Spice Market
On Friday night, I took Therese to Spice Market, award-winning chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten‘s Asian fusion restaurant in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. I had been wanting to take her there for many months, ever since she told me that she went there with work colleagues more than a year ago. So it was with great anticipation that we looked forward to our dinner.
We decided to do the Tasting Menu, and also the wine pairing to go with that menu. It consisted of 5 courses and 5 glasses of wine. There was two courses that included dairy. For the first, the Chicken Samosas, at issue was a cilantro yogurt that was served on the side, so I easily avoided that. The second thing to watch was the dessert – both the coconut ice and the Pavlova were dairy-laden, so they brought me a mango sorbet instead. However, the dessert wines, a dessert sake and Muscato, were so amazing that it hardly mattered to me what the accompanying dessert was.
We were thrilled with the whole meal. Therese particularly loved the Tuna Sashimi with Crispy Rice, while my favorite was probably the Crispy Pork Belly with Tamarind Nouc Cham. My favorite wine went with the latter, a Ponzi Pinot Noir whose fruitiness perfectly complimented the salty creaminess of the fatty pork belly. Our server mentioned that his favorite is the Spiced Chicken Samosas, and we enjoyed those as well! In fact, we enjoyed everything.
Chicken Samosa
Crispy Pork Belly
Vegetable fried rice
Dessert with dessert wines – a dessert sake and Muscato
The atmosphere at Spice Market is certainly part of the appeal, from its beautiful central atrium to the exposed kitchen. I’ve never been to Bangkok (or any part of East Asia), but I can imagine that Spice Market’s decor evokes the mystery and romance of that part of the world.
Therese’s seat
Dining area with exposed kitchen
Central atrium at Spice Market
And then there is the neighborhood, one of New York’s happening places. After dinner, we went for a walk and did a little shopping at an incredible furniture store nearby, Arhaus (we loved their chandeliers). It was a special night for us, and we look forward to our next time at Spice Market!
