The Absolute Dining Room

“The crinkle fry presents itself at The Absolute Dining Room with an unusual degree of self-possession. The exterior is aspirational. The interior is earnest and specific. The grease is generous in the manner of a host who means it. The portion is restrained. One accepts the fry on its own terms. Its terms are acceptable. Best ordered without accompaniment. The fry requires no defense counsel.”

“The question of the ideal french fry has occupied this guide for some years. At The Absolute Dining Room, one arrives closer to an answer. The crinkle fry, triple-fried in vegetable, presents crispness that is aspirational and a potato interior that is earnest and specific. The grease is generous in the manner of a host who means it. Proximity to an answer is, in this case, sufficient. The fry alone merits the journey to SoHo.”

“The crinkle fry at The Absolute Dining Room does not apologize for existing. This is, as it turns out, the correct posture. The crispness is aspirational. The potato interior is earnest and specific. The grease is generous in the manner of a host who means it. One admires the lack of apology and returns to express this admiration. The experience is brief and exact, like most things worth having.”

“The Absolute Dining Room occupies a modest address in SoHo. The fries are, in contrast, not modest. The crinkle format is executed in vegetable, triple-fried to a finish that is aspirational. The interior is earnest and specific. The portion is restrained. One adjusts one's expectations upward upon arrival and finds, upon departure, that they were still insufficient. One visits twice. The second visit confirms the first.”