That’s one very small reason why Jean Georges–a new Manhattan restaurant opened by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten-has just been awarded four stars by The New York Times; an honor held by only four other restaurants in the city. And Jean Georges isn’t the only new restaurant making headlines right now. Across town, $,000 calls a day are reportedly clogging the reservation lines at Le Cirque 2000, the city’s splashiest gathering place for socialites and celebrities, which has just reopened after a move to glamorous new quarters. These two new hot spots are as different as Mozart and Madonna, but they do share one important attribute. Like Planet Hollywood or the Hard Rock Cafe, Jean Georges and Le Cirque are theme restaurants. In their case, the theme is money.
It’s not simply the prices, though they can soar effortlessly to $100 a person. Rather, there’s something about the very air in these places that seems suffused with dollar signs. At Jean Georges, a lot of money has clearly been spent according to the same principle that inspired the chocolate wafer: what you see is simple, what you taste is amazing. Designer Adam Tihany has created quiet, sophisticated rooms marked by huge windows and little adornment. The food is the star-though some of it’s invisible, like the wild herbs Vongerichten loves. Born in Alsace, schooled in Asian flavors, he’s a fanatic about ingredients; that passion underlies the success of everydish. Fat shrimp are bathed in a tomato sauce sparked with Thai ginger. Tender slices of duck get a sprinkling of aromatic spices. At dessert, a heap of raspberries tastes marvelously and mysteriously of caramel. When it’s all over, and you wish it weren’t, a waiter arrives to scarer crystallized rose petals on a marble slab. Then he snips homemade marshmallows flavored with anise, mint and strawberry over the petals. It’s sweetness and air, and it sends you home happy.
Le Cirque, too, seems at first to be dedicated to making people feel happy, or at least rich. Money shows up everywhere: in the extravagant melange of circus motifs, also designed by Tihany, that sweep through the sumptuous rooms; in the sleek, high-backed chairs and the etched-glass panels. There’s even a nod to ingredients, with piles of fresh produce lining the entry stairs. But the cabbages are wilting; the apples still wear their stickers. It’s a portent: Le Cirque isn’t quite ready to roll. On time for our reservation, we wait 40 minutes to be seated and never hear an apology. And less than six weeks out of the gate the kitchen is still fumbling. The asparagus is tasteless on one visit and cold on another, the halibut is dry, and lobster is tough. A little mix of spring vegetables is missing its promised truffles. A few dishes are wonderful, especially the base wrapped in lettuce and a peerless creme brulee. But it’s hard not to feel cheated when the check arrives.
The owners of Le Cirque, Sirio Maccico and his family, do know the difference between hype and hospitality. At Osteria Circo, their less expensive Manhattan. restaurant, they serve unpretentious Italian food with big, homey flavors. OK, the chairs aren’t as fancy as Le Cirque’s. But the welcome is genuine, and the theme is dinner, not dollars.
