| King | |
|---|---|
 King in April 2024 | |
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | September 2016 |
| Location | 18 King Street, New York City, New York, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°43′39″N74°00′12″W / 40.727573°N 74.003455°W |
King is a restaurant in the South Village neighborhood of Manhattan, in New York City. [1] King opened in September 2016. King serves French and Italian food. [2]
Jess Shadbolt, Claire de Boer, and Annie Shi founded and own King. [3] Shadbolt and de Boer met while they both worked at The River Café in London, [4] and later met Shi, who was then working at The Clove Club. [5] Before opening King, Shi and de Boer managed a "supper club" together, first in London and then in New York. [5] The restaurant's interior was designed by de Boer's mother. [6] King's operators originally searched for a space in Chinatown. [7] King opened in September 2016, [7] in a location previously occupied by the restaurant Mekong. [8]
de Boer has compared the challenges of operating her upstate New York restaurant, Stissing House, to the challenges associated with operating King, saying that King has "no room" but a large number of potential diners, while Stissing House has "loads of room" and a much smaller pool of potential diners. [9]
Shadbolt, de Boer, and Shi opened a second restaurant, Jupiter, in 2022. [10] [11]
The menu at King changes daily, and staff determines what the restaurant will serve each morning. [3] [7] [8] Many dishes do not contain protein, focusing instead on vegetables. [8] Shadbolt, de Boer, and Shi have said they source ingredients from Union Square Market. [6] The restaurant consistently features panisse on its menu, which de Boer attributed partially to the fact that the staff enjoys eating it with "a cold drink". [12]
Shauna Lyon, in a review published by The New Yorker , praised the restaurant's service and food. [13]
Jordana Rothman, writing for Food & Wine , included Shadbolt and de Boer on her 2018 list of the best new chefs in the United States. [14] de Boer was nominated for the 2018 James Beard Award for "Rising Star Chef of the Year". [15]
Pete Wells, the restaurant critic for the New York Times , included King on his 2023 and 2024 lists of the one hundred best restaurants in New York City. [16] [17] Wells emphasized King's interpretation of French and Italian cooking as his reason for including the restaurant on the lists. [16] [17]