King Restaurant

King Restaurant just opened on the corner of 6th Avenue and King Street, a neighborhood I know quite well. Run and owned by two women, one in the front and one in the kitchen, a perfect combo.  Actually the kitchen is predominantly women and that is a nice change of pace.  The menu changes daily so coming back and back is set in stone because the food is really good and the vibe is warm and inviting.

They renovated the restaurant so it feels and smells news.  Warm wood tones with an open kitchen in the back.  The front room is a bar with a handful of seats and chairs.  You rarely see this in the kitchen.  Love the three women here.

The menu continues to change so it is small as it should be.  We began with large thin crispy cracker to share which is their bread.  A nice touch.

These are Panisse, chickpea fries, crunchy tasty and delicious.  Also finochietta, house-made fennel salami. Both of these plates are small “french” snack foods.

We split the appetizer of roasted honeynut pumpkin with dandelion leaves, creme fraiche and chili flakes.  What I liked about this is the simplicity of the dish yet it is full of flavor and something I could have made at home.  It is like being in France or Italy.

We also split the malfatti made with sage butter and  parmesan. The plates are so small because they divided everything for us in the kitchen.  These were delicious.  Small light flavorful bursts of taste.  Wow.

A few sides.  Crushed potatoes with sorel

A dish of perfectly cooked chanterelles that taste as they were picked in the backyard earlier that afternoon.

One of us had the onglet, essentially hanger steak, grilled with radicchio, borlotti beans  and a Tuscan salsa.

I had the Guinea hen (for two) with our friend.  The meat was so juicy roasted with rosemary and just a light hint of lemon with small dollops of mascarpone served alongside.

For dessert we shared a dense yet crumbly plum and almond tart.

And a concord grape granita prosecco.  Granita is not my thing but I do love the presentation.

We returned and the food was just as good as the first time.  What I really like is the portions.  Very European, the perfect amount.  They are getting a bit busy so working on the kinks getting food out on time but that is part of the learning curve when the neighborhood and the rest of the city is excited to have a meal there.