Sunday, November 18, 2012

Mission Chinese NYC, welcome to the neighborhood.

On a recent slushy mess of an evening, Stefano and I braved the snow to travel a few miserable bone-soaking blocks to the NY outpost of Danny Bowien's budding San Francisco based empire, Mission Chinese Food. We were rewarded for our bravery (some may call it gluttony) by a small miracle, we were seated immediately. Mission Chinese doesn't take reservations, although you can e-mail on the day you will be dining and they may put aside a table for you. For the unprepared, be ready to wait an hour or more. This isn't the end of the world since there is free beer on tap, and the staff is genuinely friendly. We shook ourselves off in the vestibule that doubles as a take-out counter, shot a beer, and settled into our seats for what was to be a memorable meal.


Danny Bowien, the chef and founder of Mission Chinese food, deserves to be lauded for many reasons. First and foremost, the food is truly excellent here. He has a steady hand in the kitchen, and almost universally, everything I have tasted here is lip-smackingly good. I first tasted his food in his original pop-up kitchen in San Francisco's Mission district last year. It was an eye-opening and delicious evening. When I ate at the NYC restaurant on Orchard Street last week, the meal was the equal of the first.


With the onslaught of so many truly horrible Asian fusion restaurants popping up all over the country in the last decade, it's nice to see someone approach fusion in a thoughtful and inventive manner. Not every dish here is fusion, but the ones that are succeed in a remarkable way. Brisket with Chinese broccoli in smoked oyster sauce? Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Kung Pao Pastrami? Sign me up! Even though we didn't order either of these entrees, the adventurous couple next to us had, and were more than happy to share a little bit of these dynamite dishes . We of course reciprocated. It's all part of the fun at Mission Chinese.


To kick things off, we ordered  the lamb with cumin which arrived crispy on the outside and tender, fatty, and juicy on the inside. It was served "Fajita style" with thick meaty clumps resting on a bed of onion-dominated sauteed vegetables. As we lustily dug into those crusty slabs of lamb I though to myself, this could turn a vegan.

Lamb with Cumin (stolen pic from another blog)

Other dishes, such as "Thrice cooked bacon" sauteed with rice cakes were also stellar. The bacon here has a true depth of flavor that penetrates the palate in waves. The thin slices of rice cake that accompany the bacon soak up a lot of the bacon's flavor, and so do the dried chili and scallions that share the plate. These normally bland tasting rice noodles struck a perfect counterpoint to a bacon and together they make a devilishly flavorful dish.

Thrice cooked bacon (thanks google images!)

We also tried the chicken wings. They were fried and arrived perched atop a carpet of chiles. The wings, remarkably grease-free, were also slathered with a type of powdery coating  reminiscent of five spice, They have almost an addictive flavor. I was literally licking my lips when I ate them. Literally...licking...my lips. And this is where Danny Bowien exceeds. Every dish we tried here was bursting with flavor, to the point that there was an element of guilt involved- can this much flavor be healthy? Do I deserve this? This begs comparison to another chef known for highly seasoned dishes and "flavor profiles' (whatever that means), Bobby Flay. Based on all the buzz Danny Bowien has been receiving, Danny Bowien's  star is every bit as ascendent as Bobby Flay's, and burning brighter in my book.

Wings at Mission Chinese- another pic I ripped off
A few other things are different about this restaurant. Both in SF and NY I had extremely delightful and chummy service, to the point that I wanted to join our waiter for a drink after dinner the other night. And it wasn't just our waiter, everyone we came into contact with their was extremely nice to us. It just seems like the people that work at Mission Chinese are happy to be there. This can really only mean one thing- great management. From the free tap beer on tap one is offered while waiting for the table to the 75 cents from every entree that is donated to charity, you can feel good about spending your money at Mission Chinese. The bottom line here isn't the almighty dollar, its Gross National Happiness.

And you won't spend a lot here either. The dishes are essentially half-priced. This restaurant  could easily charge much, much, more for what it is serving. At Mission Chinese, they are opening up a caliber of dining experience, based on the quality and ingenuity of the cooking, that would ordinarily be out of range for many people. Lucky for us they aren't charging more, and lucky for me they are only two blocks away from my apartment. Did I mention they deliver? Welcome to the neighborhood Mission Chinese, we are going to become very good friends.



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