I’d mentioned in my More than 36 hours in NYC post that the only repeat on this trip was Jean Georges. Located at the bottom of the Trump Tower on Columbus Circle, the prix fix lunch for $28 is a very accessible way of experiencing 3* dining and worth getting dressed up for!
The room at Jean Georges is one of my favorites. There’s so much natural light, and with excellent sound-proofing so although the traffic of New York swirls around you, you’d never know. They also do an excellent job of not packing you in, so your dining experience seems very intimate.
The $28 menu includes 2 items from their very long list. Being the good couple that we are, we decided if we shared, we’d get to have more tastes. After our decisions were made, a trio of amuse bouche were quickly delivered to our table; watermelon infused with chili, homemade mozzarella with pickled raspberries and a chamomile infused chicken soup.
There were so many things on the menu that looked good, and although I was leaning towards the seafood, in the end my choice is always the foie gras.
Ben chose the wonderful goat cheese gnocchi with baby artichokes, lemon and olive oil.
I never order chicken as a main in a restaurant, but was enticed by the parmesan crusted confit leg of chicken with artichokes, basil and lemon butter.
Ben’s choice was the tenderloin, (although I had secretly hoped he’d get the veal scaloppine or the snapper). I’ll mention a lesson learned here. In the future, I will take a photo of the menu, so you won’t forget what you’ve eaten. I know that this dish is served with squash, but can’t for the life of me remember what kind or what the sauce was.
We weren’t going to order dessert, but I was having such a wonderful time at the restaurant I wanted to make this wonderful meal last longer
Dessert was followed by the signature ends of the meal. Macarons, chocolates and beautiful homemade marshmallows.
Again, I wasn’t really paying attention to which chocolates were what but all were delicious though.
I’m hugely into macarons lately, so I was so happy to see them.
I remember reading somewhere recently that Michelin starred restaurants exist to serve exceptional food and give exceptional service. Three star Michelin restaurants should do that while also providing a magical experience. In my first visit to Jean Georges last year, I learned about the magic of Jean Georges. I loved it so much I eagerly anticipated a return visit. With such high expectations, I knew it was going to be difficult to exceed my initial experience. I’m happy to report the food met expectations, and the service? Well you can’t beat being asked how the meal was by the actual man himself.
Jean Georges – 1 Central Park West, New York
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