ABC Cocina

ABC Cocina is a restaurant opened by the parent company ABC Carpet and Home and located next door to their Manhattan store in the Flatiron district (not to be confused with ABC Kitchen).

It's not too often that furniture stores open restaurants (I don't think Ikea and the Ikea food court counts...) but when you step inside ABC Cocina it sort-of all makes sense. The decor is -for lack of a better (and less corny) word - beautiful. The light fixtures include little glass globes that dangle from the ceiling and the back of the restaurant is separated from ABC Carpet and Home by large ornate French doors.

As for the food, it is a Jean-Georges collaboration, but unlike ABC Kitchen (his other collaboration with ABC Carpet and Home) and unlike most of his other restaurants, the theme of the food is Spanish/Latin.



The menu is tapas-style:

To start, Daniella and I ordered the guacamole with sungold tomato salsa and warm crunchy tortillas. The salsa also had some red grapefruit in it. Based on appearance I expected it to be sweeter in flavor than it actually was.

Next we had the  raw shaved fluke with green chili dressing and crunchy rice and herbs (one of my favorite things that we ordered):

We also ordered the sautéed mushroom tacos with mole, kale and lime:

 And baby calamari stuffed with chorizo, celery root, chickpeas, and basil:

Last but definitely not least was the crunchy Mexican spiced French toast and roasted apples. This was one of the best French toast dishes EVER. Crispy on the outside, and warm and soft on the inside. Yum yum!

Before we started eating, Daniella and I had plans to stop by the Union Square Farmer's Market (just a few blocks away) for apple cider donuts for dessert, but by the time brunch was over we were too stuffed. There's always next time...


We did however stop by the Union Square Holiday Market, where we found some new hats! Well... not entirely... since despite my aggressive peer-pressuring Daniella didn't decide to buy this one 

As for ABC Cocina - I will definitely be back for another serving of that French toast! Probably soon :D


Rating: 8/10

ABC Cocina
38 E. 19th St
New York, NY 10003