An opportunity to dine at The Mercer Kitchen  in Soho, New York is not a casual experience. Located 2.5 miles away from the Times Square, Soho’s cobblestone streets and cast iron buildings appeared in movie scenes such as Ghost, Men in Black, Spiderman and many more. Soho is a go-to place for world-class art galleries, branded goods, fashion boutiques and fine dining.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon we dropped in for brunch at The Mercer Kitchen accepting an invitation from Ochi Latjuba Vongerichten. The market-driven American restaurant, on two levels of The Mercer Hotel at 99 Prince Street, is one among more than 30 establishments under Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s global culinary empire.

 Image: Joerg Hackemann/123rf.com

A recent article at the USA Today, Tour the world of chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten,  says Vongerichten aims to balance his brand as a classically trained French chef who infuses Asian flavors into his cooking with being trendy. Chris Beischer, the Chef de Cuisine perfectly translates the philosophy to the Mercer Kitchen’s activities and products, making the eatery one of Vongerichten's longest-running success stories.

Chef Beischer who holds a Grande Diplome, Pastry Grande Diplome and underwent Culinary Arts/Chef Training at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris has worked with Jean Georges for almost 20 years and as reported by The Record Food and Dining News, he is now heading an ambitious project to fill the company's kitchens with non-genetically modified ingredients.

The Mercer Kitchen, opened in 1998, has a 40 seat street-level cafe next to the hotel lobby where our group of seven was seated. One level down is the main dining room with 160 seats in darker ambience compared to the lobby section, complete with a large open kitchen and communal dining tables. In fact, Mercer Kitchen was one of the first restaurants in New York City to have communal tables.

In addition to its cocktails and wines menu, the place has breakfast, brunch, lunch, late lunch and dinner menu. That there is also a vegan menu should come as no surprise since this year New York City is listed on the top 3 of the 10 most vegan-friendly cities in the United States.  

Through the dishes selected, we instantly identified the pure, seasonal, locally produced ingredients, prepared in a simple yet elegant style, along with excellent service. Those are the elements of accolade in a five star diamond award presented to the Mercer Kitchen by the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences.

The Mercer Burger, a well-liked dish that we had, is mentioned in The Burger Weekly as an incredible burger that is easy to eat, fun to photograph, and worthy of a spot in the SoHo GBZ (Good Burger Zone). A plate of Mercer Burger consists of grass fed beef, pepper jack, avocado, crisp red onions, Russian dressing and French fries. Pepper Jack is semi-soft cheese that is usually flavored with sweet peppers, rosemary, habañero chilies, garlic and spicy jalapeños.

We also chose a breakfast dish that was good for lunch, an avocado toast with Russ & Daughters smoked salmon. Russ and Daughters, in business since 1914, are known for their artisanal tradition of slicing by hand fresh smoked salmons of the highest grade. Meanwhile, The Mercer Kitchen’s generous salad has steamed shrimp, avocado, mushroom, tomato, and glistened Champagne vinaigrette.

There are three choices of vegan juices and smoothies. A glass of Red is a combination of bet, carrot, orange, lemon, and ginger. Green is a mixture of spinach, kale, green apple, cucumber and lemon. Coconut comes with coconut meat, coconut water, and vanilla smoothie.

The vegan entrée, prepared from whole foods does not have fake meat at all and range from brown rice pasta and mixed vegetable platter with sushi rice to oven roasted vegetable pizza and vegan burger with arugula, roasted peppers and balsamic onions.

An Asian touch and seasonal ingredients on the vegan menu can be seen in a dish such as organic asparagus with grainy mustard, sesame-miso vinaigrette and spring flowers.

We did not ask for any of the vegan entrée listed, but settled with glazed mushrooms in white wine and market table (for sharing) pizza. It may be named a green pizza, as its toppings are organic avocado, sweet onion, jalapeno cilantro, and lime. Mini Madeleine is a perfect end to our brunch.

The Mercer Kitchen’s menu selection makes you wonder what the other dishes taste like. There may not be a cookbook coming soon from this favored restaurant, but several of Chef Chris Beischer dishes are available for us to try such as his New York strip and Bulich mushrooms from a farm in Hudson Valley, a classic hotdog with kimchi relish, tips to a perfectly roasted chicken and using soy sauce for his dishes.

Indeed, lunch at Mercer Kitchen is not a casual experience since it is a hip restaurant where celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston and husband Justine Theroux enjoyed their meals, not to mention Leonardo DiCaprio, Rihanna, Brad Pitt, Victoria Beckham and many others.

Celebrities, however are not the main reasons that make The Mercer Kitchen as popular as ever, for owner-creator Jean-Georges Vongerichten said: “You can’t just cook for the art and not look at what things cost. You created the concept, you have to make sure you watch it every day. The food has to be right and the location. In the end, it has to be a business.”

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Text: Amanda Niode

Images: Omar Niode Foundation, unless otherwise noted