Summer Ribbons

Today I went to Jean Georges for lunch with some of the summer associates at our firm.  A and I have previously gone to Nougatine, the more "informal" dining room next door to Jean Georges, for their lunch prix fixe, but neither of us had been to the Jean Georges dining room before.  I was excited to see how the experience would be different.

The meal started out with a three-part amuse plate, with sashimi, a strawberry mozzarella cube, and watercress sorbet.

According to the servers, the first thing to try was the sashimi.  I missed what type of sashimi (big group) but it came with fruit (cantaloupe, I think) and a thin slice of pepper, on top of a mustard-like sauce.  It was a good mix of sweet, tart, spicy and tangy, on top of the clean flavor of the fish.  I liked it.  Second was the strawberry on top of a small block of mozzarella which came with a balsamic vinaigrette sauce.  The mozzarella was rich and the strawberry was sweet, but the combination of the 2 wasn't my favorite.  Last was the watercress sorbet topped with creme fraiche.  This was interesting although it had mostly melted into a green soup by the time I got through the other 2 parts of the amuse plate.

The Jean Georges prix fixe menu consists of any 2 plates (appetizer or entree size) for $38.  I decided to go with one appetizer and one entree.  For the appetizer, I got the yellowfin tuna ribbons with avocado, spicy radish and ginger marinade.  I had been trying to decide between the ribbons and the hamachi sashimi, and the server recommended the ribbons for the more "classic" JG dish, which worked for me.

The tuna was fresh, so soft it could melt, and cut into thin ribbons.  Surrounding the tuna ribbons were small pieces of radish and on the bottom of the plate, mashed avocado like guacamole.  After bringing out the tuna, they poured the ginger marinade on top and around the ribbon pile, which added a lot of a tangy flavor.  I liked how light the appetizer felt, especially in comparison the goat cheese gnocchi some of the others got.  Later in the afternoon I realized why this dish felt so familiar.  It was the same flavor profile (and the same ingredients) as the tuna tartare that I got when I went to Nougatine with A a few years ago!  The only difference was this time it was tuna ribbons and last time it was tuna tartare.  I guess this is just a winning combination!

For the entree, I wanted something light and healthy (partly because it was 90 degrees outside). I thought, of all the fish options, the cod sounded best because it wasn't crusted with anything.  According to the menu, it was a steamed cod, with baby bok choy, black bean vinaigrette and chervil.

Out of everyone in our group, I happened to pick the 2 dishes that had sauce poured on them after they arrived on the table.  When I first got the cod, it was just the cleanest, purest piece of white cod that you could find, on top of what appeared to be steamed bok choy.  That looked so healthy and I was really happy with my choice.  I completely forgot there was sauce for it until the server appeared next to me.  The sauce was a black bean vinaigrette with actual beans and some other vegetables.  It fit the fish and vegetables, as it was full of flavor but very light.

I really enjoyed the Asian flavors that came through in this dish.  Everything worked perfectly together and was the right choice for the summer day.  The fish was flaky and soft, the bok choy was crisp but not hard to chew, and the black bean sauce was full of rich flavors but still not heavy.

We decided not to order dessert but the meal ended with some sweet treats. 

There were 4 different types of chocolate, a plate of homemade marshmallows that were soft and gooey, and some mini strawberry macarons (soft, sweet and flaky).  It was a nice ending to a delicious meal!