Jean Georges

For those that don't know, my best friend since pre-school, Alex Tall, and I have engaged in a gourmet meal together every winter for the past several years. This year we decided to go straight to the top (or close to the top anyway), dining at Jean Georges, prestigious winner of countless culinary awards. The key to affording this exquisite meal was in skipping dinner service and instead going for lunch, where, for a relatively paltry $14 a plate, one can enjoy a variety of tastes and come away quite satisfied but not with totally empty pockets. After four courses, plus dessert, a glass of wine, a martini, tax, and tip, I was set back only $115, which is really very reasonable when considering the experience and quality of dining.

Amouse Bouche
A small trio of starters was served complimentary, including a shot of rich white soup, a piece of raw salmon wrapped around crisp vegetables with a creamy sauce, and a slighly spiced mandarin orange segment.

Bread
I need to make a special note to say how delicious the bread was. Served with delicious sweet butter and an extravegant sea salt.

Entrees

Darren
Japanese Snapper Carpaccio - Crystalized Ginger, White Radish, Olive Oil
Skate - Chateau Chalon Sauce
Pan Roasted Sweetbreads - Licorice, Grilled Pear, Lemon
Soy Glazed Beef Shortribs - Apple-Jalapeno Puree, Rosemary Crumbs

Alex
Kanpachi Sashimi - Sherry Vinaigrette, Toasted Pecans
Roasted Brussel Sprouts - Avocado, Pistachios, Mustard Vinaigrette
Arctic Char - Roasted Cremini Mushrooms, Jalapeno, Garlic
Pan Roasted Sweetbreads - Licorice, Grilled Pear, Lemon
Dessert

Darren
Chocolate:
Jean Georges Chocolate Cake - Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Warm Chocolate Gnocchi - Grapefruit, Gianduja, Basil

Alex
Caramel:
Chocolate Pop - Coffee-Cardamom Ice Cream
Caramel Curd - Dehydrated Sponge Cake, Roasted Pineapple

Post-Dessert
Complimentary chocolates, French macaroons, and homemade marshmallows were served tableside.

My dishes were all excellent. The crystalized ginger on the snapper was totally amazing, perfectly crunchy and delicate. The skate was super light and moist (I laughed a bit that they gave me a knife with it) and the chateau chalon sauce was rich, buttery, and nutty. A great preparation of sweetbreads and additionally fun to chew on the licorice wood for more flavor. The short rib was quite simply perfect...dark and crusty outside, pink and tender inside. I loved the chocolate dessert - nice that they paired a classic chocolate dish with a modern one.

Al didn't fare quite as well, but he was still overall very happy. His kanpachi was lacking in flavor a bit and he simply did not feel that it worked, though he was very pleased with his other dishes. The other big failure was the dessert, which I agreed was a bit of a mess. Though the chocolate pop redeemed it a bit, the caramel curd was displeasing to pretty much every sense. The real disappointment was the dehydrated sponge cake, which basically had the taste and texture of dried cardboard or stale cereal.

The post-dessert made up for it though - the chocolates, macaroons, and marshmallows were all out of this world. Frankly, the regular dessert prior to this wasn't all that necessary, but at only $8 it was hard to pass up.

Ultimately I would highly recommend coming here for lunch. You still get to sit in the beautiful formal dining room, and the prices for dishes are a fraction of the same thing during dinner service. There were a couple stumbles along the way, but the vast majority of our meal was incredible. I am already thinking of going back!

Xunta

Xunta is a Catalunan tapas-style restaurant in downtown Manhattan. This is the third time I've been there, and though it wasn't bad, it wasn't as good as my other visits. The food was fine, but one and a half waiters (one seemed like more of a bus boy) couldn't really handle the crowd that well and the dishes came out a bit too slowly, especially for tapas, which you really want to come one after another, not 15 minutes between tiny plates.

The food is pretty good, but the prices tend to add up quickly. The plates we enjoyed included...

- Datiles a Plancha con Toucino - Grilled Dates wrapped in Bacon
- Patacas Bravas - Spicy Crispy Potatoes
- Gambon a Plancha - Grilled Jumbo Shrimp with Head on
- Guicho de Rape a Plancha - Grilled Skewers of Monkfish over Rice
- Croquetas - Fried Bechamelle and Breadcrumb Croquettes
- Sardinas Asadas - Grilled whole Sardines
- Aceitonas Recheas - Green Olives Stuffed with Anchovy
- Queixo Manchego - Manchego Cheese

Out of all the above, the real winners are the Dates and the Sardines. I think I could eat bacon wrapped dates every day for the rest of my life. The sardines are crispy, hot, and served whole so you get the real taste of the sea. The Manchego cheese is also pretty great, as were the croquettes. The spicy items (patacas bravas and the monkfish) were good, but frankly I would expect a Catalunan restaurant to make their own hot sauce, not use Frank's Red Hot straight out of the bottle, which I am 99% sure is what they did. I wouldn't go back for the shrimp, which were tasty, but a bit overcooked and were prepared in such a way that didn't give you access to the brains in the head, which is the whole point of leaving the head on. I expected to be able to suck out the head juices, and was disappointed that I was not able to.

Ultimately I would recommend coming here, but not that often. I'm sure there are better tapas places out there, but I do like this place and once in a while it really hits the spot.