LEISURE^27
Food & Drink
Jeong Chicago
“It’s exciting to watch as a talented chef
steps into the spotlight and absolutely kills
it,” said Jeff Ruby in Chicago magazine.
Two years ago, Dave Park and his fiancée,
Jennifer Tran, were running a Korean fast-
food kiosk in a suburban mall and experi-
menting with a nightly tasting menu served
at a table in the kitchen. Today, they have
a sleek Noble Square restaurant of their
own, and Park, on the strength of his $87
tasting menu, stands “on the verge of mega-
stardom.” Park caught my attention with a
puck of salmon tartare brushed with yuzu
and doenjang (a fermented soybean paste)
and served alongside crème fraîche: Not
just my favorite dish of 2019 so far, it’s “my
favorite anything.” And following that were
courses that rank as “stone-cold master-
pieces”: a seared scallop with gingery, gar-
licky greens and a clementine beurre blanc,
then a sunchoke croquette with American
wagyu and a kimchi-truffle emulsion. Even
the wine pairings at Jeong are perfect. “If
I sound like a fanboy, so be it.” Jeong is
“Chicago’s most exciting new restaurant.”
1460 W. Chicago Ave., (312) 877-5016Kawi New York City
Momofuku’s David Chang is clearly inca-
pable of creating a dull restaurant, said
Ryan Sutton in Eater.com. At Manhattan’s
Hudson Yards, the bland new luxury hous-
ing and retail complex on Manhattan’sCritics’ choice: The continuing rise of fine Korean dining
Vincent Tullo/The New York Times/Redux, Stacy Zarin Goldberg/The Washington Post
“I love an old-fashioned icebox cake”—a cake that comes together in the fridge rather
than in a hot oven, said Jessie Sheehan in The Washington Post. The easiest version
is just cookies and whipped cream: The cream softens the cookies, then solidifi es
enough when chilled that it can be sliced. But there are endless riffs on the concept—
like this cake, inspired by a popular rum cocktail.Recipe of the week
- Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with plastic
wrap so it overhangs on all sides. Whisk
cream in a stand mixer on medium 2 to
3 minutes, until it begins to thicken. Add
sugar and vanilla and whisk until stiff
peaks form. Transfer half the cream to
another bowl and whisk in
lime zest and juice (to taste)
by hand. Add rum to cream
remaining in standing mixer
bowl and whisk on medium-
high about 30 seconds. - Using a spatula, spread a
layer of rum cream in bottom
of pan. Cover with a layer of cookies, fi ll-
ing gaps with broken pieces. Add a layer
of lime cream and cover with another
cookie layer. Alternate fl avored whipped
creams and cookies, ending with a layer
of lime cream that rises slightly above the
pan. Cover with overhang-
ing plastic wrap. Refrigerate
6 to 8 hours, or preferably
overnight.- Invert cake onto a serving
platter. Sprinkle cake top
with lime zest. To serve, slice
with a long, serrated knife.
Dark and stormy icebox cake
3 cups heavy cream • ½ cup granulated sugar • 4 tsp vanilla extract • 2 to 3 tbsp fi nely
grated lime zest, plus more for decorating • 2 to 3 tbsp fresh lime juice, or more as
desired • 2 tbsp dark rum • about 56 gingersnaps, preferably Stauffer’sHudson River waterfront, Chang has cre-
ated a new gem by keeping the setting sim-
ple and finding another visionary talent to
run the kitchen. Eunjo Park, who grew up
in Seoul, is far from New York’s first cham-
pion of Korean cuisine, but she elevates all
she touches. Her kimbap (rice and seaweed
rolls) are stuffed with foie gras, short rib,
and dried anchovy, then served alongside
trout roe. Her tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes)
are pan-fried in chile jam, then topped with
Benton’s smoky mountain ham, and “the
net effect is a bloodred product sporting
the dense chew of a firm steak, the fire of
hot wings, and the complex, nutty porki-
ness of Spanish Iberico.” Don’t miss the
raw crabs marinated in soy sauce, a deli-
cacy hard to find in this country. And don’texpect river vistas. At windowless Kawi,
views of the open kitchen are the only ones
that matter. 20 Hudson Yards, 5th floor,
(646) 517-2699Maum Palo Alto, Calif.
Think of Meichih and Michael Kim’s
year-old restaurant as “a love letter to
Los Angeles’ Koreatown and to Korean
cuisine at large,” said Soleil Ho in the San
Francisco Chronicle. The name means
“heart,” but the couple express their love
of the food without sentimentality. Their
$195 tasting menu opens with the evening’s
16 guests mingling over Champagne and
small bites—witty snacks such as a play
on Korean potato salad or Kusshi oysters
garnished with ice flakes made from kim-
chi juice. Once the group is seated, the
courses proceed from caviar to vegetables
to seafood, culminating in wagyu beef galbi
presented family style, so that diners roll
it into shiso and lettuce leaves themselves.
But the actual climax is a large cast-iron
pot of rice that arrives with the beef and
always garners gasps and cheers from the
Kims’ appreciative diners. “The warmth of
that unassuming pot is, I think, the heart of
Maum,” a concise expression of the Kims’
affection for the traditions of Koreatown.
They “pour themselves out for their audi-
ence, night after night,” and “for a short
moment,” we see the world through their
eyes. 322 University Ave., (650) 656-8161Kawi’s Park: Elevating everything she touchesPut down that can of hard seltzer, said
Elin McCoy in Bloomberg.com. Even on
the hottest days wine is always superior,
if it’s chilled and you choose wisely. “The
requirements for a heat wave–ready wine
are simple: high acidity and low alcohol,
preferably well below 12.5 percent.”
Here, three that are delicious any time.
2018 Txomin Etxaniz Getariako Txako-
lina ($17). Spain’s txakoli is easily my
favorite hot-weather wine. “It’s always
light, cool, tangy, citrusy, salty, and
lightly spritzy, like ocean spray.”
2018 G.D. Vajra Moscato d’Asti ($22).
At a mere 5.5 percent alcohol, this
can be your go-to day-drinking wine.
“Lightly sweet and sparkling,” it
offers orange blossom aromas and
“fl avors of fresh citrus and spice.”
2017 Planeta Frappato ($20). This
light Sicilian red does hit 12.5 per-
cent ABV, but it smells of roses
and violets and “shows the fresh
crunchiness of red berries.”Wine: Heat busters