Atomix - New York
Counter seating in the basement
Rating: 17/20
Where: New York, NY
When: Dinner for 2 on 20 February 2024
Cost: Tasting menu $395, Wine pairing $250-$550
Accolades: 2 Michelin Stars, #8 on Top 50 Restaurants list (2023)
Why: Progression of small bites inspired by Korean cuisine
If you believe the World's 50 Best Restaurants list, then “Atomix” is North America’s best restaurant, holding the 8th position world-wide. No wonder then that its reservations are snapped up within minutes after their release every month, and that there is buzz each year about Michelin adding a third star to its current two. All perfectly good reasons for us to finally check out the restaurant on a recent trip to New York City.
Atomix is at the forefront of a formidable Korean fine-dining wave that has taken hold in Manhattan. These days, the city had possibly the highest concentration of high-end Korean restaurants outside of Korea, and they are holding no fewer than a dozen Michelin stars between them.
When we arrived at the restaurant’s address on East 30th Street, we were surprised to find an unremarkable apartment building. It turns out that the restaurant's sign is subtle, and it occupies the ground floor and basement of the building. The door is unlocked only for a few minutes before each seating. Not only for that reason does it pay to be punctual - the tasting menu is also served to all guests at the same time, so joining late means missing out on some courses. Needless to say, everyone was on time for our 8:45pm seating.
Since the tasting menu is prepaid at reservation time, the only food-related question for us was whether to add some shaved black truffles to two courses for an additional $45. Also available were two wine pairings, priced at $250 and $550, as well as a non-alcoholic pairing for $125. We tried the two wine pairings, and both had pretty good wines, with the wines in the pricier pairing being notably better (curiously that's not always the case). The wines unique to the $550 pairing were all comfortably in the “more than $200 per bottle” range (again, not a given). At the high end, we had a glass of a "2021 Kongsgaard The Judge Chardonnay", which retails at $500 or more per bottle if you can find it. Unfortunately, it was served a bit too cold (and possibly a couple years too early), but otherwise this was a nice pairing that matched the food fairly well. Whether the more expensive pairing was worth the sticker price is another question - the “cheaper” pairing is probably the more sensible choice overall.
Every course of the tasting menu was preceded by a printed card that contained the chef's “story” behind each dish, in addition to an exhaustive list of ingredients. The backside of the card showed a piece of Korean pottery patterned with a Korean cityscape. An Instagram filter was available to show the pottery item rotating in 3D above the card - kind of an augmented reality. While it was nice to get a bit of background on each dish, altogether this felt like a bit too much. I didn't see how floating vases would meaningfully improve one's enjoyment of the meal, and the essays were also quite verbose. If one engaged with all of this media, it would probably detract from the enjoyment of the food itself. Maybe this was aimed more at the tech-savvy foodie influencers populating the 50 Best Restaurants voting board, rather than the general public.
Two small bites preceded the main part of the tasting menu. First, a piece of sardine sat on top of sushi rice that was surrounded by crunchy seaweed. The fish was very good, with a satisfyingly fishy flavor, the rice grainy, not sticky, and the seaweed very crunchy, much more so than it would have been in traditional Japanese sushi 17. Second, a crispy tartlet filled with polenta and topped with uni (sea urchin). The polenta was quite heavy and very sweet, overpowering any other flavors that might have been present (including the uni). A dish that was a bit undistinguished, and felt more like something from the Southern United States than Korea 14.
Our first “real” course was raw chopped ahi tuna, coming with chopped tomatoes, little potato crackers, pineappleweed, a smoked mussel mousse, and Kristal caviar on top. All of these ingredients were quite nice individually, with the cream's smokiness reminiscent of bacon, and the caviar being of great quality. If we wanted to nitpick, the tuna seemed a bit too cold, limiting its flavor. Mixing everything together though, the flavors got a little lost in the mix. For example, it was hard to taste the caviar. Fine overall, but not more than the sum of its parts 16.
A sliced Hokkaido scallop came with a maple flower glaze, thin slices of lardo, pickled okra and a mushroom sauce. The scallop was nicely cooked and a bit sweet, but the sauce left us unimpressed. Maybe I made a mistake by eating this dish with chopsticks instead of the provided spoon - the latter option would have added more sauce to each bite 15.
Better was a langoustine served with a kimchi glaze, tomatoes, pickles, a rice sauce and kimchi powder. The langoustine was nicely cooked as well, and the pickles were a nice addition. Given the mention of “kimchi”, one might have expected a spicy and/or sour dish, but this one turned out to be neither. The flavor of the creamy rice sauce was a bit odd, tasting neither of rice nor kimchi, probably a result of the lacto-fermentation described by the accompanying card 16.
Even better: a chicken broth seasoned with ginseng (among several other spices). It contained pieces of octopus, abalone, beef tendons, sweet pickled mushrooms and chicken dumplings. All the (solid) ingredients had been cooked perfectly: the abalone had a bit of a bite, the octopus was soft, the chicken dumpling savory and full of flavor. The broth itself was hearty and also quite flavorful. A satisfying dish for the colder time of the year 17.
The following course came with a magnolia flower infusion instead of a paired wine. Steamed rockfish, sweet shrimp, squid shavings, and turnips came with a Korean “dashi”. The broth was excellent: full of flavor and a bit spicy (18/19 by itself). The rockfish was very tender, and so lightly flavored that it almost didn't taste of anything - otherwise not bad. The shrimp was a bit better, nicely cooked, as was the squid, which was very tender (and unfortunately not visible in the picture) 17.
Grilled tilefish came with a butter/cream sauce, fish roe, butternut squash and smoked eel. In a separate bowl was a dashi with pieces of conger eel and eggplant. The tilefish sauce was beautiful, creamy but not too creamy, tempered by some acidity. The fish was nicely cooked, its skin tasting a bit smoky. The butternut squash was not sweet at all, and all of this came together wonderfully. Nobody minded that the result felt more French than Korean (18 or 19). Unfortunately, there was also the other bowl to consider, containing the conger eel and eggplant. While the eel was fine, the eggplant tasted very smoky, almost burnt, which pervaded the entire dish - not very pleasant (14 would be generous). But taking into account the outstanding fish, overall still a 18.
The final savory course was a steak of Japanese A5 wagyu that came with a kalbi marinade, cabbage, chopped pine nuts, optionally some truffles and a rice bowl. The beef was of very good quality - quite fatty, but nicely cooked, so that it melted in one's mouth. It went great with the dollop of spicy sauce on its side. The cabbage was light, and a tad sweet, probably mostly meant as a palate cleanser between bites of beef. Similarly, the rice was lightly flavored compared to the beef, and not as distinctive as the rice bowls that often come at the end of Japanese meals. My wife, on the other hand, loved her rice, so YMMV 17. Speaking of, as a pescatarian, her beef was replaced by lobster, which was lightly spicy, nicely cooked and only a little bit chewy 17.
A palate cleanser was a hyssop ice cream that was served with a pear granita and olive oil. The ice cream was very sweet, which meant that it was a good match to the rest of the dish (which was not as flavorful). A nice combination 18.
Finally, the main and only dessert was a sweet potato ice cream with walnut and almond crumbles, black matcha powder and (optionally) shaved black truffles. The ice cream didn't particularly taste of sweet potatoes (which is actually a plus in my book), but instead mostly of sweet cream - lovely. Some cinnamon and the truffles added a bit of earthiness. Altogether, a lovely dessert, perfect for the colder time of the year while staying relatively light 18.
Overall: A nice progression of dishes that were inspired by Korean preparations and customs. Admittedly, if it wasn't for the explanatory cards that came with the dishes, the Korean connection was often not that obvious - bites like these might be had at many fine-dining restaurants that incorporated, say, French and Japanese culinary influences. Tastewise, everything was pleasant, but only a couple dishes approached the level that one would expect for the 8th best restaurant in the world. The majority was good, but not extraordinary 17.
