Bon Appétit Unveils Its New BA Kitchen Avec Chef Andrew Carmellini

by Alexandra Ilyashov February 25, 2015

written by Alexandra Ilyashov February 25, 2015

Forget the recently-opened Condé caf at 1 WTC: Bon Appétit has finally opened its BA Kitchen in their newish downtown digs, and the results are pretty stunning. (Those expansive 35th-floor views don’t hurt, either.) Last night, the glossy threw a party to celebrate the new BA Kitchen, with chef Andrew Carmellini cooking up some of his greatest hits from Little Park, Bar Primi, The Dutch, and Locanda Verde at stations dispersed throughout the gleaming space. Chefs like Daniel Boulud, Tom Colicchio, Wylie Dufresne, Landmarc’s Marc Murphy, Navy’s Camille Becerra, Dimes’ Sabrina De Sousa, and All’Onda’s Chris Jaeckle along with fashion folks like J.Crew’s Jenna Lyons, WHIT’s Whitney Pozgay, and Lulu Frost’s Lisa Salzer.On the menu: jalapeño-tinged Palomas, Old Fashioneds, and Moscow Mules, perfect for washing down spoonfuls of caviar, beet tarts, massive chicharróns, nibbles from a raw bar, and plenty more.

The Daily caught up with Salzer and fiance Marlon Taylor-Wiles over some carciofi ravioli from Bar Primi. As for the couple’s at-home dining habits? “I cook, he cleans. It’s a great deal. I’ll take it any day of the week!” Salzer explained. “I make lots of soups, like veggie chili and corn chowder, and crab cakes. Marlon and I are recent veg-heads. We’re vegetarians of five months! We still eat fish, though. It happened after we read the [Jonathan Safran Foer] book, Eating Animals. Watch out, carnivores.” For the meat eaters in the crowd, however, Carmellini’s gorgeous porchetta, plated with broccoli rabe and beans, was pretty much unmissable. Next on Salzer and Taylor-Wiles’ cooking list is actually from BA‘s pages: “There’s a recipe for crispy Thai shrimp I saw in Bon Appétit, and I literally tore it out of the magazine! It has Fresno chilis, cilantro, coconut milk…it looks insane,” said Salzer.

“I love that I can come down here every morning and make myself really good scrambled eggs at 8:45 a.m., but unlike 4 Times Square, where the BA Kitchen was a windowless space, I can check out the beautiful views. It’s a great way to start the day!” said Bon Appétit EIC Adam Rapoport of the new space. The trick to making eggs a la Rapoport: “Medium-low heat, butter melted in the pan, crack the eggs directly into the pan, add salt and pepper, and slowly massage them with a rubber spatula until they just start to come together. Really soft, really tender, the yellows [yolks] stay yellow, and the whites stay white. Everyone always overcooks their scrambled eggs!” Yeah, we’re definitely trying that technique tomorrow morning…