Jean Georges

After visiting chef Jean Georges flagship Manhattan restaurant, I can firmly say he deserves every one of those three Michelin stars. Located in Trump Tower on Central Park West, I was expecting the restaurant to be pretentious and stiff. I couldn't have been more wrong. The dining room was actually quite cozy and the waitstaff always pleasant and helpful despite the fact that we were clearly newbies. There are two rooms at Jean-Georges: the front room, which is a separate (less expensive) restaurant, where there seemed to be a lot of regulars hanging around, and the back room which is Jean-Georges proper. The room is a giant rectangle, so every table can be seen and no table is a bad one. What made this dining experience especially memorable was that I got to share it with one of my favorite couples, my original foodies, Bindu and Suraj. Few people relish a good meal the way Suraj does, and watching him have a love affair with his food is highly entertaining. I was a bit apprehensive before the meal because I am usually not a huge fan of fine French dining, but Bindu assured me that the food would have enough Asian inspired flavors to keep my palate satisfied. We started our three course prix fixe with hamachi sashimi, peekytoe crab, caramelized sea scallops, and goat cheese gnocchi. Each dish was so well balanced, it was hard to pick a favorite, but the pillowy, melt in your mouth gnocchi was certainly one of the best I've ever had. For our second course, we shared the charred corn ravioli, arctic char, gulf shrimp with smoked bacon, and chili glazed maine halibut. Everything was cooked to perfection and each dish really did have an extra kick or hidden ingredient to make the flavors stand out. We're not talking your typical French bechamel's and buttery sauces, this was creative, surprising, fantastic food! Many of the sauces had hints of mustard or wasabi or horseradish and they were adventurous with their use of spice and peppers. Our third course (what we thought would be our last) consisted of a black sea bass crusted with nuts, rack of lamb with chili glaze, and maine lobster with basil butter and jalapeno. While lamb is usually my runaway favorite dish, I have to say Ankur ordered best when he picked the black sea bass. The sweet and sour jus combined with the grainy, crunchy crust was out of this world. As we began to debate how much we were willing to spend on our dessert, we were informed it was actually included in the prix fixe. I don't think I have ever seen Bindu or Ankur look happier. Ohhhh dessert. My wish for each and every one of you reading this is: that at some point in your lives, you get to dine at Jean-Georges and then, at the end of your meal, when you are already swimming in ecstasy, you have the experience of a Jean Georges signature dessert platter (four desserts - all for you - based on a category of your choosing), our choices were: chocolate, autumn, strawberry, and harvest. We got one of each, thus creating a sixteen course dessert tasting. At the end of night, I was not only deeply satisfied by the food, but by the entire experience. Jean Georges proved to me that cooking is about so much more than the food, it's an art, and chef Jean Georges is a true master of his art. I felt not even an ounce of guilt at the price (which was actually less than I had anticipated) because, on this night, we ate (and felt) like royalty. Move over Gari, there is a new king of my heart.

Here we are with our amazing desserts (don't we look happy!)


The Arctic Char covered in chili-lime foam (above), Suraj enjoying his lamb (below)And last, but not least, the after dessert desserts including homemade marshmallows, chocolates, and candied fruits.