New York City: The Smith (March 2019)

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New York City (March 2019)

My spouse and I visited New York City for 1 night in mid-March 2019 in order to eat dinner at Atomix, an upscale Korean restaurant that offers a chef's tasting menu. (It is a really tough reservation to get, since the restaurant seats only 12 people at a U-shaped counter.) We stayed nearby at the Hilton Garden Inn Park Avenue. We also dined at a casual Korean restaurant called Her Name Is Han (very different yet equally as good at Atomix) and the Second Avenue Deli (where we've eaten before because they have great pastrami sandwiches). We popped into the Morgan Library and Museum (where we've visited before) because they were hosting a special exhibition focused on JRR Tolkien (who wrote The Lord of the Rings).

Hotel:

• Hilton Garden Inn Park Avenue Link to my review

Restaurants:

• Atomix Link to my review
• Her Name Is Han Link to my review
• Second Avenue Deli Link to my review

Activity:

• Morgan Library and Museum (JRR Tolkien exhibit) Link to myreview
  
  

New York City: Hilton Garden Inn Park Avenue (March 2019)

Hilton Garden Inn Park Avenue - Rooms Smallish, TV Position Inconvenient, HVAC Issues

My spouse and I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn New York Park Avenue on a Saturday evening in early March 2019. We reserved our stay online using the Hilton HHonors website. We received an email from the property manager in advance of our stay, which was a nice touch. (We also received an email afterwards thanking us and asking for comments.) Although we didn’t receive an email offering online check-in the day prior to our stay, we could have done so through the Hilton website.

The HGI Park Avenue is located on East 33^rd Street (between Madison and Park Avenues). Many restaurants (including Wolfgang’s Steak House on the corner), bars, shops, and other hotels are located within walking distance, as is one of NYC’s iconic sights, the Empire State Building. A Duane Reade Pharmacy and a 7-11 convenience store are located on the same block as the hotel, so you can purchase drinks (including alcohol), snacks, and sundry items for your room. (The hotel also offers a 24-hour pantry where you can purchase items [although not beer or wine].)

Hotel amenities include a 24-hour fitness center on the basement level (which we did not use), a business center, free Wi-Fi, private function rooms, and a full-service restaurant and bar (called The Ainsworth, which also offers a second-floor terrace bar). (Although we are Hilton HHonors Diamond members, we requested additional points for our stay rather than eating the hotel’s buffet breakfast.) The hotel offers a complimentary beverage station in the lobby, with either hot coffee or cold flavored water, depending on the time of day. The small lobby is attractive, offering seating in three places: a more private street-view lounge area, a space with a high communal table for working or eating, and another soothing lounge area with a water feature.

The hotel offers rooms in the categories of King (247 square feet), King View (241 square feet), 2 Doubles, and 2-Room Suite (319 square feet). Guest rooms offer free Wi-Fi, microwaves, mini-refrigerators, electronic safes, and Keurig coffee machines. We felt the TV was a little undersized for our room (even though the room was not large); even worse was that the TV was positioned atop a low piece of furniture, which made viewing from the (somewhat high) bed difficult. Our HVAC unit didn’t seem to function properly, but because we had read so many reviews from past guests with similar problems, it didn’t seem worth calling the front desk to try to fix it. We were assigned Room 1100, which gave us a slight view of the Empire State Building (although we didn’t book a “view” room, we were upgraded at check in; in return for the view, we got 6 square feet less of floor space). Although our room was located right next to one of the three elevators, we never heard it. (We also never waited more than a minute for an elevator, despite the hotel being sold out.) Our room had a long hallway that contained the closet and storage unit for the microwave and refrigerator. The contemporary bathroom was located off the hallway, with a full-size modern shower (no bathtub), toilet, and vanity with single sink (which offered plenty of storage space, along with lots of towel and complimentary Neutrogena toiletries of shampoo, conditioner, and lotion). The main room had a king-size bed with a nightstand on each side, the furniture piece that held the TV, a desk with a rolling chair, and a comfy chair and ottoman.

We loved the location of the HGI Park Avenue, and we could have dealt with the coziness of the room if the TV had been better positioned (even mounted to the wall, which would provide more surface space for people to store belongings) and the HVAC system worked properly.

New York City: Atomix (March 2019)

Atomix - Distinguishes Itself from Other Chef’s Tasting Experiences

My spouse and I dined at Atomix for dinner on a Saturday evening in early March 2019. Atomix (pronounced ah-TOE-mix) is open for dinner on Tuesdays through Saturdays (closed Sundays and Mondays). We booked our spot online one month in advance using the pre-paid Tock reservation system. (For example, March reservations became available on February 1; April reservations became available on March 1, and so on.) This very popular restaurant always sells out quickly. Using Tock (set up an account ahead of time, so that on the day you reserve, you can just select a day/time and press a button), you must pre-pay for the entire meal ($225 per person, which includes tax and gratuity). On the night that you dine, you pay separately for your beverages.

Atomix opened in 2018 in a townhouse on East 30^th Street. Upon climbing the steps to the brownstone, we had a difficult time choosing which door to enter (there is no sign or mark indicating behind which door is the restaurant). After picking the correct door, we saw that the first floor contained a bar and lounge area that serves drinks and small plates; you can dine there without a reservation. Below street level (down an elegant set of stairs) is another small lounge area that adjoins the main dining room with its 14-seat rectangular black granite counter. Before being seated for dinner, guests first enjoy some drinks and small bites in a casual group setting, although we arrived too late to partake. Diners are invited to choose a set of chopsticks from the chef’s collection, and other serveware is handmade by artisans in South Korea. Prior to each course, a tunic-clad server places a card in front of each diner that contains a Korean word describing the dish. The back of the card lists the dish’s ingredients. At the end of the evening, the restaurant packages the cards together to take home as a unique souvenir.

Atomix is operated by a husband-and-wife team, JP and Ellia. He (formerly the chef de cuisine at Jungsik, where we dined in August 2017; see our separate review) is the chef, and she manages the front-of-house. The duo also operate the more casual Atoboy (pronounced ah-TOE-boy), located just two short blocks away. (We dined at Atoboy in October 2019; see our separate review.)

Atomix serves a Korean 10-course tasting menu. Before our meal, I ordered a drink called the Samioko, made with tequila, mezcal, grapefruit, lemon, and honey. There were three splashes of sesame oil on top, so when I sipped, I tasted sweetness and immediately smelled the sesame oil. It was ingenious! But onto the food …

• We first received two amuse bouche: a crispy shell filled with crudo and a miniature truffle tart.
• At this point, we were shown some enormous black truffles and asked whether we wanted to add them to any or all of 3 courses (two of them were Jjim [snow crab] and Jorim [wagyu]) for about $20 per plate; although the price seemed reasonable, we passed on the offer).

1. "Guk" – maesaengi (seaweed), garlic custard, uni, pork broth
2. "Hwe" (Raw)– yellowtail, carrot jang, chojang (sweet chili pepper sauce), perilla leaf
3. "Jeon" (Fried) – potato, fermented yuza, herbs, flowers (THIS WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE COURSES)
4. "Jjim"(Steam) –snow crab, grandada pepper, trout roe, tapioca, white kimchi sauce (ANOTHER FAVORITE)
   banchan: gyeranmari (a rolled omelette) with myeongran jeot cream (salted seafood)
5. "Twigim" (Fried)– soondae (blood sausage), gim (seaweed), ssamjang (spicy) dip
   banchan: mustard kimchi and cuttlefish
6. "Sukchae"(Blanched) – celeriac, buttermilk cheese, hazelnut milk, caviar
   black rice (which looked purple) with sweet potatoes, ginger, chive (WE DIDN’T LOVE THE RICE SIDE DISH)
7. "Gui" (Grilled) –snapper, kohlrabi kimchi, nuruk sauce (ANOTHER FAVORITE)
   banchan: parse (seaweed), dubu skin, wasabi (WE DIDN’T LOVE THIS BANCHAN)
8. "Jorim" (Braised) – wagyu, fermented red pepper, ginger leaf oil (YUMMO!)
   rice: white rice with an assortment of lettuces to eat ssam style (wrapped) (WE LIKED THE UNIQUENESS OF THIS SIDE DISH BUT NOT NECESSARILY THE FLAVOR)
9. "Ipgasim" (palate cleanser)– makgeolli (rice wine ice cream), quince, pear, sumac meringue
10. "Husik" (Sweet/Dessert) – red bean paste, persimmon, pine nut (WE LOVED THIS BECAUSE WE HADN’T EXPECTED THE BEAN PASTE TO BE WARM)

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at Atomix; the food, atmosphere, and service were top-notch!