[INTERVIEW] Jean-Georges on Michelin Star, Autumn Menu and More
Michelin Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten in the dining room at Jean Georges Shanghai
World-acclaimed, celebrity Chef Jean-Georges has had a very busy year, from earning the first Michelin star for his Shanghai location, to openings around the world including London, New York, Los Angeles and Sao Paulo.
Jean Georges Shanghai
He was recently in town to celebrate the accolade with his team, as well as launch the autumn menu at Jean Georges Shanghai. We sat down with him in the Neri & Hu designed dining room at Jean Georges Shanghai where he dished on the Shanghai award, his favorite new opening and what’s next for Shanghai. We also talked a bit about healthy eating and he promised us avocado pizza at Mercato.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
It has been an interesting year for you in Shanghai with the Michelin Star for Jean Georges and closure of Chi-Q.
Yeah, I was a little sad about that, but you know, hey.
Everyone is sad about that.
I know, I know, but there’s another BBQ down there so…
That’s true, but it’s not Jean Georges anymore right?
I know, but it was a good experience. It was not busy enough though to keep it alive.
Okay, fair enough. What can we expect from you in the coming year in Shanghai?
I don’t know, I don’t know, let’s see. We have been very busy this year. We opened several new places. The one that I’m most excited about is a vegetarian place that we opened: abcV. Who knows, maybe I’ll think about this to bring that [here], because we are living in a world of meat and steak everywhere. The one in New York is really doing terrific. We are serving breakfast, lunch, dinner. It’s all plant-based. [It’s] not 100% vegan, but 95% vegan. So it’s a fine concept and I feel like today everyone wants to live longer, better.
I think that you are pretty good about balance and it’s well-known that you care about clean eating and you were one of the early proponents of farm-to-table. How do you maintain the quality of the ingredients in Shanghai?
It’s not easy, but compared to what we found here when we opened 14 years ago, you couldn’t find rosemary, thyme, basil and now you have everything. [You have] a lot of local organic farms which never existed before, so it’s pretty easy today to find all you need in Shanghai. It’s been good.
If you had to name the healthiest dish on the JG and Mercato menu, what would they be?
The kingfish is pretty healthy, tuna sashimi as well. Although we change things around quite a bit, but there are some salads as well. At Mercato we have many: whole roasted cauliflower, plenty of salads, we have a kale salad…
The warm seafood salad is really good.
Yeah, it’s one of the best and it’s healthy for sure with the lemon juice, herbs and avocado.
Mercato’s healthy and popular warm seafood salad
Can you tell us a bit about the new menu at Jean Georges?
We are bringing some dishes that we have never done before here. We are going to do lots of root vegetables. When it comes to the meat and fish we are using the same, chicken, beef, duck and all that, but then we are bringing a lot of root vegetables, things that we couldn’t find before like Jerusalem artichokes and celeriac…also [incorporating] chestnuts. As we get closer to the winter, we try to add things like braised meat onto the menu, short ribs, and pork cheeks. That’s what we try to do and things like the curry you had.
Seared Icelandic halibut, spiced jade emulsion and tender celeraic
It was really good. Is that a totally new dish?
It’s a new dish. The base is lemongrass, ginger, coconut milk as well and then we finish it with an herb puree of dill, cilantro, parsley… We use five different herbs; basil as well. It’s mixed on the end so it stays nice and fresh, green and vibrant.
The caviar egg has been a staple on the Jean Georges menu
How about the caviar egg, it’s a constant on the menu right?
Umm, yeah, sometimes when you create a restaurant people come back for that. We've been doing that dish for 20 years, so if someone tried to take that away [it would be missed]. I mean we have a couple of caviar creations, one with lemon jelly, we have egg caviar, we have egg toast. We have a new one as well with potato and tapioca that we will start tomorrow. We cook the potato in kombu water, so it’s lots of umami flavor with some herbs and a spoon of caviar. That’s for the winter. Lots of texture: the potatoes are creamy, the tapioca is bouncy. It’s like three pearls: the potatoes, the tapioca, the caviar.
Kingfish sashimi, lemon snow, horseradish and olive oil
How do you make the lemon snow on the kingfish sashimi? We all really liked that.
It’s basically a granité. You freeze lemon juice, water, salt with a tiny dash of sugar to balance it. Then you shave it with a spoon. It keeps the fish super cold and as it melts it adds the seasoning, the acidity.
Is that a dish that’s only on the Shanghai menu?
Just Shanghai, I won’t have it on any other menu. For me, horseradish is very similar to wasabi. So, raw fish with wasabi, but where I come from in Alsace we use horseradish a great deal to eat with meat and stuff. So I think it works well.
Beef tenderloin, glazed baby potato, heirloom carrots, hibiscus mustard
Well we all did too. As for the beef tenderloin would you say that it was the vegetables that were special on that dish?
We got excited when we saw all the root vegetables. We cooked them sous vide so we could keep the flavors.
How would you compare the Shanghai and New York menu?
Similar, but different. We don’t have kingfish there, so we use madai, Japanese snapper. I mean the caviar creations are similar. I would say 75% similar. It’s all about ingredients, what we find, don’t find. [In Shanghai] we tried to understand the local palates, seasoning. I think we make it a little more pungent here. I feel like people [in Shanghai] can take a little more spice and sweet. A little more pop!
How has acquiring the Michelin star affected JG in Shanghai? Does the staff feel more pressure to maintain the star?
No, I think it all depends on the day you come in. I think we, well we should have got it last year, but you never know whoever comes that day or that night and what they are going to write about it. No, but I think it’s good, though it’s always pressure, and now we are going to try and get the second one. The pressure is to deliver good service, but you can’t give too much pressure to the staff then it becomes too rigid, too stiff. I feel service needs to be smiley, it’s okay if the fork is a little crooked or the glass isn’t one hundred percent in the right spot. You know sometimes they give a star to a street vendor in Singapore or Hong Kong, so it’s really about what’s on the plate. We really have to be careful that the ingredients are impeccable and the execution is well done and then the balance of the food. If they Michelin inspector comes in tonight and my fish is not fresh, the combinations they don’t like, they can say no.
I feel like on the end you have Michelin and everyone is a critic. They are posting on Instagram and Wechat. We are living in a different world now. You have to be on your game all the time because it’s not a robot business. It’s still a people’s business. The beautiful thing with our business is what’s broken at night you fix the next day for lunch, what doesn’t work for lunch you fix for dinner. Sometimes you put a dish on a menu and you realize after a few days that not everyone likes it, so you have to be ready with Plan B. And people tell you right away [in person or on a website]. In the old days people didn’t say anything, but they’d never come back again. It keeps us on our toes and we find out how people react to different food.
So you can’t be too sensitive?
No, no, are you kidding? Otherwise you don't even start in this business! You have to be very open, I think, in this business. People say it’s too salty and everyone has a different opinion, a different palate, so when you create a menu you need to be a little sensitive about having something for everyone. If you are in the mood for something raw or something richer, you know you have to [have those options]. It’s not easy to write a menu and people have no idea how much thinking it takes, because if you have a table of four to five people with different moods and cravings you have to adapt and try to please everyone. You have to be a crowd pleaser.
Would you say it’s harder for people to get reservations now after the Michelin star?
Yeah, we think that we are much busier. This fall I would say business compared to last year has increased by 25 to 30 percent, especially for lunch. For dinner, we were always busy, but for lunch, it has given us a nice boost.
You opened a lot of restaurants worldwide this year…
Too many!
So you opened in London, Los Angeles, did I miss anything?
So we opened a vegetarian in February, then in early March we did a place in Brazil in São Paulo, then we did LA [at the Waldorf Astoria], then we did the Public Hotel in New York, then we did the Connaught and the last one of the year will be next week.
Where?
In New York. It’s a reopening. We redesigned JoJo, my first restaurant that I opened in ’91, so we closed it for five months and did a full renovation. It’s a little Brownstone, it’s very cute, so we redesigned it and that’s it for the year.
The new Los Angeles concepts are a bit more casual, any plans to bring something more casual to Shanghai in the future?
Yeah, yeah we are looking, but I mean the building is pretty full now. It’s amazing what is happening in the building. I remember when we opened. In the beginning it was more like a lifestyle shop, there was a barbershop, indoor spa and now it’s a full F&B [building]. People come for the food, for the view, and it’s been great.
So, LA has avocado pizza and Shanghai is a big avocado toast town. Think we could get that on the menu?
At Mercato, okay? Yeah it’s easy! I cross my heart. It’s super easy. Besides the dough, you put a little bit of sliced onions, salt, pepper and olive oil and you bake the dough and then we actually take a piece of paper and slice the avocado and when the pizza is ready we just put the cold avocado on the hot bread, olive oil, diced jalapeno, coriander, sea salt…delicious. Don’t worry, we will bring it. I’ll listen to you and put it on, why not?
I’m excited.
Have you had it?
No, I just read about it and thought we deserve it here.
All right, all right. We will do.
What are your inspirations?
Everything! People, life, Shanghai. Shanghai is a very happening place. I’m scared because all these restaurants were coming in, but then we were even busier than we were before. People attract people and restaurants bring that. I think people live to eat these days. We live in an amazing time. [It’s] a crazy time, but an amazing time.
President Trump is here [in China] too!
I can’t believe it, I mean I knew he was doing an Asian tour, but when I landed three days ago in Tokyo he landed like two hours before us. He could have given us a ride.
When you come to Shanghai where and what do you need to eat?
It depends. I like to visit Paul Pairet all the time. He’s a fun guy and we have a good time together. I like Dintaifung, quick dumplings, eating in the street a little bit, like xiaolongbao in the street. I like curry noodles. I like the one with the egg…jianbing and the big buns with the meat and vegetables.
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