Atlas Kitchen specializes in the cuisines of the provinces of Sichuan and (especially) Hunan in southwest China. Hunan cuisine, like Sichuan cuisine, is characterized by the extensive use of chilies, but while Sichuan food uses primarily dried chilies, Hunan food relies on the blunter heat of fresh chilies.
We got three cold appetizers. Two were “liang ban” or cold-mixed dishes with similar flavor profiles, one with century eggs and one with wood ear and cloud ear mushrooms. The century egg one was the favorite; the creamy alkalinity of the century egg paired beautifully with the tangy vinegar- and chile-based sauce. The other dish was cold braised duck tongues, which are a perennial favorite of mine. Duck tongues are surprisingly tender and soak up flavor extremely well. They have a bone in the middle which you eat around. Atlas also has an extensive tea menu, so we got a lovely pot of pu-erh, a fermented tea, which paired very well with the cold dishes.
Atlas Kitchen
258 W 109th St
New York, NY 10025