10You know, there's a lot of technique that goes into this.
10:12Cooking rice perfectly.
10:14I've had a lot of cooks in my kitchen that cannot cook rice perfectly.
10:19And then it's scented with like cardamom and clove and turmeric.
10:24Then you have your Kashmiri chili, you know, the hot sauce.
10:27It's the hottest hot sauce I've ever had in my life where you can put like one drop on
10:32and it seasons the whole dish.
10:34And then there's like, you know, sautéed onions and peppers.
10:38The lamb is spicy.
10:39And then the chicken is marinated in like yogurt.
10:43It's incredible.
10:45This is New York City on a plate.
10:47It feels like home.
10:49Well, it's been great taking you around, man.
10:50You know, we visited some of the best restaurants in New York City,
10:54some of my favorite restaurants in New York City, including Halal Cart.
10:57But I'm going to go to my actual favorite restaurant in New York City.
11:01My restaurant.
11:02I've got a restaurant to run.
11:03It's freezing.
11:03I've heard of it.
11:04I'll check you later, man.
11:05Peace, bro.
11:06We would have went there, but we could have gotten a reservation.