Ever wondered what “Sister” in New York looked like? Click here to see…
…her from behind. Heehee. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I was looking up ABC Kitchen for some reason and happened on this photo, taken when they were still in soft-opening stage, and Sister had her back to the camera. She has gone back to dine there dozens of times and one of the chefs is a family friend (not to mention two Pinays who work in the kitchens), so it’s always on our list of places we must eat at when in Manhattan. They have recently opened ABC Cocina, and I want to try it the next time I find myself in New York.
22 Responses
Sister look tall and classy even it was almost a silhoutte ,shoot fr. behind picture :-)
Tease…;-)
where is abc cocina? we are going to the city this week end.
I know you have posted this before as I’ve seen this photo of sister…..yeah…..at your ABC Kitchen post in 2010….you provided the NYmag link. :)
Somehow I picture sister as a matronly woman, with her hair in a bun, wearing glasses. :) This picture is a total opposite – she looks so sophisticated and from this picture, young and professional. Is she younger than you, MM?
Ok, MM…which Sister?
Hi MM, never been to NY but I heard (read) that Talde in Brooklyn is great. You might want to check it out next time you’re there. xx
Hi,
Picture was taken for New York magazine before ABC Kitchen officially opened. I was dining with a friend early in the evening and didn’t know we were being photographed. Yes, I wear glasses, and never take them off anymore, ever since I overtipped by a thousand at Le Bernardin 22 years ago after a dinner for 16 in the private dining room. Waiter was kind enough to point out the addition mistake and after that I never take off my glasses until I go to sleep. I still love Le Bernardin.
Yesterday I met one of marketman’s readers from Sweden at Union Square market and we went to ABC Cocina for lunch. Coincidentally the NY Times dining section review appeared same day and Wells gave ABC Cocina 2 stars. It was an odd review, and never mentioned the dishes that I like, but I am biased after all and get royally treated whenever I go there. 6 of us dined there for my birthday last Friday and we ate through the menu. It was very good and I personally would have given it 3 stars but I’m not the New York Times critic.
Your reader I think enjoyed the meal, mostly we had seafood, namely a crab and corn fritter with a spicy mayo dip, squid stuffed with chorizo served w/ an heirloom tomato salad, vegetable empanadas with a tomato jam, fried fish tacos with house pickles, an arroz con pollo with fried chicharon chicken skins and grated lemon zest. Each dish was large enough for 2 to share. We were too stuffed to explore dessert.
Dishes were priced between $10 and $20 with the most expensive being a lobster arroz. Lunch for 2 was $73. without the tip. Wines are well chosen and modestly priced as well.
I would recommend a visit for anyone coming to New York shortly, it is located on East 19th between Park and Broadway. If you can’t get a reservation simply show up at noon for lunch and 5:30 pm for dinner and hope for the best. You can also try ABC Kitchen which is still very good and run by the same team.
Have you posted or referred to that picture in the past, MM? I’m having a deja vu moment here. :)
from peachkitchen.com :)
https://www.thepeachkitchen.com/2013/06/zubuchon-biting-into-the-best-pig-ever/
Sister..got a chuckle on overtipping,Quite a while ago..I was dining with my daughter& her boyfriend and they pick up the bill …so I offer for the tip,without contacts I left a very ,very,generous tip in cash ^-* After that ,dining out with glasses or contacts is must, Thank you for the tip on ABC Cocina. How do keep yourself svelte,when you enjoy all that fabulous calorie ladden food? You sure look good!
Dear Sleepless in Seattle,
Thank you for the kind words but I am feeling very old these days. I should tell you that I am nearly 15 years older than marketman. Can’t wear contacts so I am never without glasses if my eyes are open.
Other reviews for Cocina were mixed but it still is the most talked about restaurant to open this summer. Maybe marketman will get some pictures from the lunch from his reader.
Best from NYC.
Sister
Marketman is losing it… didn’t realize I provided that link before! Yipes, readers recall what’s been on the blog more than I do! :)
I take that comment as a yes. :)
Aww..love your comment sister..I have been following MM blog for quite a while now..Wealth of knowledge that I have learned between MM & you ,the readers..Betty Q,Apicio,footloose,lots of nameless ones ..are priceless,just consider myself lucky when I stumble MM blog while googling a fruit,this is the only site I usually visit regularly..and Sis,all of us are getting older and I am loving it…for my hubby & decide to retire early and enjoy life it offers.Take care both of you!
It is all right MM! We all have our lapses as we grow older ;)
MM, that’s ok. You still teased us to take a look and see what Sister looked like. I know it’s not April Fool’s day nor is it San Juan day… but you definitely fooled us!
Definitely have to try ABC… have tried Talde last year and it was good. I hope he maintains it as he progresses. Now people are also talking about Jeepney…not sure how it is.
Hi Sister,
What an amazing memory you have to remember the dishes that you had for lunch at ABC Cocina. The menus nowadays in better restaurants are sometimes too well described to remember afterwards even if the dishes are good. Together with a glass of wine or two, then it could just be a memory of how great or fantastic the experience was. I resort to taking photos (if I remember) to aid me in the description of the dishes, especially if the dinner is a tasting menu and the chef’s creativity is let loose. Sometimes, one is lucky and the menus are available on the restaurants’ website. Thanks for a well-described lunch, which sounded very delicious.
hello sister. how did you over tip by over a thousand dollars? eric ripert took over le bernadin in 94-95 I believe so he must not have been there yet. what was the early 90s menu prices during that time?
i was at el bulli for the restaurant’s closing three years ago and my tip alone was close to a thousand dollars. well worth it I believe!
steve, sister probably won’t return to this post, hence my stab at an answer. Overtipping probably an extra zero so rather than say 100.00 it was 1000.00. ? We have been going to Le Bernardin since it opened, and the untimely death of Guy le Coze(?) resulted in his Sister remaining front of the house, and Eric Ripert, the sous-Chef then, rising to Chef and part owner. Ripert was there for many years if not from the beginning before becoming head chef I think… Dinners in the early 90’s would already have easily been $100 or more a head with modest wine.
hello MM, i believe ripert moved to the states in the late 80’s (’89 i believe). i think he started at LB a few months before he was promoted to exec chef due to le coze’s death.
steve, you may be right… according to Wikipedia, Ripert moved to the U.S. in 89, spent two years in Washington, then a year at Bouley, which would have had him joining Le Bernardin in 92 or 93, long after the restaurant first opened its doors in 1986, the year I graduated from college, and probably the first time I ate at LB. And Ripert took over after Le Coze died in 1994. So he was only at LB less than a couple of years before he took over it seems… :)
Steve, you piqued my interest, so I just got up and went to my cookbook shelf and pulled out Eric Ripert’s “On the Line” — Inside the the World of Le Bernardin… and here is the chronology:
And I quote:
“In September 1990 I moved to New York to work with David Bouley, whom I’d cooked with at Jamin. After six months, out of the blue, Gilbert Le Coze called ……….. I went, and we had an incredible connection right away. That was January 1991, and I told him I wasn’t available until June. He said he was willing to wait. By April (1991) I was chef de cuisine at Le Bernardin. I was twenty-six.”
Since Le Coze died July 30, 1994, then Ripert was therefore in the kitchens of Le Bernardin for 3 years an 4 months prior to that tragic event.