160 East 64th Street
New York, NY 10021
212.223.5656
www.jean-georges.com
Star chef Jean-Georges Vingerichten opened his first New York restaurant almost 10 years ago in a cozy townhouse on the Upper East Side. When that elegant restaurant opened, Ruth Reichl wrote that the food, "took my breath away." That restaurant, Jo Jo, is still cozy and elegant and serves food that delights. Best of all, it's possibly the most vegetarian-friendly of Jean-Georges' restaurants, offering a vegetable menu and, in general, food prepared with light vegetable stocks and herbal vinaigrettes.
During a recent dinner, while the four-course vegetable menu sounded wonderful and was tempting at just $45, I opted for three courses from the a la carte menu. I started with a butternut squash soup that was surprisingly light yet very flavorful. I continued with the beet green ravioli with ricotta cheese and marjoram brown butter (below).
My beet ravioli was an appetizer-sized portion, but yet with the soup and dessert to come was perfectly sized to be my entree. The ravioli were fulfilling while the beets on top were fresh and flavorful. The sauce was very light, allowing the other flavors to take center stage.Dessert was the only mild disappointment as the chocolate mini-cake with soft chocolate filling seemed a tad overcooked.
Overall, Jo Jo is a wonderful choice for an intimate and well-prepared vegetarian dinner that's easy on the wallet.
