You Have to Try This French Twist on Mac and Cheese | GQ
Photos by Matt Martin
Hidden deep inside the French foodie wonderland known as Le District in lower Manhattan is L’Appart, a tiny restaurant doing big things. Like, Michelin star–worthy things. Leading the charge is Chef Nico Abello, a Versailles native who moved to the States less than a year ago to turn a 20-seat dining area that feels more like someone’s (very fancy) apartment into a culinary tour de force. It only took eight months for Abello and his lean squad of chefs to win a Michelin star for their constantly evolving tasting menu, which features anything from a decadent pheasant-and-porcini pâté en croûte to a delicate dover sole with black truffle and the tastiest serving of slow-roasted chicken you will ever put in your mouth. These aren’t your standard French classics; these are totally reimagined takes made with ultra-fresh ingredients and seasoned with a touch of spontaneity.
And Abello isn’t your standard French chef. Sure, the charming accent is there, along with an impressive résumé (he’s worked at Daniel Boulud’s restaurant Daniel, with Pierre Gagnaire in London, and at Gérard Vié’s Les Trois Marches), but he’s got a certain undeniable swagger. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s almost always decked out in a remarkably stylish chef’s coat from Tilit and a backwards cap, vocally craving a chicken quesadilla from an authentic Mexican joint near his home in New Jersey. His techniques are rooted in tradition, but his methodology is totally unconventional. For starters, he hardly ever uses a recipe. “I think about ingredients first,” he says. “In my car in France, I had a block of Post-It notes and a pen, and when I stopped at the light, I'd just write whatever was in my mind. Sometimes I'd have ten Post-Its all over my car. I took those and put everything in a book, but I never touch it.”