Hospitality Design - July 2017 - 156

Stark white walls mingle with exposed wooden
ceiling beams in ABC Cocina in New York

JEAN-GEORGES
VONGERICHTEN
Chef and Restaurateur
New York
At Public New York, Ian Schrager's new Lower East Side bastion of
minimalist affordable luxury, the striking concrete architecture comes
courtesy of Swiss duo Herzog & de Meuron; the rooftop bar offers
a 360-degree panorama of the city; and Public Kitchen
(where global cuisine is cooked in the smoker, wood
burning oven, and wood burning grill centerpieces)
and its sister eatery Luis (a grab-and-go bodegameets-luncheonette concept) are two of the
newest projects from prolific chef and
restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten,
a follow-up to the pair's partnership at the
Miami Beach EDITION.
Vongerichten, whose culinary empire
with longtime partner Phil Suarez
stretches across the globe with some 40
outposts, has been cooking professionally
since he was a teenager in France, his
native country. A passion for architecture
and design naturally percolated alongside a
reverence for ingredients. "It's about the visual
aspect. The textures and the colors of food and
design are similar," he says.
Luminaries like David Rockwell, Richard Meier,
Jeffrey Beers, and Christian Liaigre have all worked with the
Michelin-starred chef, and he loves the collaborative process behind
executing a vision. "That's the difference between one person and
a corporation where you have 40 people deciding on a design," he
explains. "They bring their side, of course, which is why you choose
them. But you want to make sure it's functional, that the wood or the
stone you picked follows the theme, and that in two years it doesn't
look like a disaster and is still enjoyable to the eye."
Consider the success of Mercer Kitchen, which opened in 1998
at André Balazs' the Mercer Hotel. The subterranean classic in New
York's SoHo, decked out with brick and leather, remains as relevant
as when it debuted 19 years ago. Although Vongerichten's restaurants
ABC Kitchen, ABC Cocina, and the newly launched vegetarian
outpost abcV (all designed in collaboration with the creative team of

156

July 2017 hospitalitydesign.com

The handiwork of Christian Liaigre, New York's Mercer
Kitchen combines industrial and classic modernism
Photos of ABC Cocina and Mercer Kitchen by FRANCESCO TONELLI

ABC Carpet & Home, where the restaurants are housed) are farmers'
market-driven, Vongerichten credits Mercer Kitchen as his first
farm-to-table restaurant, a rarity when it opened. "Protein is limited.
The variety of vegetables and herbs and spices are endless, and I feel
plants really are the future," he says of his abcV concept.
Growing up in Alsace, Vongerichten always fancied himself as
"an entertainer," he says, organizing everything for family birthday
parties from the music and the lighting to the cake. After he was
thrown out of engineering school (he was sent there in hopes of taking
over the family coal business), he had an epiphany while dining with
his parents at the 3-Michelin-starred Auberge de L'Ill for his 16th
birthday. "When I saw the ballet of waiters, the food, all the details, it
was like, 'Wow, this is something I want to do,'" he recalls. At one
point, the chef came to the table to ask how everything was,
and Vongerichten's father, seeing his son's reaction to
the meal, offered his services peeling potatoes and
washing dishes. It just so happened they were
looking for an apprentice, and a few weeks
later, he started working in the prestigious
kitchen. At the time, in 1973, "becoming a
chef was not the most glamorous thing in
the world," he remembers. "To me, good
food was a big pot at the table at home."
Later, he worked under Paul Bocuse
and Louis Outhier at L'Oasis in southern
France, another Michelin-starred
establishment. He then furthered his
career in various hotels in Asia, spending
time in Bangkok (what he calls life-changing
at the age of 23), Singapore, and Hong Kong,
falling for the spices now synonymous with his
cooking before heading to New York in 1986.
Beyond Public, Vongerichten has been busy
building restaurants for the Oetker Collection of hotels, at
the Eden Rock St. Barths and Palácio Tangara in São Paulo, a hotel
designed by local firms Bick Simonato and Anastassiadis. There's
also his new Dempsey Cookhouse & Bar in Singapore, courtesy of
Paola Navone; a light-filled eponymously named restaurant inside
the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, crafted by Pierre-Yves Rochon;
and one is set to debut at the Connaught in London this summer,
the handiwork of John Heah. A much-anticipated restaurant and
seafood market at New York's storied Pier 17 is also on the boards.
"I've been in New York for almost 32 years now. The day I retire,
I'll probably go to the country," he says, pointing out how much he
relishes cooking in the Westchester home he often escapes to from
the West Village. "But as long as I have the energy to be cooking in
New York, creating spaces that are different and timeless, I'm here."

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