Jardinaire lately?

[Kim Cooper]

I searched for info on Jardinaire and found nothing recent. Has anyone been there recently? We stopped in once for appetizers before the ballet, and loved it, but we have never made it back for dinner. Is it worth it?
thanks,
--Kim

[whiner]

I was there about 1 year ago, that is the most recent, and really liked it, but I didn't think it was *amazing*. Slight tangent, I just came back from Boulevard -- same price -- which is currently firing on *all cylanders* I'm going to write it up because I wound up having one of the best appetizers, and the single best lamb dish, I have ever had in the U.S. tonight...

[Kim Cooper]

I want to re-ask this question. Has anyone been there recently? We are thinking of doing our tenth anniversary dinner there. (April 18).

[ellenjean12]

I haven't been there in AGES, but I did love it when i was last there. I just came across this surfing the web and seeing no one's responded to your poist, thought you might find helpful:

http://www.foodhoe.com/?p=3559

(happy anniversary!)

[lamster]

I was just there on Monday, April 6th for their special prix fixe dinner - that Monday was the "Tuscan Dinner." Absolutely wonderful. check out single guy's blog about the dinner.

[singleguychef]

Thanks Lamster! Here's my report with photos: http://singleguychef.blogspot.com/200...

The Monday prix fixe is a great deal for $45 because it includes wine pairings (although in tasting portions). Still, that's a deal I think. They put their menus for upcoming Monday dinners on the Web site so you can decide which Monday sounds interesting. It's very much along the lines of Ad Hoc, but with the wine.

Your anniversary may not fall on a Monday, so if you go and get the regular menu, I would say that you can expect the service to be good, the food to be interesting, the execution pretty good, but don't expect to be amazed. They're on par with other established places like Foreign Cinema and Bar Tartine. The environment is still nice and has a romantic feel.

[mnelson809]

We went last night and had an exceptional meal choosing the seven course tasting menu ($125) with the wine pairings ($65). The meal was exceptional. Each course was spot on - luscious, subtle and delicate.

The meal started with a piece of soy marinated hamachi with pickled plum and caviar. The second course was my favorite - olive oil poached halibut (sous vide at 120 degrees) with a meyer lemon emulsion. The third course was gnocchi with lobster and truffles. The fourth course was pan fried quail (perfectly cooked) with foie gras terrine, smoked bacon and vanilla. The fifth course was roasted lamb with morels and a ramp green bernaise (outstanding). Sixth was cheese with celery leaf, almonds and a grape molasses. Final course was almond panna cotta with strawberries and a champagne gelee.

While I had expectations of a good meal going in, I had no idea how great the meal would end up being. It exceeded my expectations by far. I strongly recommend it, and look forward to returning.

[rworange]

Thanks for the report.

[Kim Cooper]

We had a wonderful dinner. Everything was great.
We had:
drinks -- The Pony Express; Sazerac (sp?) rye, a white tea liquor, organic maple syrup and lemon. Very good. Ginger Limade: hanger one keffir lime, Cointreau, ginger syrup, lime. Not as good as it sounded.
Asparagus salad, endive, citrus,toasted almonds,ricotta salata.
Carrot soup, Parmesan croutons,radish,ras al hanout.
Black cod, roasted artichoke,cannellini beans, wild ramp, lobster jus.
Duck breast, farro, caramelized rhubarb, braised bacon, vanilla gastrique.
Rhubarb frangipani tart, pistachio ice cream, vanilla custard and raspberry coulis.

Everything was wonderful -- I am now a big fan of ramps. The combinations of tastes worked beautifully. Some of it surprisingly. the only thing that was less than perfect was the Ginger Limeade. The service was right too: that combination of friendliness but not too friendly that works very well. We got to dress up too -- that's part of the evening too.