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Jean Georges Nougatine, New York City, a closer look
Aloha!
10/27/11 - Says it all right there. That's as high as it gets on Triple A's rating system, and that's an honor only two Hawaii restaurants have also won so far, if I'm not mistaken - Mavro's and La Mer. Of course, there are other organizations giving out awards just or almost as prestigious, and Alan Wong, most notably, has won accolades both Mavro and La Mer haven't been able to garner yet. But we're not talking about Hawaii today. We're talking about New York City. And when in New York City, along with Las Vegas, Shanghai, and other cities around the world, Jean Georges Vongerichten is definitely one of the big hitters around!
Though born and trained in France, the guy has been in America for a long time, at least when it comes to the modern style of cuisine now found everywhere. After all, the nouvelle movement began percolating and expanding, from French roots, to the rest of the world only as recently as the late 60's and 70's. I'm not gonna argue with food scholars about the exact dates and the transition from classical into the worldwide fusion stuff of today, but Jean Georges Vongerichten, who arrived in America in 1985, was an instant hit when modern cuisine was still relatively young and first expanding around the country and world. Just as a gauge, remember that Hawaii chefs began playing with the newer ideas in the late 80's as well, and only at that time did most of us regular folks first catch wind of the dramatic boom in high-quality yet accessible cuisine, a boom still continuing today. Several Hawaii chefs were actually pushing the envelope in various, mostly ritzy hotel outlets throughout the state, but it was Roy Yamaguchi that really first lit the fire in Honolulu, opening his Roy's location in Hawaii Kai in 1988. But then I digress once again!
Just one clue to the greatness of Jean Georges lies in his restaurant's very location - at the Trump Tower, One Central Park West:
You gotta be a big hitter to abide here, and the Donald loves him so much that not only does his flagship restaurant, Jean Georges, remain a fixture within the building, but so does his slightly more casual Nougatine, a mere wall away. We actually had reservations at the first, which would have been an 8-10 course tasting menu w/wine pairings for about $300 each (slightly over half the cost for food and the remainder for wine!), but our flight in from Niagara Falls, Canada was delayed and we missed our opportunity. With only one more day in New York City, Nougatine for lunch was our next-best shot to experience this iconic chef.
New York Magazine's Hal Rubenstein gushes over Nougatine, calling it "Possibly the least heralded and most overlooked restaurant in town." It may be slightly beyond established media buzz and big-ticket snobs, but it doesn't get past the astute, savvy internet foodies in town, which I relied upon heavily to help point us in the right direction our entire time in NYC. According to internet chatter off the main grid, it's basically the same foods but with simpler presentations and less high-end foo-foo, as well as prices less costly by a third to a half. Good deal! Though it's much more casual than Jean George's nextdoor, we're by no means talking about a diner or sports bar here - the guests are yet rather uppity and the place still reveals an under-girding of upscale ambience, albeit in a low-key way. From the moment you arrive, 3 or 4 well-dressed, well-mannered hostesses are there to greet and seat in cheerful fashion.
And the entire army of help doesn't end there. A never-ending stream of waiters, waitresses, busboys, presenters, and managers were there at our beck and call, providing us everything we ever needed at the instant we needed them, along with a smile.
The inner sanctum was accentuated attractively in a bright, warm, and cheerful way, with lots of light woods, pastel whites, natural sunlight, and cosmopolitan artwork. The feel was of a quiet, easy elegance, presented in the most unpretentious way possible:
Dominating the main dining area is a large, open kitchen. The action there was hot 'n heavy, believe me (not quite so in the pics!), and since we had first-row seats, we got to see it all!
Besides a $65 dry-aged sirloin of beef and a $42 whole Maine lobster, no entree on the menu breached $30, and appetizers were no more than $19, mostly much less. As is the case in many high-end restaurants, the menu is rather small, with 10 appetizer choices and 9 entrees available. In a place like this, we'd normally order a prix-fixe tasting menu, but we decided instead on a total of three appetizers and two entrees, which still gave us plenty of variety but with larger portions!
Their butternut squash soup with black mushrooms probably would have been excellent, as would have the tuna tartare, but opting for different (from Hawaii!) as possible, we started with a beet salad:
With the menu changing so often, I didn't get the exact ingredients, but besides the perfectly-cooked, wonderfully-textured, richly-colored beets, there were tomatoes, sprouts, chopped walnuts, a drizzle of lemon oil, and the most interesting aspect of the dish, a tangy creme fraiche. Though we both found the latter not quite the most seamless fit with the rest of the ingredients, it was nevertheless an interesting and aesthetically-pleasing addition to the dish.
Next was purely a result of placing our trust in the hands of our kind waiter, no further questions asked:
Yup - calamari! Nice 'n crispy, soft 'n tender, yadda-yadda, and all those good things... it was a great batch of golden-fried squid, of course, but perhaps not the highest on wow-factor for this kind of restaurant. What was intriguing, though, was the citrus-chili dip, which was whipped-up almost like a meringue or a cream, but with all the delicious flavors of a typical chili dip. Nice touch! While we could have found such a glorified squid at any sports bar in town, the sauce kept us from forgetting that we were intimately involved in a classy, much-heralded restaurant experience!
For our final app, how could I forsake foie gras?
Huh? Well, foie gras brulee, to be precise. I knew it wasn't gonna be as great as a simple, intact slab, pan-fried or torched, but even off the mark, I was hoping to get as close as possible. Served with a smudge of fig jam and a toasted brioche underneath, it sure did look great in all its caramelized wonder, only, was it? Here's a cross-shot:
I dunno - I've tried variations on foie gras many times, and always in high-end restaurants, but all these fancy concoctions of terrines, mousses, and now, brulee's, have never done much at all for me, at least when it comes to goose liver. This one above tasted like a combination of pate and pure butter, so though I could taste all the richness and all the decadence in even the tiniest morsel, had I been blindfolded, I don't think I'd have recognized the foie gras connection. As skillfully constructed and beautifully presented as this was, the simple lack of anything similiar to the more common version of foie gras, I guess you could say, didn't bode well for me at all. Of course, a terrine, mousse, or brulee of foie gras, without even getting into how time-consuming and difficult they are to construct, is a completely different dish, so it was more my fault for expecting anything else, yes?
Anyhow, Kumi dove into her entree portion of the meal with a sauteed red snapper:
Aaah, fresh fish. We know a lot about fresh fish in the islands, so we were both in a good place to judge the merits of this particular dish, especially since it contained a few very Asian-style ingredients, such as sesame broth, chili oil, and Chinese parsley. And what was the outcome thus? Most excellent, as expected! It was Roy's-fresh, Alan Wong's-complex, and 3660-delicious in every way, just like we do in the islands! The spaghetti squash underneath was also done nicely, serving almost as a starch component while soaking-in all the delicious and well-balanced sauces and flavors. Great choice, Kumi!
My entree came from a slightly more humble type of protein - chicken!
I was hoping for a whole quarter or dark meat section, but breast meat, my least-favorite part of a bird? I mean, leave that to the fitness buffs! Gimme a skin-on thigh, wing, drumstick, or better yet, the little pockets of flesh surrounding the hip and backbone, as luscious as a hamachi kama!
Still, done the right way, with the right bird (as this organic chicken was!), breast meat can be more succulent, more tender, and more juicy than the fattiest parts of a chicken done sub-par or worse, and if there were a place that could do breasts well, I'd trust Jean Georges and Nougatine to do so!
Check it out inside:
I knew it was breast just by the size, texture, and striation, but these pieces were as moist and tender as an expertly-done thigh! Frankly, I was amazed at the sheer perfection of a piece of chicken cut so thick and, uh, so white, being so juicy and soft! The skin also helped immensely, as the crispy crust brought that extra kick of deep-fried, concentrated flavors I sooo love! This wasn't just good for a pair of breasts, but fantastic for chicken, period! White meat has been elevated to a whole 'nother level in my book!
And for our final dish, I'm just throwing a bone out to all you dessert lovers out there, since you know I rarely order one when dining out:
I really should do this more often! The chocolate cake and ice cream were excellent! There was a crisp edge around the starfish-shaped chocolate and the insides turned molten to a moist finish, while the ala mode portion was nothing less than spectacular! Combine them both, and I don't think I need to tell you how amazing it was!
Yeah, we were disappointed at first for missing the actual Jean Georges restaurant, but perhaps Jean Georges Nougatine was all we really ever needed. Even for a high-end restaurant, the quality was stellar, the presentations gorgeous, and the service, impeccible, but combine that with very affordable prices and a stylishly casual (yet not too casual!) atmosphere, and you have yourself a winning combination!
How does a place like this compare to the Hawaii's best, though? Hmmm... Tough to say. So tough that, well, I'm not gonna really say! I mean, the bar is raised so high these days that it really is a difficult thing to judge. Jean Georges was stellar, but so is Mavro's and Alan Wong's. The styles, presentations, and general experiences may be different, but all focus on farm-fresh, quality ingredients, dishes both simple and complex at the same time, and service bordering on slavery. I can't. I just can't.
I tell you one thing, though. For some reason, this trip to New York really did awaken me, on many levels. I mean, how ignorant are my statements here on this very page regarding the best of international cuisine? Am I foolish to say Chef Alan Wong and Chef Mavro can compete with the best in New York, or the world, for that matter? I haven't even been to the best eateries in Chicago, LA, Singapore, Buenos Aires, or Paris, for example, nor have I been fortunate enough to have experienced such legendary spots as Ell Bulli (closing this year!), French Laundry, Fat Duck, L'Atelier - all places considered among the best on the planet!
Alas, I guess I'm but a little child on the seashore, looking out at the vast ocean of undiscovered eateries waiting to be discovered! It all strokes a fire inside of me to go out and explore with even more gusto! It sure does bring a lot more hope and excitement to my culinary mind, so I guess it's a good thing, whether I ever get there or not! Thanks New York for a great trip, and thanks for all the ono kine grindz! Heart-heart-heart!
Take care, and Aloha till next time. And yes, we'll be back in the islands then!
Aku
Jean Georges Nougatine
One Central Park West
212-299-3900
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner; Sunday Brunch menu 12pm-3pm
