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.