Loved RW Dinner at Nougatine - you?
Had a wonderful RW dinner at the Nougatine Room at Jean-Georges on Monday. Great food and the most gracious service (as always), with J-G very visible: supervising in the open kitchen, checking out service at the bar and making the rounds to oversee tables. What a refreshing menu for a beastly hot day! A tasty and beautiful amuse-bouche of cucumber soup and a side of an heirloom cherry tomato with goat cheese topping. The appetizer, luscious cubed watermelon mixed with cubes of goat cheese and pepper, was followed by 2 entrees: a delicate rare-poached salmon in broth with tofu and scallions plus a separate course of chicken breast in a crispy parmesan crust. The dessert sampler, which included a molten mini chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and a sort of panne cotte with fresh berries and whipped cream. If this isn't one of the best treats around -- especially for the price -- I don't know what is!
City Kid
Jul 23, 2008 11:37AM
Someone in another post mentioned that Nougatine is overseen by a separate kitchen and not JG's. His kitchen only takes care of the main dining room.
Also, the $35 prix-fixe dinner at Nougatine is available all year round as an early bird special (I think you have to order before 6:30pm)
Permalink | Reply
I don't believe either one of these assertions is correct. Jean-Georges was certainly very much in command when I was there on Monday, and I understand both share the same kitchen. Also, I beleive the prix fixe lunch is served year round but that the dinner special is reserved for restaurant week only.
Permalink | Reply
I didn't see a $35 prix fixe dinner option on the regular Nougatine menu. Thanks for the report--I'll be going for dinner next Wednesday.
Permalink | Reply
Just got back from dinner and I agree w/City Kid that it was a great experience and very generous for a restaurant week menu. Service was very nice and pacing was relaxed, despite the fact that we weren't spending much money. Amuse was as City Kid described. The first course was a great watermelon gazpacho. Then came salmon w/asparagus, oyster mushrooms, and ginger sesame sabayon. I'm sort of bored by salmon, but it was hard not to eat every bite of this dish. I especially loved the sabayon. Meat course was petit fillet--perfectly cooked--w/a garlic sauce, sugar snap peas, and parmesan cheese in tiny cubes. Warm chocolate cake dessert was great of course. The only disappointment was the apricot tart, which was OK. We had some complimentary fruit jellies and orange chocolate w/the check. I'd definitely recommend.
Permalink | Reply
Hi City Kid,
This is the post where I heard about the different kitchen. Of course I don't work in the industry so I never verify it. But the quality difference between Nougatine and the main dining room is quite obvious (except for desserts, which I do believe they share the kitchen)
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/520461
As for the dinner special, I think in the past the $35 prix fixe was available for a few of JG restaurants, including Nougatine (I could be wrong as I had never leveraged this great deal) Now it looks like only Perry St. and Jo Jo has it.
Permalink | Reply
Interesting, I also am not enough of an insider to give a definitive answer to the kitchen(s) question, but I can say one would have to have pretty extreme standards not to think that restaurant week dinner at Nougatine is a pretty astounding bargain.
Permalink | Reply
Just went yesterday night for dinner based on your recommendation and this was definitely the best RW dinner I had. The beef fillet was amazing, watermelon tomato gazpacho heavenly, and the melted chocolate cake divine. Thanks for the recommendation!
It sounds like they have a lunch prix fixe menu usually. Can't wait to try that now!
Permalink | Reply
Glad you enjoyed it, too. They do have a prix fixe lunch year round for $24.07, which I have enjoyed several times. A treat!
Permalink | Reply