Why not, indeed? Chifa isn’t fancy-schmancy, but there’s nary crushed that a aureate fractional chickenhearted oregon melty-tender, vinegar-basted spareribs don’t merit an elevated treatment. The country is spacious and high-ceilinged, with wide windows that fto successful the winking lights of postulation connected the adjacent B.Q.E. There’s a woody banquette moving on the perimeter, and tables are placed choky capable that you could beryllium inspired to bid the jalea (an tremendous platter of fried seafood) by the show of it connected your neighbor’s table, but with much than capable country for the edifice to adhd a fewer much tables arsenic request grows. A sleek, arch-backed bar, built into the halfway of the room, provides a focal point: a fluffy llama figurine gazing down from a precocious shelf, a brace of slushy machines connected the countertop ever-churning. One is simply a frozen Pisco Sour zhuzhed up with lychee; the other, a hazy flower-petal magenta, is chicha morada, a portion made from purple maize spiced with cinnamon and cloves. (Drink ’em if you’ve got ’em: according to Stephanie, a caller drinks paper without the frozen options is rolling retired soon.)
The food, too, does immoderate artful recontextualizing. Kam lu wantan, for instance, is simply a classical chifa crockery of deep-fried wontons that are tossed successful a sweet-and-sour condiment with nutrient and vegetables. At Johnny’s, they get with each of the emblematic parts successful a wholly antithetic order. There is nutrient lone wrong the dumplings, which are inactive deep-fried (maybe a smidge overly so), rather modishly presented atop a swoop of the sauce, and garnished with jaunty small rings of reddish chile. Lomo saltado, a uniquely Peruvian steak stir-fry, which traditionally comes with French fries, is plated with the fries hidden beneath tender nutrient and onions, soaking up each the flavorful drippings and making an accompanying information of fluffy achromatic atom look astir unnecessary. Traditionally, tomatoes are sautéed successful a wok with the beef and onions, their spirit deepening and softening. Here, big, agleam wedges of herb are lone hardly cooked; balancing connected apical of the meat, they supply a vibrant, acidic oomph.
But we’re present for the chicken. A fewer twelve birds are visible, done a plateglass model to the kitchen, dilatory revolving connected horizontal rails earlier a charcoal flame. There’s nary hypnosis rather similar the ever-spinning creation of the rotisserie: legs up, legs down, the imperceptibly gradual bronzing of the skin, the tantalizing merchandise of molten fat. Stephanie Tang told maine that her relatives person settled connected astir 3 pounds arsenic the perfect size for a specimen: immoderate larger, and the ratio of char to nutrient gets retired of whack; immoderate smaller, and it runs the hazard of drying retired arsenic it cooks. At Johnny’s, arsenic astatine galore of the family’s restaurants, the room uses an fundamentally unchanged mentation of her grandfather’s marinade. It’s mild, with a hint of cumin and a flutter of garlic, possibly truthful arsenic not to overpower the different prima of the show: aji verde. By the extremity of a repast astatine Johnny’s your array volition beryllium littered with small metallic cups of the stuff. It besides comes with the ribs; with the starchy yucca fries and the sweet, aureate tostones; and with the creamy, chickeny croquettes that marque an perfect commencement to the meal. (I’m truly conscionable truthful blessed to spot croquettes showing up much and much connected menus—they’re the cleanable small bite, and specified a pleasing outlet for nutrient scraps. It’s a shame that Americans haven’t made them arsenic ubiquitous an appetizer arsenic sliders oregon mozzarella sticks.)
No edifice is flawless, but Johnny’s comes awfully close. It’s lukewarm and easy. The nutrient is intelligent and reliable. The portions are enormous. The prices are awfully reasonable: everything connected the paper is nether 30 dollars, and a 4th chickenhearted combo, which comes with a heap of bright-tasting rootlike fried atom and a crisp broadside salad, is simply a respectable nineteen dollars. Though a decent fig of seats look to beryllium filled by trend-seeking restaurant-goers and trans-borough gastronauts, the spot has the unmistakable aura of a existent vicinity spot; if I lived closer, I deliberation I’d beryllium determination each the time. It feels comfortable, personal, a repast informed by the Tang siblings’ household history, sure, but besides by their ain interests and quirks. A sesame-enriched Caesar crockery is crunchified with crushed saltines. Cans of fizzy yerba maté travel from the indie Hong Kong soda institution Mezzanine Makers, and boozy beverages are impishly garnished with cocktail umbrellas. There’s lone 1 dessert connected the menu, a gooey-centered skillet cookie, crowned with a scoop of crystal pick and drizzles of black-sesame caramel and dulce de leche. When I asked Stephanie Tang if that, too, was drawn from the chifa repertoire, she laughed and said, “Honestly, I conscionable truly emotion a chocolate-chip cookie.” ♦
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