LUNCH: Jean Georges, NYC Tastes of Spring Menu

I celebrated my recent birthday in my favorite city, New York. When I'm in NYC my favorite things to do are eat, shop and go to Central Park. I heard so many great things about Jean Georges at 1 Central Park West in the Trump Tower that I just had to try it. They offer a relatively affordable ($14 per taste) spring tasting menu that is updated often. I had already studied the menu online and I was pretty set on what I wanted to try when we got there. My sister Monica, our friend Mark and I headed there for a leisurely lunch. The restaurant is quiet, comfortable and simply decorated. I love that the focus is on the food and not on splashy decor. The service is totally professional and surprisingly approachable and friendly. Lunch will take you a couple of hours and you really should have a reservation if you want to eat here. It is truly a pleasant and leisurely experience. We each ordered two tastes, a drink and dessert which was plenty to satisfy us when you factor in the amuse bouche, macarons and petit fours they served between courses and after dessert. Read on if you are interested in what we ate. I started with a Chili Lime soda, Mark had the Lemon Ginger soda and Monica had sparkling wine. The sodas were very refreshing on a hot NYC day. Mine was like sparkling limeade with a chili kick that left a bit of heat in my throat after each sip. They started us off with an amuse bouche trio of Gruyere panini with arugula and a slice of cherry tomato, salmon sashimi topped with mustard sauce, and strawberry peppermint soup with a cilantro micro green. The little grilled cheese panino was delicious and I always love a good, fresh sashimi. However, I think the cilantro overpowered the delicate flavors of the strawberry mint soup. My first course was Madai sashimi (Japanese snapper) with French heather floral infused cherries and cilantro puree topped with a bit of salt. The white fish melted in my mouth and the cherries were sweet with a flavor from the French heather that was indescribable. I would order it again just for the heather infused cherries. Mark ordered freshly pureed sweet pea soup poured into a bowl of Parmesan foam at the table. Monica had a very generous tower of sashimi tuna ribbons with avocado and ginger dressing. Both were very good and nicely presented. For my main course I ordered their specialty, skate with Chateau Chalon sauce topped with diced zucchini and tomato. The skate was soft and buttery but the wine sauce is what really makes this dish. It is a burre blanc made with a sherry-like oxidized French yellow wine that is rich and decadent. Monica's snapper with sweet and sour jus was meaty and substantial. Desserts are served as a trio of tastings in a theme of your choice. I chose the rhubarb theme which presented me with a green tea cake, hibiscus poached rhubarb and a rhubarb and birch beer float. I'm not sure why I chose rhubarb but the dessert tastings were very interesting. My favorite was the tea cake because it tasted mealy and slightly nutty to me. Our server brought us a tray of mini macarons that were pretty good. He also brought us a heavenly dessert as an apology for a mix up with one of the earlier tastings. It was a light, airy vanilla bean semifreddo over a pink rose flavored macaron and topped with fresh raspberries, blueberries and berry puree. I could eat this every single day! Petit fours were not cakes but a house made marshmallow trio of ginger, rose and vanilla bean flavored marshmallows and little chocolates. The marshmallows were disappointing in my opinion. I was floored by the mint chocolate that actually had fresh mint in it. All in all Jean Georges was a great way to enjoy a leisurely lunch in New York. The dishes were very good and amazingly fresh. It is definitely a fun way to indulge yourself for a few hours.