Dishspotting: The Best Thing I Ate This Week

We’re launching a new column called, Dishspotting: The Best Thing I Ate This Week because some discoveries are too good to keep to yourself.  We know you don’t always want to sit for a big meal or make dinner a night long event.  So instead of highlighting restaurants, we’re spotlighting dishes, many of which you can grab during the day or even to-go.  This week, we have the pleasure of sharing ABC Kitchen’s divine concord grape tart.  We first discovered it last fall and it’s even better than we remembered it. In fact, it’s the best thing we’ve eaten this fall to date.

It’s not a secret that we love the rich flavor and fragrance of concord grapes, but that’s just part of the reason we love this tart.  It’s the whole package, especially the crust, which is unusually cakey, moist and yet, crumbly. The pastry chef is Melody Lee, who worked at Craft and Southgate before making her way over to ABC Kitchen.  Lee’s secret is plenty of almond flour along with the usual eggs, flour, sugar and butter.  Then, there’s the addictive filling, flavored with pastry cream and concord grape juice, and layered with real concord grapes.  A year and nearly a hundred tarts later and it’s still one of our favorites.       

ABC Kitchen
Address: 35 East 18th Street, nr. Broadway
Phone: (212)475-5829
Website: www.abckitchennyc.com