160 E 64th Street (near Lexington)
212-223-5656
Rating: Better than Safe
Cuisine: French
Entree Price: $24-$38
Meals: Now open for lunch and dinner every day.
Most addictive dish: lamb chop
Review
Jean-Georges has some amazing restaurants, including Nougatine and Perry Street (which is possibly my favorite lunch place in the city). So what’s going on with JoJo? It’s another of his restaurants, and it has received rave reviews in the past. However, I’ve had some pretty underwhelming experiences here.
The deal with JoJo is this: it’s inconsistent. When it hits, the food is great (though not as good as Perry Street), you get to your table quickly and the service is perfectly fine. When it misses, the flavors are just slightly awkward, the execution of the dishes is off, and the servers seem bothered. Even on an off night, the food is still safe, but you should expect more (a LOT more) from a restaurant that has received a Michelin star.
On the upside, the space at JoJo is a small Victorian-feeling townhouse with a beautifully sunny second floor (request this area if you can). White table cloths, comfortable velvet chairs, and heavy antique wooden tables set a mood that is both refined and calm.
The menu is, of course, seasonal, so it changes often. The salmon is consistently good, but sometimes they go a little overboard with crisping-up the fish dishes. The rack of lamb is probably my favorite entrée, and if it were the only thing on the menu I might think more highly of the food. Some of the more experimental dishes seem to be more about unusual flavor pairings than making great dishes. A recent beet green ravioli with ricotta and brown butter sounded fantastic, but was only ho-hum.
The final word on JoJo: if you’re in the area and in the mood for French food, it’s a safe place. But if you feel like travelling even a little bit there are better restaurants in the area. JoJo's saving grace could be the 3 course prix-fixe lunch for only $24. That is definitely a good deal.