Restaurant Name: Ken & Cook
Location: NoLita
The Scoup: Cozy, New American, little Restaurant on Kenmare
The Vibe:
Ken & Cook is nestled in the eastern part of NoLita, surrounded by several restaurants and by closely settled streets. Around the corner, you have some of SoHo’s best bars along with a couple bakeries if that meets your fancy. Talk about a perfect place for a cozy dinner for two. The interior of this place was great. Exposed brick, very very attractive bar, chalkboard menus, and small enough that it seemed very intimate & inviting. Our waiter was absolutely fabulous & gave us AMAZING recommendations which we were very thankful for. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with anything on Ken & Cook’s menu, but it was nice to have some solid guidance. Also to note: their music game was on point. Old school classics. Loved it.
The Bevs:
We stuck with wine - and they have a top notch wine list. We chose Malbec - our personal fave for a red & also at a great price point. Sold.
The Chow:
The Apps: We were back and forth between what we wanted for appetizers because, quite frankly, there are so many things we could have chosen and we were exceedingly ravenous. Ultimately, we settled on the salmon avocado tartare & the lobster salad - two absolutely delicious choices - but will be back to try the burrata (because, obviously), beet salad, and crab cakes-oh, and the cheese plates … yeah, we will definitely be back. So to start, the salmon avocado tartare. This was a delicious masterpiece, a work of art. So fresh, so delicious.
It was a fantastic mix of raw salmon with the creaminess of the avocado & the light chili mayo and cucumbers. Tantalizingly refreshing. We would 100% order it again… and again. For the second, the lobster salad. This was basically a tower of lobbstah, carrots, cukes, radishes, avocado & string beans mixed in a light vinaigrette — absolutely killed it. The apps were really, really on point & we have to shout out to our waiter for helping us confirm our order.#Appreciate.
The Entrees:
So we went with the bouillabaisse (yeah, you try pronouncing that one) and the rack of lamb. The bouillabaisse was quite honestly one of my favorite meals of all time - and that’s a pretty strong statement. I’m a BIG seafood lover, so this plate had my name written all over it. The wild shrimp, the squid, the mussels, and the entire branzino mixed in this light tomato sauce with basmati rice—come on. SO. GOOD.
The second entree was a rack of lamb with caramelized onions, fingerling potatoes, carrots & spinach. My friend, who is a very big lamb person, said this was the best lamb she had EVER had. A lot of strong statements coming out of this dinner, am I right? Cooked perfectly with an amazing glaze, the lamb was incredible. Additionally, the vegetables created such a succulent bite - salty potatoes, soft onions - perfeciotn. God, can I go back now?
Aaaaand lastly, because we hadn’t indulged quite enough, we ended with their chocolate cake - basically a lava cake, which we apparently get every time we go to a restaurant — #noregrets. It was absurd how good it was. Melt in your mouth, absolute heaven. A little bit of a game changer was the dusted graham cracker underneath the ice cream, I mean, come on. Divine.
The Recap:
Ken & Cook had us from hello with their cozy decor and friendly wait staff. And from there, we were sold. They kept us extremely happy throughout the meal and kept bringing out winning plates. We will definitely be back as soon as possible. And by that we mean, we may or may not go tonight. TBD. It’s just the perfect spot to eat with anyone.