Lately, it’s been hard to enjoy meals the way that I’m used to. Mild nausea is still mild nausea so I haven’t been making many plans to go to restaurants. It feels like a waste of time and money. Still, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity when my dad’s friends were in town. Uncle Richard and Aunt Nancy are world travelers who eat around the world, my kind of dining companions. I planned for the four of us to have lunch at Jean Georges 1 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023. (Mom was too busy playing Ma Jong.)
Perched on the South West corner of Central Park West, Jean Georges is a smaller dining room than I had expected. Clean and modern with fresh flowers on each table, and otherwise pretty plain.
As soon as the fresh breads were presented, my dad was swooning over the ciabatta and sourdough. I was too. The apple does not fall far from the tree. At this time, a few were taking turns at the restroom so I was surprised that the amuse plate was served, but they did ask if I wanted them to wait till we were all present for the description, which I did. The chilled shot of borscht, cucumber with dill, and blini with blueberries were all pleasant and refreshing starts.
The menu is a pretty long list, split into 3 parts by light, medium, and heavy. For $29, you can choose any two dishes (additional dishes for $14.50) from any section or the same section.
Unknowingly, Uncle Richard and I chose the same 2 dishes. We started with the Coach Farms Goat Cheese Gnocchi. These were perfect cylinders of rich goat cheese flavor where the texture was lightened, decorated with a floral arrangement of fried artichokes, and a shallow pool of lemon oil. This is a decadent portion that’s enough for two so if you should have your dining companion order something else, you can split. The bread will come around frequently and you’ll need some more for sopping.
For the 2nd course, we had a mildly spicy filet which was perfectly cooked yet the parmesan crusted squash stole the show for me. They were such divine cheese topped buttery and golden nobs. I cut each in half and savored each bite.
My dad ended up with two fish dishes. The first was skate where he said it was very fresh. The 2nd was a pine nut and seed crusted red snapper with a sweet and sour vegetable stew. This was the cleanest plate when my dad was done with it, raving about how much he liked it.
I think Aunt Nancy also started with Skate and ended with the Slow Cooked Salmon which came with Israeli Cous Cous. She talked about how tender and moist the fish was. Normally, I’d be tasting everyone else’s dishes (as you kn0w) but I’m having a hard time with fish right now.
Desserts were little plates of hidden treasures and surprises centered around a theme each. We chose the strawberry themed plate and the garden plate. While fresh pea ice cream (on garden plate) is interesting, I much prefer the wonderfully familiar flavor of little wild strawberries.
The complimentary Sour Cherry Macarons, Gimauve, and chocolates were all delicious so you don’t really need to order dessert.
At $29 per person, you get fresh bread, an amuse, 2 courses, some sweets to finish, all with great service. It’s one of the best deals in town. My dad couldn’t stop talking about it for days. He keeps asking me when I’m taking him to another one of these “nice” places for lunch. None of us would have even thought he would ever like a non-Chinese restaurant.
Even for me, lately not as enthralled with eating, I still thoroughly enjoyed this meal and felt so happy to be there. High praise indeed.
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Looks very elegant and delicious. Glad you made it through lunch at a restaurant without any nausea 🙂
I’ve always wanted to try JG, but have only been to Nogotaine, but the molten chocolate cake was devine.
How much longer till your new love is born? 🙂 Hang in there!
Wow, $29?? i’m ready whenever you want to go back!
At first glance, they looked like grilled lemons than yellow squash but looked delicious either way! I agree with you though, fish isn’t something I want to have right now..neither is beef. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve ate beef these past 3 months. I’m loving me some veggies, fruits and anything dessert for now! How are you feeling besides the nausea?
Wow, beautiful meal! Im glad you could enjoy the experience.
I had lunch there for my husband’s birthday and loved every bit of it too! Though of course your pictures are far better than mine (I guess I was a little shy to take the big camera in such a posh restaurant!!)
ah, how lovely! I enjoyed a solo lunch at Jean Georges last summer. the foie gras brulee with roasted strawberries was…divine. actually, here’s a c/p of the Yelp review I wrote about my experience:
“…I started with the Watercress and Sugar Snap Pea Salad. The crystallized mustard held the key to the dish, with its perfect tang and bite. I was terribly hungry and this served to further whet my appetite.
Next, I had the dish I had come explicitly to Jean-Georges for: the Foie Gras Bruleè with Roasted Strawberries. it was a perfect little round of decadent foie, approximately 3.5″ in diameter, with a crispy, perfectly smoky burnt bruleè crown. the foie itself was interspersed with tender, succulent strawberries. it nearly melted in my mouth and paired perfectly with the glass of rosè I’d ordered.
next, I ordered the(rather disappointing) sweetbreads. I suppose experience should have taught me to ask how they were prepared, as I’m rather partial to pan-seared sweetbreads(not fried). the fact that they were fried drowned out any possible flavors of coriander and orange(as described on their menu).
dessert, however, eased my previous disappointment: creamy mango tart with lemon-thyme sorbet and creme fraiche. fantastic…”
it was…amazing.
Kim, about 5 more months.
Kbow, I could go weekly. =)
Wonders, I’m fine with beef but chicken makes me throw up. Weird right? Other than the nausea, I’m still always tired and have tons of acne. Joy. How about you?
greenbird, I’m going to have to go back for the foie when I’m back to normal.
Wow really? I been eating mostly chicken cause beef makes me feel sick. I just started feeling like I did 100 sit ups today…its so uncomfortable and weird. I can’t imagine how it’ll be a few months later. Just a little less than 26 weeks to go…lol Luckily I’m not breaking out too much, just a couple on my chin. I’m going on a cruise in a month lol Kinda scared what I’ll feel then. I hope you feel better soon ! -=)
Wow, 100 sit ups? I haven’t felt able to do anything but some walking. =( Have fun on your cruise! I’m still debating a trip in Oct I had planned.
Hi Jessica,
Sadly, JC just raised the lunch prix-fixe to $32. Think I’m going to cancel my reservation…”(
Kim, if you mean JG, I think $32 is still worth it. I was sad to see that Eleven Madison Park lunch is now $58!
Hi Jessica,
Yes, JG. I had a reservation for tomorrow, but cancelled it. I guess I’ll reserve it for a special occasion next month. My family’s budget has reached the red this month, due to the tornado (ruined our home and fridge) and I got punished with two ‘careless’ vehicle tickets. I’m thinking of trying Auqavit’s new brunch menu.
Hope you’re doing well.
You are making me wish we lived in New York instead of Oceanside CA 🙂