Jeanne & Gaston on W 14 St
A quick search on this board did not turn up any mention of this fairly new restaurant. I've had dinner there twice and I think it's a real gem. The quality of the food and its beautiful presentation exhibits great talent in the kitchen. A 3 course prix fixe dinner @ $40 is a deal.
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We had another dinner at Jeanne & Gaston last Thursday. This one was even better than the first.
We shared two first courses: the sweetbreads tart and the asparagus and egg chartreuse. There was one main course daily special, squab, and we both ordered that. For dessert, we both ordered the blueberry tart. Everything was perfectly prepared and seriously delicious. Mr. R. was very pleased with his Rosé.
Service couldn't have been more friendly and attentive. We sat in the garden. Lovely! There were six occupied tables -- an improvement over last time when there was only one other couple dining. Hopefully, patronage will continue to pick up. It would be a shame if this gem doesn't succeed.
Jeanne & Gaston photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11863391@N03/sets/72157630357140420/
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I've been there twice and adore it! It is a sister restaurant to Bistro Madison, near the Morgan, which has the same $40 prix fixe and a similar menu, and is equally good. The atmosphere at Madison is more lively and somewhat more "euro," but I prefer the more relaxed feel of Jeanne -- it's what I want in a (i.e "my") neighborhood place. As others have said, the crab napoleon, sweetbread tarte, and short ribs are wonderful. A recent, memorable special was squab -- the breast roasted, and a thigh stuffed with a veal farce. The staff is charming. I mourned Gavroche when it folded, but Jeanne is several notches higher.
Curiously, I've never noticed the music there. However, I am still trying to figure out that Dutch Masters mural.
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Dinner tonight was so good I could not wait to report. We started with the crab napoleon and sweetbread tarte, continued with rabbit fricassee and poached trout, and concluded with the cherry crepe and the cheese cake. Everything was delicious and beautifully presented. Service was gracious and attentive. The $40 prix-fixe is a great deal. They did a nice job on the redecorating. My only complaint is the slightly annoying music. If it were busier we probably would not have noticed it so much., and it definitely deserves to be busier.
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re: rrems
rrems,
I had put Jeanne & Gaston on my "go to" list when I read about its opening in FloFab's column. Since you and I tend to mostly agree about restaurants, I was eager to try it after you posted about your excellent experience.
We had a very pleasant dinner there on Sunday. As I suspected, it’s in the space that formerly housed another French bistro, Gavroche, which started out to be promising, and then went downhill. Very nice redecorating job. Only one other table was occupied the entire time we were there. Staff members, who gave us friendly, attentive service, told us that Sunday dinner has been slow, but they'd had a good-sized crowd for brunch in the garden.
With the exception of the foie gras, the food was quite good. The foie was overcooked. The texture was more like regular liver, but nearly too dry, and the liver flavor was weak. Too bad because the sweet & sour accompaniment was tasty. We both had the lamb, which was perfectly cooked though I would have liked a stronger lamb flavor. The vegetable that came with it were selicious. The standoutf of the evening were the escargots (Mr. R.'s starter) and the soufflés. Total WOWs!
The previous owner didn’t do much with the garden; however, we had a look at it before we left (it was damp from the earlier rain and too cool to eat outdoors), and the new owner has done a fine job of sprucing.
We will be back!
Photos of our dinner at Jeanne & Gaston: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11863391@N03/sets/72157630045056810/
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re: RGR
Well, I'm glad to hear that you liked it enough to want to return, but am disappointed to hear about the foie gras. I was planning to try it on our next visit (maybe I will anyway). I love escargots so will certainly want that. I also want to try the souffle. When we were there it was a Friday night, and there was also only one other table occupied.
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re: rrems
Based on all the other dishes we had which were perfectly prepared, whoever is doing the cooking knows what he or she is doing. So, I'm at a loss to understand what happened with the foie gras. I know it says foie gras on the menu, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it had the texture and taste of calves liver without the strong liver flavor. If you do decide to try it, I'll be curious to hear how it turns out.
My one other disappointment is that they don't have duck on the menu. It will be interesting to see if it changes in any way as they go along.
Only two tables on a Friday night? Hmmm.... :(
ETA: I should have mentioned that I agree with you about the music.
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What dishes do you recommend? I will probably be trying it next week and would love to hear more.
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re: rrems
Rmis32
Mar 31, 2012 02:38 PM
Everything I had was very good and I understand they change their menu with the seasons, so you might have different offerings. I had the crabmeat / avocado napoleon ( photo 1), braised short ribs (photo 2) and a dramatically flambéed cherry crepe (photo 4) on my first visit. 2nd time around, I had the tuna tartare a perfectly done salmon fillet, and a molten chocolate cake desert.
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