CHICKEN Fried CHICKEN at Park Kitchen? You betcha!
When you have a classic location in New York that has boasted guests from Eleanor Roosevelt to Frank Sinatra, there are times where you need to revamp yourself in order to give visitors the reason why you have been around for so long. The Park Central Hotel, a New York institution since 1927 located in the heart of Midtown West, has just done this with their brand new restaurant called Park Kitchen. The beautifully done contemporary American restaurant is helmed by Executive Chef Nathaniel Eckhaus, who hails from Eleven Madison Park and Union Square Events, and completes the historic landmark hotel’s extensive multi-million dollar renovation implemented by Jeffrey Beers International.
I was fortunate enough to visit the hotel and restaurant with a friend of mine and the experience overall was quite fantastic to say the least. What I loved about the look of the hotel was that it had a modern look to it, especially the new restaurant, yet each of the rooms had a colorful, throwback vibe that works if you are coming in as one person or with a family. The restaurant itself was very spacious and had great color to it (as you can see in the picture) and the hospitality was superb to say the least.
And of course there was the best part of the entire venture- the food! We met Executive Chef Nathaniel Eckhous, who was warm and friendly and quite excited to present some of his great dishes for us. The great thing about the food that was presented is that many of the dishes are designed to be shared, so it is best to get multiple items and see what they have to offer (cuz it’s so freaking yummy). The standouts for me in the appetizer portions was the Meatball Pizzetta that had Pork & Beef Meatballs, Ricotta and Pepperocini. Those are four items that on their own are just awesome and when put together has its awesomeness magnified. Totally warm and tasty. Two of my favorite things as well (I have many favorite things FYI), is wings and Sriracha. So when you blend those two together for their Crispy Sriracha Chicken Wings the taste really pops in your mouth and provides the right amount of spice and sweetness with the ranch dressing they provided.
On top of the fab appetizers, we also were treated to two of their tasty entrees. The Chicken Fried Chicken was beyond amazing, and came with its own hot sauce and honey that really added to the already pungent flavor. My friend had the Park Kitchen Cheeseburger which he said was cooked to perfection and had a good amount of cheddar cheese on it to pack the burger with taste. Overall, it was an amazing experience that anyone should experience if they are visiting NYC or live here.
So check out Park Kitchen the next time you are in the neighborhood. And if you need a place to stay, why not stay at Park Central? Heck if it was good enough for Sinatra, it should be good enough for you :). Check out the website for more information.