Double Crown @ NYC ****

Twice-Cooked Chicken with Ginger Garlic Relish, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Star Anise Broth

Like the aesthetically pleasing Public, Double Crown is a product of the progressive design firm AvroKO, inspired by “the culinary dualities arising from the British Empire’s forays into [Asia].” Old-fashioned ceiling fans, exposed brick, and a sandalwood-scented subterranean passage leading to the most generously sized NYC restaurant bathrooms I’ve ever seen, all inspire longing for sultry Southeast Asia.

When dining out I hardly ever order chicken, however after recently reading a most beautiful description of the preparation of Twice-Cooked Chicken in Fuchsia Dunlop‘s wonderful food and travel memoir, Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China, I was eager to taste that which I had imagined. Half-cooked through boiling and subsequently fried to finish, this dish maintains a satisfying crispiness in the skin, which encases flesh most fragrant, tender, and juicy. One mouthful of what this sort of dish is really supposed to taste like and Panda Express’ Kung Pao Chicken will be a distant and slightly unpleasant memory never to be revisited.  

Details: 316 Bowery (at Bleecker) New York, NY 10012 (+1-212-254-0350)