Bathhouse Williamsburg

A Chef’s Tasting in a Bathrobe, at Bathhouse Kitchen | The New Yorker

"On a recent visit to the ten-thousand-square-foot underground spa and restaurant in Williamsburg that opened in 2019, I experienced a deliberately nontraditional bath complex that integrates elements of Turkish hammams, Russian banyas, and Korean jjimjilbangs without committing to any single tradition; founder Jason Goodman envisioned a cosmopolitan spiritual sanatorium offering “an uncomplicated borderline-primal human experience,” inspired by everything from a National Geographic photo of snow monkeys in hot springs to a sweat-lodge ceremony in north Georgia. During a two-hour “journey” of alternating dry sauna (190°F), cold-plunge pool (52°F), and steam room (115°F) I slipped into the relaxed “spa brain” regulars praise, and then ate at Bathhouse Kitchen (where, on a heated patio, you can dine without purchasing spa entry), whose chef Anthony Sousa—veteran of Chez Ma Tante and Eleven Madison Park—was instructed to build a menu that would leave eaters feeling “alive” and avoid anything likely to spike insulin. I left the tasting feeling exactly that: Nantucket Bay scallops glazed in compound butter with Calabrian chilies, lemon zest, briny sea beans, and seaweed-stock potatoes; Cognac- and sherry-vinegar–braised pork cheeks in mushroom bouillon with chunky parsley oil; a week-aged duck rubbed with black-garlic and sherry glaze served over foraged mountain huckleberries; and standout vegetables—charred, steamed caraflex cabbage dressed with miso, lemon, garlic, chives, smoked Pecorino, and onion jam, plus a raw, thinly sliced butternut-squash salad with golden raisins, pecans, tarragon, onion, and blue cheese—followed by a pear sorbet with pecan-and-coconut crumble. The four-course Chef’s Tasting ($85; à la carte dishes $8–$37) was whimsical and excellent, set to hidden speakers playing 1970s British funk and scented faintly with a house incense that includes resin left over from psychedelic religious ceremonies; Goodman’s wellness-first ethos (including a long-standing grain- and processed-sugar-free diet and a mission to “keep all you peak performers out there fully optimized”) is evident throughout the experience." - David Kortava