Commie

The wife and I was in NYC last weekend, and had the fortunate experience of dining at Jean Georges on Monday(President's Day). I was debating between Per Se or Jean Georges;couldn't get reservation last minute to EMP; and I think we made the right decision on Jean Georges.

We both had the Black Winter Truffle dinner, and added a caviar course to the meal. Each of the courses were excellently executed, and they were definitely generous with the truffles.
My wife doesn't drink, so I went with the wine pairings at $180. The pours were very generous, most were full pours, not the usual tastings. I 'liked' the wines poured, but forewarned, most of the wines(7 out of 8) were white and a champagne. Next time, I'll probably skip the wine pairings, and just order a bottle off the list.

Here is the items on the menu:

Toasted Foie Gras On Brioche with Black Truffle Marmalade
Scallop and Winter Truffle Tartare with Toasted Sourdough
Extra Caviar Egg
Mazzarella Ravioli with Truffle Fondue
Truffle Crusted wild king salmon
Baked Maine Lobster with Black Truffle butter and potatoes maxim
Parmesan Crusted Organic Chicken with Black perigord Truffle
Pear with Chocolate and Truffle ice cream 'belle helene'

I hope the pictures I attached comes out ok.

All in all, a 2.5 hour culinary journey. The truffle tasting was $388, plus $45 supplement for caviar and $188 for wine pairings, and the bill was into the 4 digits for the both of us.

diningdecadence

nice photos - i've never done a truffle tasting menu - does it become overwhelming with it being on every course?

VivoPerLei

Do any of you who post on this thread frequently get burned out from the Michelin experience? I've had five long tasting meals recently (mostly business meals) and after sitting there for another four hours the other night I just felt done, done, and doner. I think I'm losing my appetite for those marathon meal experiences. Not to mention that it is sometimes difficult to maintain a conversation with business colleagues for that long.

Best meal recently was at Maison Manesse in Zurich. Lots of creativity, lots of flavors, but the portions were such that at the end of the meal I felt like I had had exactly the right amount of food. And I was alone, so that made it better. Also went to a private event at Marianne and had a similar experience.

United747

Yes I do. I have to take a few weeks or months between a lot of my Michelin star restaurants.

PsiFighter37

I would hate eating at a really nice restaurant for a work dinner. That said, one of the worst Michelin experiences was at Grace (3 stars in Chicago)...my wife and I naturally eat quickly, and they have someone who is watching how fast you are going and pacing you to that. As such - we blew through an 8-course dinner (not counting dessert or amuse bouches) in under 2 hours. THAT was too fast.

There's a fine balance to be struck between going too fast and too slow - at least for personal dinners. For work, frankly shorter is better, and that's just one reason why I would never have a business meal at a place that has a tasting menu that you have to stick to.

Commie

It did get a bit repetitive by the 4th-5th course, but then the dessert with the Ice Cream topped with truffle shavings. That was divine.
There was so much truffles that I think I was able to smell/taste it long after I got back to the hotel that night.

mosburger

I personally think starred restaurants are fairly good for work lunch, but for the reasons you and others mentioned, better to stick with simpler steakhouses, seafood places and similar for a work related evening meal.

VivoPerLei

I find that many people want to eat in these restaurants, but they would never take their spouse and pay 300-400 euros pp out of pocket. Business is a good compromise but after several rounds of 'how's the wife, how's the kids?' it can get tedious. As mentioned, my ideal experience is on my own unless I'm with the most engaging people and they are few and far between

PsiFighter37

Yes, have heard very good things about the lunches some offers (e.g. Marea and Jean-Georges in NYC in particular).

Sweet Willie

Dined at North Pond last night. There are very few restaurants in Chicago with a view like North Pond. (Take a look at their website to get an idea of the setting)

Our table's service was fine, a little cold to start with but then again my Pop has lost some "filters" as he gets older so I can imagine the wait staff might be taken aback by his brusque nature. I would say that service became inattentive (a bit) towards the very end of the meal when the restaurant was busy. On a side note, the waiter was removing wine glasses while the sommelier would put them back, a little funny the back/forth.

Amuse bouche: foie gras mousse, with parmesan cracker, pickled ramp, cranberry reduction. Enjoyable

Starters:
Egg, Spinach - Soft-Boiled Hen Egg, “Tandoori” Chicken, Ricotta, Spiced Spinach Coulis, Bosc Pear, Seeds, Naan Cracker

Foie Gras, Sprouts - Seared Duck Foie Gras, Brussels Sprouts Butter, Calvados Apple Boules, Fried Shallots, Cider Syrup, Almonds, Brioche

Endive, Sardine -Red, Green Belgian Endives; Citrus-Endive Marmalade, Sardines a la Plancha, Dill-Caper Cream, Blood Orange, Caraway Straw

Carrot, Shrimp Bisque - Carrot Bisque, Crab Croquette, Oregon Pink Shrimp, Celery, Pumpernickel Crumpet, Earl Grey Espuma

The egg/spinach starter was sublime. Foie gras seared perfectly. Really enjoyed the Sardine/Endive salad, VERY powerful flavors. Our table didn't appreciate the bisque, the croquette's fried exterior taste overpowered a nice bisque.

Mains:
Tilefish, Lemon - Grilled Golden Tilefish, Purple & Dauphine Potatoes, Smoked Meyer Lemon Curd, Leeks, Capers,Chips, Parsley jus

Venison, Root Vegetable - Charred Venison Loin, Purple-Top Turnip Brulée, Red Cabbage, Apples Celeri Rave, Baby Carrots, Red Wine Syrup

Tilefish dish was unremarkable.

Venison dish was terrific, each ingredient popped.

North Pond
2610 NORTH CANNON DRIVE
CHICAGO, IL
773.477.5845
http://northpondrestaurant.com/
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United747

Just had lunch and dinner at Lung King Heen and Summer Palace respectively.

Here are my thoughts and some pictures:

Lung King Heen

Lung King Heen was the first Michelin 3* Cantonese restaurant in the world, might still be the only one, don't know for sure. The dining room is located on the 4th floor of the Four Seasons hotel with a prime view of Victoria Harbor and Kowloon.


View from my table

I was given a prime window table with gobs of room, it was a 4-top table just for me! At lunch, they have a selection of dim sum, a set tasting menu, and pages upon pages of a la carte options. My waitor did a fantastic job outlining the menu and assisting me in determining how much to order. He even talked me out of ordering more, and I am glad he did, because I was full by the end.

I settled on 2 dim sum options, shrimp and pork dumpling with ham along with the BBQ pork buns. Then I moved on to the BBQ platter with 4 selections.


Shrimp and pork dumpling

BBQ pork buns

For the BBQ platter, I told the waiter to select 4 options of his choosing, what I found interesting was that he came back prior to serving it and told me the chef was not happy with the quality of the suckling pig and asked if he could substitute it for a scallop instead. It did not matter to me, but thought it was interesting the chef would say something like that, the cynicism in me says that they ran out, but who knows.


(R-L) Poached chicken with ginger, roast goose with plum sauce, sea scallop, and BBQ pork with honey sauce

Overall, the food was wonderful. The BBQ pork bun was the best in my life (and I always order them when they are on the menu). The sea scallop was the weakest of the meal, but never having had one, it was still good to try. Service was nice, the waiter was personable and we had a good chat about the food. If there was one thing I would say was not great was the pace of the meal. I do tend to eat very fast, but between the dim sum and the BBQ platter was a lot of time.

Overall, I was extremely happy with the meal, I'd probably give them 3* if I was a Michelin rater too.

Summer Palace

Summer Palace is located in the basement of the Island Shangri-La, the dining room is very grand, with chandeliers all over and ornate carpets and fabrics. No view to be had, and I was given a 2-top table right next to the wait station, the stereotypical table for a single diner. If I were to move my seat back any, I would have hit one of the waitstaff, and that almost happened upon my departure.

For the meal here, I settled on the roast goose and spare ribs in a brown garlic sauce.


Goose

Spare ribs (sorry, I started eating before remembering to take a picture)

The ribs were very good, but the goose was not. It was served lukewarm and drowning in oil. The pieces on the bottom were gross because of all the oil they had. Service was just OK, the food just so-so. I would not have given this place any Michelin stars. Clearly the dud of the day, and hopefully the trip.

I'm off to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon for lunch later and then Spring Moon here at the Pen for dinner. I'm hoping to post back either tonight or in the morning about those places.

United747

I think the pictures aren't working. I'm working on it.

EDIT: They should work now

offerendum

Ate at Lung King Heen in 2015 and enjoyed my meal, but not sure if itīs worth 3 stars. So different from "regular" 3 star candidates.

Btw there are 2 other 3 star cantones restaurants:
T'ang Court HKG
The Eight Macau (stated as "chinese")

diningdecadence

yum that's some good eating - how long are you in HK for? i hear good things about Belon and Ho Lee Fook (not michelin * levels)

United747

I'm leaving in the morning.