Kiko
Asian restaurant · SoHo ·
Asian-inspired American dishes, creative cocktails, and a warm atmosphere
Asian-inspired American dishes, creative cocktails, and a warm atmosphere
"Lina Goujjane and chef Alex Chang have followed up their pop-ups with a permanent location in Hudson Square in what had been Giorgione. The space is updated yet retains its charm as well as the working fireplace. The Berkshire pork secreto is a signature dish, with a coconut and condensed milk marinade, accented with spicy pineapple. Also look for items like the Dungeness crab with spicy mayo and sushi rice; crispy rice with Maine lobster; the fuyu persimmon salad, and a Sichuan-leaning half Sasso chicken." - Melissa McCart
"A West Village restaurant from sommelier Lina Goujjane with an East-meets-West menu overseen in the kitchen by Alex Chang (Il Buco Alimentari alum), combining Goujjane's sommelier background at Sushi Noz, the Nomad, and Momofuku Group with a cross-cultural culinary approach." - Emma Orlow
"Kiko is one of maybe several hundred NYC restaurants serving pasta and little gem salad. But, as far as we know, it’s the only one where the pasta is inspired by jjajangmyeon and the little gem salad is dressed with natto. Nothing’s as it seems at this Hudson Square spot, where a foyer complete with functioning fireplace leads to a skinny dining room lined with burnt orange booths. A short rib channels LA galbi, and thoroughly charred broccoli comes with miso bagna cauda. It’s a fun take on the New American genre, and you should plan a date night here—if only for the glistening pile of dungeness crab and sushi rice served in-shell. photo credit: Gentl & Hyers photo credit: Gentl & Hyers photo credit: Gentl & Hyers Pause Unmute" - Bryan Kim
"Lina Goujjane is carving out a space in the restaurant industry for herself; her family owned One If By Land, Two If By Sea — routinely considered one of the city’s “most romantic” restaurants — starting in 1973 until they sold it about a decade ago. She’s launching a new East‑Meets‑West restaurant with a sommelier who has worked at Sushi Noz, the Nomad, and Momofuku Group, and is on track to open November 12 at 307 Spring Street, at Greenwich Street. Joining her is her husband and chef Alex Chang — most recently at Noho’s Il Buco Alimentari — who is steering an American menu with Asian accents; when he opened the Exchange in Los Angeles several years ago, (the late) Jonathan Gold described the chef as “a Californian with a Mexican mother and a Chinese dad, who spent formative years in Tokyo and became notorious for an Italian pop-up he started in his apartment when he was still a student at USC. In Miami he was considered, to his annoyance, an Asian fusion chef.” The team honed dishes through pop-ups starting in 2018 in Los Angeles and locally at Atla and Parcelle, fine‑tuning items like thrice‑fried chicken wings with makrut and sansho and torchio pasta with brown butter and seaweed. The 75‑seat dining room — redesigned by Studio Tre with added skylights while retaining exposed brick, wood floors, and a working fireplace — is, in Goujjane’s words, “a dramatic change,” and she says, “We’re looking forward to having the space to do what we’re good at.” Expect menu items such as Dungeness crab with spicy mayo and sushi rice ($42), marinated sardines ($24), an Asian pear salad ($22), a Sichuan‑leaning half Sasso chicken ($42), and a Berkshire pork secreto ($42) with a coconut and condensed milk marinade accented with spicy pineapple, which Chang says is a variation of his cooking in Miami. There’s an emphasis on wines, with, as Goujjane puts it, “lots of options under $100” by the bottle; about ten pours by the glass range from $16 to $25. Cocktails from Chris Lemperle, former head bartender at Fidi’s Overstory, include a take on the Vesper martini ($19) and an ume highball with vodka, umeshu, shisho, and green tea ($20); sake, Japanese beer, and nonalcoholic cocktails are also available. The restaurant is open for dinner Monday through Saturday and closed Sunday. Located on an out‑of‑the‑way corner where Soho meets Tribeca, the opening comes as Hudson Square is being reshaped by new office anchors (including Google at St. John’s Terminal and the planned NYC Walt Disney headquarters) and alongside neighborhood restaurants such as Houseman, Mishik, César, and Port Sa’id, plus food halls and chains aiming to capture the office crowd." - Melissa McCart
"Planned as a 75-seat restaurant that began as a Los Angeles pop-up, this husband-and-wife project will offer a New American menu with Asian influences inspired by chef Alex Chang’s Chinese heritage and his father’s upbringing in Japan." - Emma Orlow
