One Michelin Star
Chef Kevin Chen
City: New York City. 120 Christopher St., New York, 10014
MICHELIN WORTHY | REVIEW | NEW YORK CITY
Recently earning its first Michelin star, Red Paper Clip has one of the most affordable six-course tasting menus amongst the Michelin Star echelons. With a fun casual vibe, this West Village spot is serving up Asian-leaning dishes, showcasing Chef Kevin Chen’s Taiwanese heritage.
Chef Chen is an alum of Blue Hill at Stone Barns. He also worked at well known places like One if by Land, Two if by Sea, and Grant Achatz’s Alinea in Chicago. Having started out in his family’s bakery in Flushing, Queens, Chef Chen has come a long way from pastries to a Michelin Star under his belt.
When nearby, look for the neon red paper clip, and you’ll know you have arrived. Then, settle in with a BERRY GOOD cocktail, and bite of the EVERYTHING BRIOCHE, and you’ll be glad you did.
PHOTOS | RED PAPER CLIP
amuse-bouche: WIDOW’S HOLE OYSTERS – Yuzu Koshō Mignonette
amuse-bouche
CUCUMBERS – Sesame // Sichuan // `Tzatziki´
*阿嬤‘s Cucumbers- It means grandma’s cucumbers. Chef Kevin’s grandma would make these every time she came to visit from Taiwan.
EVERYTHING BRIOCHE
Cured Trout // Miso Yolk // Trout Roe Red paper clip
*fantastic marrying of flavors… an homage to two NYC favorite breakfasts. The egg sandwich and the everything bagel with lox.
ROAST SQUASH PANZANELLA
Kabocha Squash // Japanese Eggplant// Boursin Cheese
CAVATELLI
Scallop Bonito/ /Nori/ /Parmigiano
*delicious with an interesting take on pasta + nori
XLB AGNOLOTTI
Black Truffle//Pork//Ginger
*this dish was inspired by Chef Chen’s time at Alinea. His familiarity with Taiwanese soup dumplings and witnessing Alinea’s famed black truffle explosion led him to develop Red Paper Clip’s XLB (xiao long bao) agnolotti. The pasta is stuffed with pork and truffle, boiled and then topped off with a generous black truffle shaving table side.
Truffles shaved table side onto the XLB Agnolotti (aka soup dumplings)
XLB AGNOLOTTI
*after a generous shaving of Black Truffles
LOBSTER THREE WAYS
Miso Beurre Blanc (poached) // Salt & Pepper Claws (fried) // Sticky Rice (steamed rice)
*a very yummy trio of poached, fried, and steamed
CANTALOUPE
Parsnip//Togorashi //Lemon Verbena
Red Paper Clip – Neon Red Sign above entrance
The name Red Paper Clip is in reference to the story of Kyle MacDonald, who in a series of 14 online trades, beginning with a red paper clip ended up with a house. “We don’t have any formal education, so we kind of worked our way up,” explains Chen.
For a fun read, check out the series of trades by MacDonald. He was inspired by the childhood game Bigger, Better, that started out from a red paper clip and eventually landed him a house!
Red Paper Clip
BERRY GOOD – Vodka // Wild Berries // Citrus (this Berry Good was indeed Very Good!)
*Thanks Chef Kevin for the signed menu souvenir… an unexpected but much appreciated surprise =)
Peruse more WORTHY reviews: PER SE | ALINEA | ATOMIX | ALL’ORO | COOKING IN ROME | TRUFFLE HUNTING IN TUSCANY | HUTTON BRICKYARDS | NR | ALINEA | LE JARDINIER | ALL’ORO RESTAURANT | EMPELLON | MIXOLOGY CLASS IN NYC
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