Jean Georges: cool color palette for NYC's hottest restaurant

Nation's Restaurant News, August 18, 1997 by Bonnie Brewer

NEW YORK -- At Jean Georges one inhales the meal to come within moments of entering the 4-month-old fine-dining establishment at One Central Park West.

That was the vision of chef-owner Jean-Georges Vongerichten, realized simply and elegantly by Adam Tihany of Adam Tihany Design International. Diners stroll through gold-rimmed glass doors at the Trump International Hotel and Tower and enter an understated room of subdued refinement.

Hand-laid white marble-and-terrazzo tile sprawls in a soft geometric pattern through the cafe and lounge, named Nougatine in honor of the floors nougatlike appearance. Geometric patterns permeate the dining spaces, singling out the persona of each while subtly presenting them as one thought in a sweep of metallic silvers and grays, entwined with variations of beige, ecru and taupe.

The Nougatine lounge and Jean George's main dining room are surrounded by long panes of mood-altering windows whose hues shift with the sun. The seasonal terrace envelops the rooms and complements them with its tall white-and-silver umbrellas above square silver tables that incorporate into their design the hotel's large landmark silver globe.

Tihany simultaneously created Jean Georges -- which won a four-star rating earlier this year from The New York Times -- while renovating the whimsical color fest of Le Cirque 2000, the 23-year-old French restaurant here owned by Sirio Maccioni.

Where Le Cirque's elegance is vibrantly broadcast in rich jewel tones, sweeping lines and gilded, muraled ceilings, Jean Georges is its antithesis. The color palette at Jean Georges, suggests coolness, while the textures offer warmth. This namesake restaurant was created around Vongerichten's "vision and persona," Tihany said.

"It's a very modern expression, which is basically a portrait of Jean-Georges, in a way. It really reflects his personality and where he is at with food and style and the overall space he occupies in the culinary world today."

Vongerichten was seeking to create a venue that would showcase the preparations he planned to correlate with the raw naturalness of wild edible plants: garlic mustard, yarrow, burnet, chickweed, sylvetta and nettles, among others.

He plotted a fine-dining establishment that also would reflect the high-service style of the 1940s and '50s. Tableside service was essential to secure his vision of elegance and grace. Moreover, it was fundamental to his vision to include diners in the appreciation of the aroma of the meal and its visual preparation before the final presentation.

Tihany designed Jean Georges to reflect that vision: "I think I always try to create a seamless experience between what you see visually as you come in and the product and the service that comes to the table. There's a direct correlation in that your experience at the end of this exercise is as seamless as possible."

That is evident in the way the restaurant's three distinct dining areas merge effortlessly into one impression.

"When you walk in for the first time, you have some king of a level of expectation of what the rest of your experience will be in your meal," Tihany said. "We try to create as much consistency as possible, so all the design elements tie in to the type of food, the type of service and the type of attitude in general."

That ensures there are no surprises when the food arrives, he added. "It looks like what you'd expect it to look as, in the right context. You don't get a hamburger with french fries or a plate of spaghetti pomodoro, you know what I mean?" Tihany said with a laugh. "You are already preset to expect a certain level of taste and quality and cleanliness in the food and service."

The separate dining rooms and terrace are further distinguished by type of service with separate menus kitchens and clientele. The Nougatine cafe and lounge caters primarily to the hotel's guests and shares a basement kitchen with room service, said general manager Christophe Chatron Michaud. Its natural tones of wood, stone and metal give the area a cool and spacious feel. A 19-foot zinc bar stretches along the entrance wall back to the kitchen used for the main dining room.

"It's earthier in the cafe," Tihany said. "It's a bit warmer, with more natural woods, while the main dining room is more taupe and beige and greenish tints; it's very subdued and subtle."

Cafe entree offerings range from slowly baked salmon with truffle, mashed potato and sauteed Brussels sprouts leaves, for $24, to steamed black seabass with roasted beets and caviar, at $30.

Vongerichten's signature dishes appear in the main dining room, a rectangular box enveloped by three walls of 20-foot-high glass. Menu items there include an appetizer of foie gras poached in Coteaux du Layon with peppered caramel, for $20, an entree of lobster tartine, pumpkin seed, fenugreek broth and pea shoots, at $35.

Underfoot, a geometric carpet in tones of beige and soft browns stretches out to recessed booths with corresponding geometric fabric, highlighted by misty green glass. Square silver ceiling lights glow softly above faint ecru walls from the recessed geometrical ceiling.