Jean Georges

Amuse trio


Seared scallops


Goat cheese gnocchi


Trout sashimi


Confit of chicken leg


Slow cooked salmon


Chocolate tasting




Petit fours


Jean Georges kitchen

Well who would have thought that me, a 13 year old boy from Boulder, CO, would end up eating at two three Michelin star restaurants in one trip to New York. Jean Georges is one of the best restaurants in New York City. I first herd about Jean Georges when I was reading about pastry chefs and found Johnny Iuzzini, his desserts looked so good that I just had to look up the place he worked. Now Jean Georges is located right next to the building where Per Se is located, but that does not stop people from coming. My father and I were seated, and then about 3 minutes later they brought out a complementary amuse trio: Fluke tartare with a sweet pea remolade, carrot and miso soup with lime oil, and a 7 grain toast with mustard butter and a breakfast radish. Fluke is a very silky fish so putting a very crunchy ingredient along with it is a very good idea. The pea remolade was very flavorful but did not over power the subtle taste of the fish. To me it tasted like tuna fish salad, no, more like the best tuna fish salad you have ever eaten. The carrot and miso soup was fantastic. Depending on the kind of miso you use, it can either overpower a dish or be overpowered by something else. In this dish the miso pact a large punch, but so did the carrot, and the lime oil kind of put it all to rest. Finally we had the toast with the mustard butter and breakfast radish. When I fist looked at it I expected the bread to be super crunchy or as hard as a rock, the bread was surprisingly soft. By the taste of the mustard you could tell it was homemade because of how strong it was. Most mustard you buy in a store has been diluted but this mustard was not at all. After we finished the amuse, our next dish came out, Seared scallops with caramelized cauliflower and a caper-raisin emulsion. I have never had, nor seen, scallops paired with cauliflower and I am not sure it works that well. The scallops were cooked very well. In my opinion, the sauce was the best part of the dish. It had a great contrast between sweet and sour. My one big problem with the dish is that they sliced the scallops into thin disks. I think if you have an ingredient that is as beautiful as a scallop you should keep it as it is, not slice it up. Scallops are also much prettier when in their full shape. The next course was Goat cheese gnocchi with crispy artichokes. Now this is what I am talking about. The gnocchi where so creamy, and so soft. The artichokes were so lights and crispy. It was quite a contrast in textures. I do believe there was a small touch of citrus in the bottom of the bowl, which made the dish all the more decadent and delicious. Our final appetizer was Trout sashimi with trout eggs, fried trout skin and lemon foam. I looked at the menu and I saw trout sashimi, trout eggs, and fried trout skin, that makes me really excited. It came to the table and just looking at it made me excited. Now, trout is a very light fish with a low fat content, it does not have a very robust flavor. When you pair trout, especially raw trout, with something as strong as lemon it will be over powered and that is exactly what happened on this dish. That was the only rough part of the dish was that the lemon over powered the trout. Now the first entree comes; Parmesan crusted confit leg of chicken with salsify and lemon butter. Usually when I eat chicken it is dry, this chicken was probably the most succulent, moist, tender piece of chicken I have ever eaten. Crusted in Parmesan cheese, my god, that to me is like gilding the lily, but in a very very good way. Our last entree before we moved into dessert was Salmon with spinach ravioli, crispy pancetta, and bacon vinaigrette. The salmon was cooked to perfection, it was cooked sous vide so it would be evenly cooked all the way around. Cooking sous vide is basically cooking something in a vacuum-sealed bag, in temperature controlled water. The vinaigrette had a very nice bacon flavor. All in all it was a very good dish. Now it's time for dessert. The Chocolate tasting: Jean Georges chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream and a honey caramelized flexible chocolate ganache with amaranth seeds, hibiscus streusel, and beets. This is what I have read about, watched TV about and now I finally get to eat. For me, there is nothing better than a perfect chocolate lava cake. If you agree with me you must try the Jean Georges chocolate cake. It is perfectly cooked on the outside, but just gushing lava when you cut into it. The ganache was super light but and the same time super rich and creamy. I do not know what is up with people putting vegetables on dessert but it is amazing. Then came our Petit Fours: Strawberry and raspberry macaroons, assorted chocolates, vanilla marshmallows. The marshmallows were cut table side from this large jar of marshmallows. All of them were great petit fours. At the end of the meal I got a private tour of the Jean Georges kitchen. What a trip!!!