Nougatine

1 Central Park West, 212-299-3900

http://www.jean-georges.com/

Nougatine is the “casual” restaurant at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s flagship restaurant, Jean-Georges.  Casual here means no jacket required, but if you’re a dude, you might want to wear dress shoes and a button down shirt.  We had an 8 o’clock reservation for 7 and the place was pleasantly crowded.  Nougatine is the bar restaurant and is there for buzzing all the time.  Its a lovely, friendly, but elegant atmosphere. 

I’ve been to Nougatine twice before, and both times were memorable meals.  This was my first time gluten-free.  I told the waiter about my dietary restriction and he dutifully went to the kitchen to check what was ok for me to eat.  He returned shortly, and let me know that happily, most of the appetizers were (minus the obviously glutened ones), but only three of the entrees were (the snapper, the lobster, and the tenderloin).  I was surprised that so many of the entrees contained gluten (usually flour in the sauce), but above all, appreciate their honesty.

For my appetizer, I had the shrimp, avocado, and tomato salad. It was simple, light and refreshing.  The champagne vinegrette was so good, it was one of the only times I regretted not having bread to sop it up.  As my main course, I chose the snapper, since I’m not sure about lobster, and steak didn’t appeal to me that day.  The snapper was good, but not as memorable as other entrees I’ve had before.  Alex had the lobster and the ginger sauce was yummy, sweet, but spicy. 

Dessert was the hands down highlight of the meal.  We know the pastry chef, and he was kind enough to give everyone a sampling of desserts.  While everyone else got the same spread, I got my very own gluten-free plate.  There were 4 dishes: chocolate glue (fruit leather like consistency), strawberry soup, and lime jelly with frozen coconut balls (like dippin’ dots).  The lime jelly (sorbet-like) and strawberry soup were the best.  Each were bursting with flavor and tasted decadent in a non-chocolate kind of way.  To top it off, the staff brought out a grape ice cream cake on a platter with a huge chocolate statue for Stephanie (this is when I really, really, regretted forgetting my camera).  Sadly, we didn’t get to eat the chocolate. 

Go to Nougatine, tell them about your dietary needs, and they will not only take care of you, but blow you away with their simple and outstanding food.