JoJo, UES - She says...

For my very belated post on JoJo, I'll keep my comments short and sweet. I had fairly high expectations for Jean-George's "bistro," and the meal didn't disappoint. We were looking for a nice brunch spot on the UES, with unique brunch items, and ended up finding a great weekend lunch option instead.

Although there were brunch dishes on JoJo's menu, including french toast, pancakes, and of course eggs benedict, we opted instead for the more interesting lunch menu items. I started with the ravioli while he had the tuna tartare. The ravioli plate was beautiful. The pillowy ravioli squares were accented by bright yellow and scarlet beets, speckled with poppy seeds, and topped with a balsamic vinaigrette. The flavors were bright and fresh, and balanced as nicely as the colors on the plate. The beets were succulent and delicious. Their sweetness paired well with the creaminess of the three cheese ravioli and concentrated balsamic. The overall dish was light yet satisfying, and sized perfectly as a first "course."


I found his tuna tartare to be more conventional and less interesting. It was well prepared, but served at room temperature, which was a bit too warm for me. The waffle chips that accompanied it were crispy, but slightly greasy and overwhelmed the delicate tartare.

Next, I had the shrimp and lemon risotto and he had the skirt steak. The two dishes were very different, but both were delicious and complemented our respective first courses well. My risotto was again fresh and light, especially for a risotto. The flavor of lemon wasn't strong or overwhelming, but instead added an acidity and sweetness that cut the richness of the risotto. The shrimp were juicy and delicate, and the fennel added a nice textural element to the overall dish. While the risotto was delicate and muted, his steak dish was bold and rich. Aside from the steak being a perfect medium rare, it was topped with a mixture of mushrooms and broccoli rabe marinated in a delicious ginger soy sauce. The portion was generously sized, which was perfect for him.


The two course lunch prix fixe at JoJo is a great meal. It even comes with a dessert. Although JoJo is known for its desserts, ours were not very impressive that day, so we'll have to come back to try some of it's signatures. Overall, I think we got a good sense of JoJo's food, and I was very pleasantly surprised. We'd been to Jean Georges and more recently, ABC Kitchen, so we knew the meal would be elegant and tasty. JoJo's food also managed to be fresh and comforting, even though it's space and decor certainly catered to an older patronage. We'll continue our quest to find the perfect UES brunch spot, but I'm so happy that we found JoJo along the way!

JoJo, UES - He says...

We hadn’t gone to brunch in a while so I wanted to go somewhere nice.  After some research, we decided to go to JoJo, Jean Georges Vongerichten’s bistro-themed restaurant.  We’ve been to a couple of his restaurants before (both times with my parents actually).  ABC Kitchen was pretty good and his flagship, Jean Georges, was outstanding – I still remember the foie gras brulee with candied pistachios…  We knew it wouldn’t be like that, but we still had high expectations.

One thing I didn’t realize was the lack of egg in the brunch.  There was a little section of traditional brunch dishes, but it didn’t look like a main focus of the menu so we turned a blind eye to it.  Instead, we got the $26 pre fixe with an appetizer, entrée, and dessert.

For the appetizer, I ordered the tuna tartare.  For the most part, it was pretty standard except it came with a potato gaufrette, a thinly fried potato wafer.  It kind of just tasted like a potato chip.  I thought it overpowered the flavor and softness of the tartare.  It also didn’t have much acid, which is unlike most tartares, but it did have a mild spiciness that I liked.  She had the three cheese ravioli.  I’m not sure what exactly the cheeses were but there was definitely goat cheese, which went well with the thick dough of the ravioli skins and the starchy red beets.  The sauce was a balsamic vinaigrette that seemed to be coupled with brown butter, giving the ravioli a nice buttery, tart interplay.

Our entrees were literally like night and day.  I had the hangar steak with broccoli rabe.  The dish had a dim hue with dark brown, red, and green colors.  The steak was cut into little medallions, each perfectly medium rare.  After each bite, I realized that the meat and veggies were just vessels for the tasty soy caramel sauce.  The sauce started with a strong saltiness but had a sweet finish.  When the gingered minced mushrooms sopped up the sauce, the taste was distinctly Asian, which was a nice surprise in the bistro setting.

She had the shrimp risotto, which was a pretty plate of bright white, pink, and green colors.  We’ve had a lot of risotto in our food adventures, but I honestly can’t remember having one with shrimp.  The shrimp were pretty big and added a mild seafood flavor to the risotto.  I think what really made the dish stand out was the caramelized fennel.  You typically expect a standard creamy texture and taste with risotto.  But the fennel really added this mild crunch and bitterness that to me was a genius contrast to add to something like risotto.  Along with the hints of lemon, I thought this dish was pretty amazing.

The one sad note was the dessert.  I got the warm chocolate cake with oozing fudge in the middle.  It was good but pretty pedestrian.  Unfortunately, she got the cassis cake with a carrot cake crust, which the waiter sold very well.  It sounded good in theory but the cassis was overly sweet and sour and the cake was definitely full of cinnamon.  It didn’t really come together.

Overall, JoJo impressed us and we were not let down.  I was definitely into that risotto.  It was the kind of brilliance I’d expect from a chef like Jean Georges Vongerichten.  It’s probably worth trying again, but I’d rather go to the main Jean Georges or try another of his restaurants.

Alcala, Midtown East - She says...

He's always good at motivating us to go out when we're about to give in to the temptation of Seamlessweb. It also helps that we have some very decent restaurants just a few blocks from home. We decided to go to Alcala on Friday night, a neighborhood Spanish tapas restaurant.

As I've mentioned before, small plates are my favorite way to eat. I love tapas in particular because it encourages everyone to try different dishes. We'd been to Alcala a few times before, so we ordered a mixture of favorites in addition to a few new dishes. Croquetas are usually a staple for us. At Alcala, the dish comes with both bacalao (dried salted cod) and ham croquettes. The ham croquettes are good, but it's the bacalao filling that's really special here. Extremely smooth and creamy, the bacalao is subtle but retains the distinct saltiness of the fish. The croquette "shell" is super crispy, which contrasts nicely with the creaminess of the filling. Another favorite of mine is the baby squid (chipirones) in squid ink, primarily because I really enjoy the flavor of the squid ink. The black ink-covered mounds don't make for the prettiest dish, but the chipirones are succulent and the squid ink is sweet and faintly fishy. It's even good as a dipping sauce for the warm house bread. The only meat dish of the meal were the grilled baby lamb chops (chuletitas), which were juicy and perfectly simple.

The llescas catalanas, pieces of toast rubbed with a tomato spread and covered with either anchovies or marinated salmon, was a new dish this time and certainly worth ordering again. I've only recently started to like anchovies, and I generally need something to balance their strong flavor. This dish matched the intensely salty fish with a fresh, cooling tomato spread on nicely toasted bread. The salmon, marinated in olive oil, was simple but also very tasty. The other new dish of the night were crepes stuffed with a Spanish cheese and shiitake mushrooms, topped with shredded jamon serrano. The cheese and mushroom filling was nice, but the crepe was eggy and chewy. So the overall bite was a bit bland and lacked texture.

We ended the meal with a trio of desserts: tarta de Arrese, leche frita, and what tasted like a chocolate mousse. The custard pie and chocolate mousse were good, and it was the first time I've tried leche frita. The leche frita, similar to the croquetas, had a crispy exterior shell and a gooey sweet milk filling. It was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so, and surprisingly very light. It would have paired perfectly with a latte, but unfortunately we were still working on finishing our wine. At least I know better for next time.


Alcala is not one of those trendy, chic tapas spots, which we didn't have the energy for after a long work week. There isn't any loud music, the decor is charming although slightly dated, and each dish's presentation is simple, plated with barely any garnish. The service at this restaurant is also quite special. Granted it was almost 10pm when we arrived to eat, so the dinner crowd was just finishing up, but the staff was warm and attentive without being awkward or intrusive. The restaurant's focus is clearly on the food and quality, comforting service. It's a great place for an easy, delicious meal.

Alcala, Midtown East - He says…

I wanted to have something simple and yummy with wine for dinner, but in a low-key setting.  I would have been just fine with some cheese, cured ham, and wine on our couch in front of the TV.  But the markets were already closed and I don’t have enough foresight to prepare for nights like these.  So we decided to go to Alcala, a Spanish tapas restaurant that’s not too far from us that we’ve been to before. 

You don’t really think of tapas when you want to avoid crowds.  But unlike other bar-like tapas places, Alcala has a more classic, laid-back dining room.  It’s definitely a more conventional sit-down restaurant.  It may not be the typical tapas experience, but it definitely hit the spot for me on this particular night.

The first tapas we got were slices of toasted bread topped with a tomato jam, anchovies, and smoked salmon.  I really loved how this dish woke up my taste buds.  When I took my first bite, I was surprised by the burst of competing flavors and textures that worked so well together.  The salmon and anchovies had a borderline heavy acidity that was simultaneously mellowed out by the sweetness of the tomato spread.  The toasted bread also gave the dish a hard crunch against the delicate toppings.  When I have tapas like this, I’m amazed at how much diversity you can fit in one small plate with such ordinary ingredients.

Another tapas we had was this crepe.  The pancake was nicely browned and filled with minced mushrooms that really packed a lot of umami essence.  It was surrounded by shreds of jamon Serrano, which added a salty meat component.  I appreciated the fact that they didn’t add it in the filling and chose to keep the integrity of the ham; it made sure that you could fully distinguish its taste and bright red color.

For the rest of our meal, we had more traditional tapas, which were just as delicious.  The croquetas, bacalao stuffed piquillio peppers, grilled lamb chops, and squid in squid ink sauce were all simply prepared and tasted so clean and distinct from one another.  And that’s what I love about tapas.  Each dish is clearly Spanish and yet so different from one another.  It’s like a little buffet of flavors every single time we have tapas.

For dessert, we got the ‘postres variados’, which is literally a variety of desserts.  It was a scoop of chocolate mousse with 2 kinds of custard in cake and fried square form (I always expect some custard for dessert in a Spanish restaurant).  Again, I’m not much for dessert, so I wouldn’t do it much justice describing it (I know she will).  The one thing I did like was how they weren’t very sweet – that’s my kind of dessert.

Like I said, there isn’t much of a “scene” at Alcala like other tapas restaurants in NYC.  But it is a quaint, neighborhood restaurant with friendly service and great traditional tapas.  Which for me is great, because I'm starting to have a lower tolerance for crowded restaurants.  The ambiance and food definitely make Alcala one of my more favorite comfort food restaurants I'll frequent.

Kin Shop, West Village - She says...

Our Top Chef dinners have become a delicious tradition for us and a few friends. It started with a meal that I won, albeit in a shamefully lopsided bet, at Le Bernadin, followed by a pasta tasting at Babbo where we went Dutch because none of us correctly predicted that season's winner. Now, it was my turn to treat a friend who had chosen the winner of Top Chef All-Stars, Richard Blais. Unable to try the new Top Chef's food, we opted for season one winner Harold Dieterle's new Thai-inspired restaurant, Kin Shop. We'd been to Perilla before, and I loved Dieterle's new American food. I was excited to see how Kin Shop would combine traditional Thai flavors with his contemporary style.

The meal was served family style, which gave us an excuse to over-order. To start, we had diver sea scallops with snap peas, fried pork belly and crispy oyster salad, roasted bone marrow, and an eggplant chutney. The scallops and bone marrow were easy choices, and both were as tasty as expected. The snap peas added a nice fresh crunch to the scallops, which were served on top of a sweet coconut sauce. The bone marrow was standard - delicious bites of rich, decadent fat. It was served with crispy roti instead of bread, a savory Thai pancake that's slightly chewy and greasy. The grease took away from the marrow flavor a bit, and I missed the crunch of toasted bread, but it's hard to find fault with nicely roasted bone marrow.


The biggest surprise of the appetizers was the salad, which we rarely order. The crispy pork belly was juicy, and the oysters were large and deep fried perfectly. The best part of the dish was that the salad actually made the crispy proteins taste better. The vinagrette was fresh and acidic, celery added additional freshness and crunch, and the greens were just peppery enough to balance the heartiness of the fried ingredients.

For the entrees, we ordered stir-fried wide wonton noodles with chicken sausage, braised goat with massaman curry, chiang mai sausage with steamed duck egg over a red onion congee, chiang mai curry noodle soup with grilled lamb, and a side of stir fry aquatic vegetables. The wonton noodles with chicken sausage was a tasty, clean version of pad see ew. It was mildly sweet and could have used a bit of spice, but the noodles weren't oily or heavy. The chiang mai sausage was the most unique dish that we tried. The sausage was savory, moist, and spicy. We broke the duck egg yolk over the red onion congee, which created the perfect gooey base for the dish. My favorite dish of the night was the chiang mai curry noodle soup. It was a simple dish with very comforting flavors. The yellow noodles were served two ways: al dente and crispy. The al dente noodles absorbed the delicious curry sauce, while the crispy noodles served on top provided a great textural contrast. The grilled lamb, cut into bite-sized pieces, was the perfect meat to complement the curry. If it had arrived earlier in the meal, I could have finished the entire bowl. The main downside to the dish was that it was our most expensive plate, $24.

Overall, Kin Shop preserved the sweetness and spice of traditional Thai food well and presented dishes that were both creative and elegant. I should probably have started with the disclaimer that Thai is one of my favorite comfort foods, so I wasn't looking for fancy dishes or impressive techniques. The flavors were delicious and bold, yet balanced. The restaurant achieves a neighborhood atmosphere that I really enjoyed. If we lived in the West Village, I would probably be visiting this place more than he would like. Dieterle is 2 for 2!

Kin Shop, West Village - He says...

This past week we went to Kin Shop with a friend.  We owed him a dinner for winning our 3rd ‘Top Chef’ bet (i.e. he chose Richard Blaise to win).  We thought it appropriate that the dinner be at the latest restaurant of the first Top Chef winner, Harold Dieterle.  Kin Shop is his homage to Thai food.  It’s not Thai food per se, but it’s definitely Thai inspired.

One of our 3 appetizers was the fried pork & crispy oyster salad, which was my kind of salad.  Together, the hunks of pork and oysters were perfectly rich and salty for me.  It was topped with a chili-lime vinaigrette that had a sharp spicy and sour accent that I also liked.  The celery added a light crunch that was refreshing with all the strong flavors.  We also had the diver scallops in coconut curry.  The scallops were cooked perfectly but the sauce was a bit too sweet for me.  Bone marrow was also on the menu and of course we had to get it (we’re suckers for it).  For the most part, it was prepared traditionally: cut in half, roasted, and simply seasoned.  The changeups were a creamy yellow bean sauce and some puffed rice pellets.  And instead of toast, it was served with roti.  It’s all that fatty goodness we loved with a touch of curry, a light crisp, and a Southeast Asian bread vessel.  The changes weren’t major and, to some, maybe not that ambitious or creative.  But I appreciated the minimalist treatment, especially when dealing with bold Thai flavors. 

Our main courses were a bit more traditional.  We ordered the massaman curry with braised goat, a curry noodle soup with grilled lamb, and wide wonton noodles.  As tasty as they were, the sweetness was a bit much for me and probably not something I’d order again and again.  But one entree I did really like was the sausage and steamed duck egg in congee with razor clams.  The dish was simple but very pretty, especially when we mixed the runny egg in with the congee.  The sausage had a pronounced meaty taste, almost a little gamey.  The congee was a bit more subtle but its savory flavor still managed to stand out, even against the sausage.  It reminded me of breakfast at home – meat, eggs, and rice – with a little more kick.

For dessert, we were excited to try the Thai iced tea ice cream.  The ice cream seemed like it was freshly made and the Thai iced tea flavor was perfect in this solid form.  We were pretty full after everything but I don’t think a Thai dinner would have been complete without the taste of a Thai iced tea.

I definitely enjoyed the food at Kin Shop but I don’t necessarily see myself going back very often.  There were definitely dishes I’d go back for and other dishes I still want to try, but I’d rather not to have too many sweet elements in my meals.  But despite my preferences, I can still appreciate the food at Kin Shop and recommend it to anyone looking for a new and exciting contemporary Thai restaurant.