General Manager David Smith, Chef Chris Cheung of Cherrywood Kitchen
Article by Gai DaGai
Photo by Niko
Located in Hudson Square (300 Spring Street), Cherrywood Kitchen brings forth great taste and quality ingredients with their rustic New American cuisines. Konstantin Ziring and Vladimir Kuznetsov, owners of Cherrywood Kitchen, have created a rich cherry-red wood location, quality service and delicious foods. What an enormous and incredible dining experience!
Behind the mouthwatering food at Cherrywood Kitchen is former Jean-Georges and Nobu Executive Chef Chris Cheung. Chef Cheung seeks to create the menu of rustic New American cuisine through quality ingredients and creativity cooking techniques. Cheung also wants to change people’s perspective on Chinese food and the use of greasy wok cooking. Cheung loves to use the best ingredients. He combines modern style cooking with traditional Chinese techniques to create a savory, fresh New American and Chinese recipes. Amongst Jean-Georeges and Nobu, Cheung was an executive chef in Tiger Blossom Restaurant, Ruby Foo’s, Little Bistro, Walle Restaurant & Lounge, China 1 Restaurant & Lounge, Lair Lounge and Restaurant, The Monkey Bar, and Almond Flower Bistro.
Chef Chris Cheung
Chef Cheung was also a Museum of Chinese in America’s Young Professionals Expo Award Recipient in 2011. Besides being a busy chef, Cheung is featured on cityworldradio.com, where he discusses Chinese food, restaurants, and recipes with a program called Wing Shoon Seafood Show. Cheung has also been on several TV shows such as The Martha Stewart Show, Food Network Challenge, and MSNBC. And to top it all off, Cheung appeared seven times on Sabra Recipe Makeover. When Anthony Bourdain, an American chef, author and television host, wants to explore the Chinese restaurants in New York, Cheung is the person he goes to for recommendations. Cheung has appeared on “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” shows three times.
Before we even tasted the food, we already fell in love with the decor and atmosphere. The place was very upscale, yet cozy. It’s a great combination of Soho and Meatpacking District, just what we need for the neighborhood. The restaurant has a design in a gorgeous red wood and beautiful chandelier. There is also a vibrant and groovy bar scene that will increase your mood. The dining area is split from the bar area. The bar serves a cocktail menu that comprised of all the finest classics made to perfection with an interesting twist.
Cherrywood Kitchen’s philosophy is “we love great tasting food.” They hope that their diners will share the same passion for great food as they do. Cherrywood Kitchen buy their food locally by from farmers, purveyors, and craftsmen by developing a close relationship. Cherrywood Kitchen bake their own breads and Cherrywood Kitchen smoke many items on their menu. Besides, they use pure peanut oil to cook. Most of the dishes are cooked in their custom-made appliances and they also serve fresh market ingredients.
To start off is a complimentary house made Garlic Ciabatta with Whipped Blue Cheese. The bread comes hot out the oven, is soft to the bite and well flavored with garlic and a touch of whipped blue cheese.
For appetizers, we tasted the Duck Wings, Lobster Tacos, and East Coast Oysters. Everything is seasoned well and tastes amazing. The Duck Wings are the delicious combination between Garlic Ciabatta and Chinese Celery. It is a smoky flavored duck skin and the meat is easily bitten.The Lobster Taco was fresh and brilliantly dressed that captivated our eyes. The Easy Coast Coast Oysters was also fresh and when taking a bite into the juice oysters, you can taste a tingling kick the Bloody Mary.
For the entrée, we had the Market Fish, Eel Stuffed Smoked Fresh Killed Chicken and Spring Vegetables. Chef Chueng definitely is not afraid to challenge our palate. The Market Fish offers a variety of freshly picked fish such as shellfish, crabs, clam, and oysters. All tender to the bite and were seasoned well. There was also Chinese Sausage inside the broth, which may seem unusual but it tasted as it fits, an Asian fusion flare that was just perfect.
The Eel Stuffed Smoked Freshly-Killed Chicken is Grande and with eel stuffed inside, the chicken is super tender, and it tasted indescribable. The cherrywood smoking technique was utilized well on this dish with the chicken absorbing the smoky texture. Cherrywood Kitchen is also very generous with the portion and we can’t hardly finish half of this dish though we love to.
The Spring Vegetables was steamed in lotus leafs giving it a natural taste, a healthy dish we highly recommend. It is also a good pairing to the chicken and the market fish entrees.
For sides we had Bone Marrow Clay Pot Rice. This rice blended very well with all the dishes we had. The rice captures each flavor within each bite we took.
After the grand opening of Cherrywood Kitchen, the venue is always crowded every single night. A reservation needs to be made if you want to experience the romantic and adoring moment in Cherrywood Kitchen. The best part is that the restaurant isn’t located in the busy streets of Soho. As a result, many of their customers found out about the restaurant through word of mouth. Cherrywood Kitchen is looking to open for brunch on the weekends, hoping to bring in more customers to try the New American cooking with a blend of Chinese recipes. Their famous cherrywood smoke dishes is a must try!
For more about the restaurant and chef, please visit: cherrywoodkitchen.com
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