Inside El Rey, One of Our New Favorite Lunch Spots

(upbeat Spanish music)

Hi, I am Alison Roman,

Senior Food Editor at Bon Appetit Magazine,

and I'm here today at el Rey Coffee Bar and Luncheonette.

And I'm here with the Chef Gerardo.

Hello. Who's taken time

out of his busy schedule

to talk with us a little bit about what el Rey is,

what this sort of luncheonette movement is all about,

and how they've totally nailed it.

The interesting thing about this space, for sure,

is that, you know, it's a lunch counter,

you're sitting here, you're watching me cook food.

A lot of people always comment on

how I plate a good lesson in learning how to cook

and stuff like that.

But the other half are asking me about, like, home design,

because, the funny thing is,

this is a tiny kitchen, but for the most part,

a lot of New Yorker's kitchens are

about this size. About this size (laughs).

When you have these elements where it's white,

it's concrete, it's this particular type of wood, mahogany,

what it does it just kind of

makes things pop in front of it.

Automatically, this kind of atmosphere,

with the food and the drink,

I feel is a great alternative

to restaurants and bars.

Yeah, and so the food,

we we're actually just sitting there

and somebody asked us what is the food here?

Is it vegetarian?

Is it healthy?

What is it?

We're just such a small space,

so I don't think we intentionally

went out to be primarily vegetarian or vegan,

but when you're forced to make something

that is delicious, and not necessarily replacing the flavor

of like meat or cheese or stuff like that,

then you just open yourself up more

to creative a process.

You know, the idea that you're

having these things for lunch,

and you leave and you feel really good about your day.

You don't feel Yeah, I mean,

Like you need to take a nap.

You can be

satiated but not

feel

heavy and,

'cause everybody's on the go.

You know, it's New York City,

so you have to be energized to

take on the rest of your day and night, and continue on.

Yeah.

Thank you so much for letting us come in,

and hanging out,

and basically inspiring us on all fronts,

both interior design, in our souls,

on our plates (laughs). Good.

Thank you for coming over here.

(upbeat Spanish music)