Jean-Georges RESTAURANT NOUGATINE, NYC

On a rainy winter night, 5 East Coast women of the forum figured out how to get to a first class restaurant located at 1 Central Park West-JEAN GEORGES NOUGATINE.

We were escorted into the dining room and seated comfortably while the group slowly but surely assembled. Kristin from NYC, Julianne from Connecticut, Jeanette from Princeton NJ, Ellen from Philadelphia and Amy from Long Island. Each arrival was welcomed with hugs, squeals, and huge grins.


OK-Now for the meal.
Our terrific waiter brought out an amuse bouche, sorry but there is no photo- 2 treats-a round ball fritter of scallion and rice along with a small glass of a celeric soup with black pepper syrup.

These are our starters and they are pictured below..
A rich soup of butternut squash with black trumpet mushrooms. Next to the soup is the lovely warm beet salad served upon yogurt.


On the left is the shrimp salad with mushrooms and sliced avocado and assorted greens that was topped with a champagne vinigarette dressing.

The second salad is endive with small logs of brie along with huckleberries and lettuce.



I have to apologize again for not getting a photo of my wild Scottish Salmon served over potatoes and celeric with a wonderful Hollandaise sauce.

Here is a picture of the red snapper with a spicy sauce and I will need Julianne to fill in any more details.



This combination of foie gras creme brulee served on a toasted brioche along with a fig in a black currant preserve was a winner.



We finished with heavenly desserts, of course we did.

To start there is the signature Jean George warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. The flavor was vanilla,but not just vanilla, but vanilla made from beans from Madagascar! OUTSTANDING!

Also pictured is the carrot cake with rum raisins and crispy brown butter topped with a cream cheese sorbet icing and a merengue squiggle on the side.


This last dessert is the exotic coconut mango passion mint Vacheron. It was composed with exotic fruit chutney topped with citrus merengue. You will have to ask Jeanette for further details on this one.

And just in case we were still not filled up by the meal, we received a candy platter of assorted hand made chocolates and ginger and orange sugared marmalade squares.

If you get to New York, try this restaurant and you can walk it all off with a stroll in beautiful Central Park which is just across the street.

I just want to say thank you, and will make the fois gras brulee immediately if not sooner.

Thanks to Amy's photography and recording prowess and Phil's posting skill, I feel as if I were enjoying our marvelous meal all over agauin. Alas, I can't quite remember exactly what was under that tasty snapper but it was v-e-r-y good. It was a delightful evening.

Amy, you are wonderful! Merci beaucoup for letting me re-live our beautiful meal. I enjoyed 4 of these marvelous dishes so much, I was ready to call Ellen and meet her at Nougatine for dinner the next evening. The coconut mango passion vacheron I enjoyed is the dessert pictured to the right of your warm chocolate cake. I wasn't sure what to expect, but thought you could never go wrong with any dessert with the word passion in its name. It was chilly and light and sweet and tangy and truly delicious, full of tropical flavors.

Rosemary, the foie gras brulee was simply divine. I woke up thinking about how the dish the next morning. Truly. If you figure out how to re-create Jean-George's exquisite recipe, please let me know.

As Julianne expressed, it was a delightful evening.

Oh dear. My fois gras brulee would be so many miles removed from the real deal, I ought to call it something else. It just sounds so delicious.

Amy, I feel kind of tickled to have been a part of an Amy restaurant report. Thank you for posting these pictures. What a wonderful meal and company. That chocolate cake was fantastic. I think I ate it in about 30 seconds.

It's unanimous-so we simply must do this again........

When the next gathering is proposed, some time in 2011 I am guessing, just chime in and announce you can make it too.
(Note to Eve, purses and handbags are optional).

Should we let the boys join us next time?

Count me IN!!! Boys and purses optional....

As one "the guys," I'll probably be mowing the lawn or somesuch. Sigh.

Ladies - You Rock!