In this week’s New York, Adam Platt checks out Acme, which replaced Acme Bar & Grill on Great Jones Street. The co-owners from other downtown hot spots Indochine and BondSt have fostered a “chic hunter-gatherer lounge,” with ”mixologists … dressed like members of an eighties-era rock band.” “The real star at Acme, however, is” chef Mads Refslund, who co-founded Noma in Copenhagen. “Some of Refslund’s seasonal creations feel stagy and slight (it’s the middle of winter, after all), but there’s a rigorous, just-plucked freshness to the best of his cooking that separates Acme from the fashionably rustic restaurants that keep popping up,” our critic writes. Among the best dishes are Pearl Barley and Clams stew, “frothy, crunchy celery-root-and-chestnut soup,” and “soft and sweet hay-smoked sunchokes”; the restaurant earns two stars.
Meanwhile, Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld decode the history of the Reuben sandwich (or try to — there are dueling origin myths) and have a look at some of the city’s nouveau versions, including those found at Court Street Grocers, Kutsher’s Tribeca, and Zoë. The Robs also bring news from beloved kaiseki restaurant Kajitsu, which is moving to midtown and getting a new chef. And if you’re in the mood to enliven winter’s dull fare, here’s a recipe from Wylie Dufresne for emu-egg fondue.
