November 16, 2012

• NYC Eats @ Jean-Georges - On the second night (Saturday), we headed over to Jean-Georges, the flagship restaurant of Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Chef Vongerichten commands no less than 18 restaurants around the globe, concentrated in New York. According to one food critic, Chef Vongerichten’s Jean-Georges restaurant trades “the richness of traditional French cooking for a different kind of intensity,” it eliminates “thick sauces and embraces oils and broths, preferring them for their lightness and for the way they release their scents, like the perfume of lemon grass that rose from a bath of Asian herbs and seeds around a delicately baked lobster tartine.”

  The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the 52-story Trump International Hotel and Tower, near Columbus Circle, at the Upper West Side. When you stepped inside the building, a set of sliding glass doors leads to the Nougatine, which is the more casual (and noisier) restaurant. Then, you have to walk past a few tables in the Nougatine and arrive at another door which leads into the more formal Jean-Georges dinning room. Once seated, I notice servers in white/beige uniforms tread from one table to another in a graceful manner, delivering drinks and plates of food, it appears they are doing the whole sequence in a synchronized pattern. The interior of the restaurant is done in a monotone colour palatte of white, gray and dark wood finishes, creating a soothing setting with elegant undertones.
  

  A portion of the food menu, Assortment of Signature Dishes was my choice…..
  

  W goes for the Autumn Menu…..
  

  I had the cherry-yuzu soda, while W had this sliced figs and martini cocktail…..
  

  Amuse bouche, (top right) warm cauliflower-cumin hibiscus soup, (bottom right) diced cucumbers in pumpkin jus on petit cracker, (left) salmon sashimi, wasabi crème…..a trio of amuses to start up, first the soup, which was richly infused with cauliflower flavour and then the finish was a bit tangy and spicy too; the salmon was quite typical in texture with the wasabi crème kicking in some spicy taste; finally the diced cucumbers and petit cracker refreshened the palate with a crispness bite…..
  

  Egg caviar, the temperature of the egg yolk inside was perfectly done, amazing when mixed with the coolness of the crème fraîche, ending the bite with the zesty and spicy caviar, excellent…….
  

  Egg toast caviar and herbs, the salty tang of the caviar mixing wonderfully with the heavy texture of the egg yolk, while the crisp toast and herbs provide some balance in between…..
  

  Sea scallops, Caramelized cauliflower, Caper-Raisin emulsion, the scallops were cooked tender which paired well with the crunchy cauliflower, linked to a good finish with the mildly tart caper-raisin sauce…..
  

  Japanese Snapper Carpaccio with Ginger, White Radish and Olive Oli, an Asian influenced dish, here the twist is the ginger providing a spicy contrast to the fish…..
  

  Young Garlic Soup with Thyme, Sautéed Frog Legs, the soup was a bit light and sweet to the taste, with a slight hint of garlic, the frog legs tasted like chicken, which helped to add savoriness to the whole experience…..
  

  A finger bowl with a faint floral scent was brought out after the frog legs, very nice indeed…..
  

  Grilled Foie Gras Dumplings, Port Glazed Figs and Passion Fruit, here is another Asian oriented dish presented in vegetarian format, the sweetness of the figs combined with the passion fruit provided a sumptuous burst of flavors while biting into the dumpling…..
  

  Turbot with Château Chalon Sauce, this light bodied wine based sauce has a mildly rich “eggy” taste, and paired well in flavour to the tender turbot, while the vegetables on top added some texture contrasting the fish…..
  

  Artic Char, Spiced Jade Emulsion and Tender Celeriac, artic char is a fish with a salmon-like texture, while the Jade Emulsion is actually a creamy version of green curry, overall the fish is overwhelmed by the spicy green curry……
  

  Lobster Tartine, Lemon Grass and Fenugreek Broth, Pea Shoot, this is by far the best tasting dish, with the lobster meat cooked very tender, lemongrass and fenugreek hinting to an Indian style flair, the pea shoot adding to a light vegetal flavour…..
  

  Steamed Maine Lobster, Squash and Yuzu Vinaigrette, very similar in texture to the Lobster Tartine, but the vegetal flavour is replaced by the fruitiness flavours of yuzu and squash, a very delicious combination …..
  

  Broiled Squab, Onion Compote, Corn Pancake with Foie Gras, the bird was juicy and nicely cooked but a bit too rare to my taste, foie gras was seared with a heavy richness, together with the corn pancake, made this dish quite overwhelming, what a heavy & grand finale of this savory “signature dish tasting menu”…..
  

  Roasted Venison, Quince-Madeira Purée, Broccoli Raab and Cabrales Foam, the venison meat was cooked to medium rare, tender yet lean, deliciously paired with the minty and peppery broccoli raab, with the purée infused some sweet cherry-like flavour to the final bite, what a nice combination of flavours…..
  

  Chocolate Dessert Tasting, four part tasting including Jean-Georges Chocolate Cake & Vanilla Bean Ice Cream…..
  

  The Jean-George Chocolate Cake and vanilla bean ice cream, when I sliced into the cake, chocolate lava just gushes out…..
  

  The October Dessert Tasting with a four part dessert….
  

  

  After dessert, a series of mignardises were brought to our table. First off, these petite fruit flavoured sherbet tarts…..
  

  Then, the chocolates…..
  

  And then, macarons and gélees…..
  

  Finally, vanilla marshmallows…..
  

  The entire course took almost four hours, the dishes were very well presented and full of bold flavours. It was a very enjoyable dinner and we would not hesitate to come back again for another unforgettable culinary experience!

  (My hearty hugs to W for taking these photos, under extreme dim lighting. The first photo was from the restaurant archives.)

  Jean Georges | 1 Central Park West, New York | (212) -299-3900 | www.jean-Georges.com

  • 2:09 am
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