I never got to talk about the amazing food that is made in this man's kitchen. It was most certainly worth the money and well deserving of the 3 Michelin Stars (making his dining room one of the 4 restaurants that were granted 3 stars). Jean Georges Vongerichten has 15 restaurants, however, his restaurant in New York, Jean Georges (which is aptly named), is his signature and houses some very creative and innovative French food. I had one of the best and unique meals in my life at his restaurant. I'll go over what I ordered which everyone at the table was jealous of because they didn't order what I ordered.
It was a prix fixe dinner of three courses and then a dessert "themed tasting."
Course 1- Fois Gras Brulee with Strawberry-Balsamic Reduction
I've had some good fois gras, though this was just wonderful, not quite the fois gras you get in the top restaurants in France, though it was pretty close. He takes fois gras that's the style of pate and places it on a circle of brioche bread and then places strawberries and sugar on top of the fois gras and sets a blow torch to it. Next to it lies the strawberry and aged balsamic reduction. One last thing I have to say is that the balsamic was some of the best I've ever had.
Course 2- Butter Poached Turbot with a Châteaux-Challon Sauce (white wine and butter)
I apologize for the size of the picture, though everyone at the table said it was possibly the best course of the dinner. It was a perfect cut of fish that was cooked using the poaching method in butter. There were pieces of chopped tomato and zucchini on top of it (which were very fresh and flavorful). Then the sauce. Nothing can be better that when you mix it with butter, and you can see that it is not clear at all. There was a lot of butter and some very high quality white wine. I would have been happy if they just gave me a bowl with this sauce and a spoon.
Course 3- Crunchy Rabbit with a Soy Bean Puree and Citrus-Chili Paste
I couldn't find an image of this one, though I'm going to have you use your imagination. The rabbit was almost in the form of a sausage that was breaded with panko bread crumbs and lightly fried. In the rabbit and on the side was this hot paste made primarily of some chili and essence of citrus as in the description. The soybean puree seemed to be mixed with butter because the soybean only takes on the flavor of what is mixed with it. Lastly, a spiced rabbit broth was poured under the rabbit. Definitely a new type of French cuisine, though, never the less, very, very good.
Dessert- Chocolate Tasting
The great thing about Jean Georges is that the menu changes with the season so there is always variation, this is the summer variation of the chocolate dessert which I had. [Top Left]- This was a chocolate sorbet with a little bit of sea salt on the top of it that shocked me a bit when I expected sweet. [Top Right]- Ganache that was rolled in amaranth seeds for texture which was easy to pick up by hand and eat. [Bottom Left]- This one was great, it was a chocolate paste which was very tasty with a bunch of chocolate candy with it. On top of it were aerated sesame seeds which melted in your mouth though were served at negative temperatures which were fun. [Bottom Right]- Last but not least, the molten chocolate cake which is one of my favorite desserts and was one of the best I've had. I was so sad to have such a small sampling of it, but you can't have it all.
After dinner, like in all nice restaurants, the gave us petifores. One of selections was a house made marshmallow which was nice. Overall, a magnificent dinner and I completely recommend trying it if you're willing to pay the high prices; you know, "the things I do for food!"
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