Last Night - JoJo

Nothing like Restaurant week to reignite the blogger spirit...

Last night it was JoJo - a Jean Georges project rated with a Zagat 24-22-23.

The restaurant is lovely and romantic... although we were seated at a strangely narrow table in particularly low, although comfortable cushy seats. When the waiter came I feel like I was looking up at him like a little kid, a bit odd.

Anyway, my darling date and I opted to go for the $35 restaurant week tasting menu - 2 choices per course... we ordered one of each down the line.

For me:
Butternut Squash Puree with Creme Fraiche and Black Mushrooms
Chicken with Ginger, Olives, and Chickpea Fries
Fruit Salad with White Pepper Ice Cream

For Her:
Warm Asparagus Mesclun Salad with Avocado and Enoki Mushrooms
Baked Salmon with Truffled Mashed Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts and Truffle Vinaigrette
Warm Chocolate Cake with Caramel Ice Cream

The appetizers were both wonderful. The soup was was hot and delicious, the mushrooms giving a little punch and crunch. Cassie said that the salad contained the best asparagus she'd ever tasted... wow... the girl's tasted a lot of asparagus, let me tell you. Everything was off and rolling to a great start...

The entrees left much to be desired. Texturally the chicken was perfect, but I barely tasted any ginger, the sauce was over salted, the olives were nothing special, and the chickpea fries were a little bland and mushy. I tried one taste of the salmon and one taste only. It was very fishy and quite simply didn't taste good. I don't know if it was just a bad piece or what, but I couldn't even go back for another bite. The truffle mashed potatoes were great, as was the vinaigrette, but seriously, that salmon was foul.

Dessert, once again, was exquisite. Fruit salad in spiced syrup with white pepper ice cream. Could be the best fruit salad I've ever had - the syrup was amazing. The ice cream - interesting, tasty with the fruit, but on it own, objectionable. It was sorta like barn-animal ice cream. You know how white pepper can sometimes make thai food taste like horse manure... yeah. The chocolate cake was fairly standard -- and the caramel ice cream was devastating. Incredible!

So it begs the question... would I go back...? Probably not. I'm sure some of the non-restaurant week offerings (duck) would be delicious, but it's just not a good sign when a restaurant can't do salmon. I mean, it's in the neigborhood, it's romantic, it's lovely, but I don't think I'd return. Glad I tried it though...