I so looked forward to trying the fare of Chef/owner Roxanne Spruance after reading of her culinary past that included Chicago’s Blackbird, WD 50, Blue Hill at Stone Barns and much more. We browsed her limited menu, trying to decide what to order. Our server (who was very well trained), provided detailed descriptions of each.
The first offering — our amuse bouche — was a fresh oyster from the west coast topped with an apple horseradish. I thought that a strange selection as many people don’t eat these mollusks. The service at Kingsley is outstanding; the dishes unique.
Our first selection was a hearty amount of perfectly charred octopus ($18) over an oddly flavored butternut squash mole, with shredded delicata squash ribbons and quince pieces. That generous starter on its unique plate was a favorite, one that we demolished along with a side of roasted Brussels sprouts ($10) in miso butter.
We ordered both pastas, asking for the larger size of the caramelized cipollini onion pasta ($17/26) with leeks and black garlic. As the almost empty plate was placed before us, we asked the server whether it was, in fact, the large portion. Sadly, it was. The caramelized flavor was delicious, but the portion size ridiculous for the price. The server defended that this was listed under “mids,” which are supposed to be medium size.
The flavorful celeriac agnolotti ($17) portion although small was as large as our double portion of the other. This dish, artfully arranged on the top half of the pottery, contained seared foie gras, sweet-flavored mesquite cakes and the pasta squares all drizzled with a black pepper gastrique. I recommend.
We also shared sides of fried cauliflower ($10) with lemon, parsley and breadcrumbs and the new potatoes ($10) with garlic, shallots and parsley and skipped an entree, as none of the limited menu items enticed us. Instead, we shared two decomposed desserts ($13 each), which like to onion pasta, were also artfully arranged on the upper rim of a place.
Skip the ho-hum popcorn creme brûlée with chocolate gelato; we found the addition of the popcorn bizarre as the sorry soggy morsels added nothing to the dessert. Do try her luscious chocolate mint concoction with many types of chocolate treats along with mint gelato; I highly recommend for chocolate lovers.
Kingsley
East Village
190 Avenue B
New York City, NY
(212) 674-4500
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