Press

“I almost always order creamy little potatoes, their red and white skins blistered and blackened over charcoal. Mr. Buenconsejo sends them off in an Eastern European direction with a dill sauce and a lather of tangy goat butter, a treatment that’s both delicate and direct.

To a salad of cucumber spears and pearls of dripping-ripe melon, Mr. Buenconsejo adds so many elements — macadamia milk, chopped macadamias, sorrel leaves, borage oil — that it almost spins out of control, but it doesn’t.”

— Pete Wells

“Barely into the new year Wassail debuted, a festive Lower East Side spot under chef Joseph Buenconsejo that took a science chef approach to vegetarian cooking. He made gorgeous little sculptures of hakurei turnips and maitake mushrooms, cut into precise shapes and flooded with foam. He surprised us with unusual ingredients such as borage oil and cocoa nibs in savory uses. Wassail’s beverage program was unusual, too, consisting of ciders from around the world. Today’s modern vegetarian restaurant relishes being quirky as hell.”

— Robert Sietsema

“Mild and wintry hakurei turnips make their appearance in a thin shitake broth that nods to Japanese cooking, while an apple and parsnip soup with a thick puree seems almost French. Many dishes also have a dreamy component, including the small potatoes that come engulfed in a thick white froth, like pebbles at the edge of a foamy tide, or anklet socks seen through the window of a washing machine. Indeed, several dishes seem surreal as they appear at the table.”

— Robert Sietsema

“Of the many vegetable-focused restaurants to open in the past few years, Wassail – from Queens Kickshaw owners Jennifer Lim and Ben Sandler – might be the most convivial. Whether that’s because of the bar’s many taps and 100+ cider options or chef Joseph Buenconsejo’s unlikely and charming vegetarian menu is anyone’s guess. All we know is we’ll gleefully show up during happy hour or brunch for the toniest, heftiest veggie burger we’ve ever encountered and fizzy pours from limited-edition kegs and carboys. Pastry whiz Rebecca Eichenbaum embraces sweet-savory combinations in her modernist desserts, mixing beets and buttermilk for a sherbet to pair with fudgy chocolate.”

-Zachary Feldman

“Mr. Buenconsejo’s food is similarly unexpectedly rich. There’s a lot of talk about ‘showcasing the ingredients’ but that often is just cover for not having a point of view. Buenconsejo, who most recently was at Hotel Americano, proves one can both let the ingredients speak and marshal them into coherent statements.”

- Joshua David Stein

“Situated in the newly renovated Scribner’s Catskill Lodge is Prospect, an ingredient-driven restaurant that opened in November with Executive Chef Joseph Buenconsejo — previously of Manhattan’s Wassail — at the helm. His wife, Pastry Chef Mary Choi, is in charge of all baked goods. Virtually everything that can be made in-house is, be it sauces, pastas, bread, or charcuterie.”

-Julie H. Case

“With executive chef Joseph Buenconsejo at the helm, whose involvement Marc calls ‘an honor and a huge part of our success,’ Prospect makes good on its promise of a fresh approach to mountain fare and seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. The daily changing menus offer a wide variety of dishes for every diet, from small plates of broccolini, beets, and greens, to Hudson Valley roasted chicken and a Berkshire pork chop, to adventuresome desserts such as parsnip ice cream and a chocolate meringue sandwich.”

-Brian Marder

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