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!