With a last name like Vongerichten, I am sure people always compare you to the most known in the family or at least always make a reference as I am going to do it in this post. But you cannot not mention that Jean-Georges’ son, Cédric is, with his wife Ochi, the owner of Wayans, a restaurant located in Nolita that serves Indonesian cuisine with French influence. Opened in 2019, this place is a true gem: beautiful decor with, besides an outdoor setting installed during Covid, a front dining room that is more casual than the back dining room, and, in between, a small open kitchen where you can see dishes being made (there is another kitchen downstairs).

The food there is incredible and you need probably two dishes per person if you want dessert, their characterization of being a family style restaurant referring more to sharing than portions (no, this is not Carmine’s!).

A must have is their lobster noodles that has been on their menu since inception. Know that they can make it vegetarian and I am sure it works. This is a stunning dish that I was glad, selfishly, to have all for myself: flavorful, with herbs like Thai basil and cilantro, the noodles were, as was the lobster, perfectly cooked, smothered by a sauce made with many ingredients like butter, soy, green chili, lime, etc. but still well balanced. After the first bite you cannot stop! It is a must have.

An interesting dish is the escargots Rendang. This classic french appetizer was made with garlic herb butter and calamansi. It was quite good, the flavors totally different from the traditional escargots, but I was a bit disappointed that I could not dip the toasted brioche in some sauce. Still, the taste was quite unique.

For Jodi, being vegetarian, she had a good choice of dishes that did not seem to be a second thought. The first one was the chickpea satay: what a great idea! Looking like mini churros, they were crispy on the outside and not dry at all, the sauce not being necessary at all. The filling did not just have chickpeas in fact: it also had shiitake mushroom.

The other dish was their avocado toast Gado Gado, made with cucumber, boiled egg on top and peanut relish (she asked to have it on the side). The dish looked beautiful with all the colors. It was good, the radish and sunflower seeds adding an additional texture; the only negative was the brioche that was a bit too thick.

Before I talk about dessert, I should mention the drinks. For lunch, I usually go sans alcohol, so I was glad to see that they offered mocktails. I chose the turmeric tonic, made with turmeric, citrus, honey and tonic, while Jodi got their smokey lemonade, made with smoked salt and cinnamon. Both were quite original, my favorite being the smokey lemonade as I love smokey flavors.

Dessert was a way to end the meal on a high note. Because our order took a little bit of time to come, they offered us a pandan custard. Pandan is a green leaf that is often described has having a grassy vanilla taste with hints of coconut. I was not sure what to expect, but found it delicious! Creamy and not too sweet, they added passion fruit seeds for additional texture.

The dessert we ordered was their banana sundae served with ube (purple yam) ice cream. The colors of this dessert were amazing, with the purple from the ube ice cream to the orange of the deliciously caramelized bananas, my favorite element that I would eat everyday!

Overall it was a great experience: great food, good service in a relaxed atmosphere. Wayan is definitely a place to go to and now when people ask me if I know who Vongerichten is, I’ll respond: which one?

Enjoy (I really did)!

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Wayan -20 Spring St, New York, NY 10012

Wayan, Indonesian with French influences by Chef Cedric Vongerichten

I Just Want To Eat!