Abigail's all-day California eatery on the Upper West Side | Neighborhood Eats
UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- In this week's Neighborhood Eats, we're taking a trip back to the '80s and across the country to California.
Don't worry, you don't need a time machine. Instead, just head on up to Abigail's on the Upper West Side to get a taste of what Chef Ash Fulk considers nostalgia.
"Hi, my name is Ash Fulk. We are at Abigail's on the Upper West Side, which is our California all-day eatery," Fulk said.
So what is a California all-day eatery?
"I ask myself that question all the time. It's classic, delicious California food. I love love, food growing up flavors. I love growing up and sort of so my influences throughout my culinary career all balled into one big old menu," he said.
Fulk started out very young in Oakland, California.
"I worked for a really amazing chef. And he really just, I worked for him for like three years. That was my culinary school. And he really taught me to love clean, fresh, local ingredients," he said.
Fulk likes to experiment with a lot of different types of food.
It's important to like try everything, do everything.Chef Ash Fulk, Abigail's
"It's important to like try everything, do everything. And, you know, I like Chinese as much as I like a kale salad, as much as I like a Smashburger, as much as I like a filet mignon," Fulk said.
The name of the restaurant has an interesting story.
My mother still calls me Abigail to this day, so we thought we'd name it after my nickname.Chef Ash Fulk, Abigail's
"So, the name Abigail's was inspired by, it was my nickname growing up. So my full name is Ashley and my brother's nickname for me was Abigail, which then got shortened to Abby, which got shortened to AB. And then when I was around 11, it got lengthened to Abigail. And my mother still calls me Abigail to this day, so we thought we'd name it after my nickname," Fulk said.
Fulk showed off one of his personal favorites, a salmon with soy glaze, and a whole grain friend rice with Brussels sprouts.
"There's no actual rice in it. We make it with quinoa and faro. I love a whole grain. I love that we got shredded Brussels sprouts with carrot, a little onion, a little celery, just a classic fried rice combo. And then we serve it with some griddled bok choy," Fulk said.
There's also a Super Bowl.
"Which is like a buckwheat noodle toss and sweet chili an of vegetables, mint and then pickled shiitake mushrooms which are amazing game-changing, calling them Tex-Mex dumplings which are a dumpling classic Chinese dumpling but stuffed with sort of Mexican flavors," he said. "So this is our Callie mix. Dumpling mix. We've got a little pork here. We've got a galloping yo, we've got cumin, we've got all kinds of delicious spices in here. It's sort of like a taco to it. It's sort of like a taco Tuesday."
You won't want to forget dessert.
We put a big bus in our restaurant because we thought it was cool.Chef Ash Fulk, Abigail's
"We're going to do a baked Alaska," Fulk said. "We put a big bus in our restaurant because we thought it was cool. You know, we think the VW it's all about California life throw your surfboard on your VW bus and drive to the beach. And we wanted that vibe to be the focal point of the restaurant."
The restaurant is perfect for the "go-go New Yorker."
"Come to us, we will create a space where you can sit, have a great glass of wine, great food, and just breathe from the crazy, suffocating days in New York. Can't wait to see you!" Fulk said.
ALSO READ: Neighborhood Eats: Sanuki Udon offers quality, authentic Japanese-style noodles and tempura
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