Jai Restaurant Chicago

[RocketChef]

I don't want to distract from the theme of the thread here ..but I am curious about the sherry mist on the feta – is this at table applied aromatiser spray of straight sherry or something more?

[Jon Dubrick]

Rocket...Yes it is a mister with 50 yr sherry

[Jon Dubrick]

No one has anymore comments?

[jackal10]

What a waste....After you have misted it you won't be able to tell the difference between a 5 year old and a 50 year old sherry...or a Madeira, which may be better and more robust

Edited February 24, 2008 by jackal10 (log)

[Jon Dubrick]

What a waste....After you have misted it you won't be able to tell the difference between a 5 year old and a 50 year old sherry...or a Madeira, which may be better and more robust

←

Could be true under some circumstances....but what made you think that this was the only application the sherry was used in ? We do have a very large kitchen with over 3000 menu items used. So I am sure the sherry is used somewhere else

[David Ross]

Good comments about the menu all of these will be taken very seriously. 

Myself and my culinary staff will be the ones delivery the food to the tables. 

Later

Jon

←

Jon-I think having the chefs deliver the dishes to the table is a good move. Based on the concept of the restaurant/kitchen, my guess is that you will attract customers that are pretty well-versed in food and wine. They will no doubt appreciate interacting with you and the other chefs as you serve the dishes. I think you'll get a good measure of satisfaction being able to discuss the preparation of the dishes with your customers. I know that I would.

Please send us some photos of the dishes once you have them ready and prior to your opening night. I'm looking forward to continuing to watch and read about your story. Very exciting.

[docsconz]

The menu as written is intriguing and interesting as have been the comments made in this topic. However, a menu is nothing more than a grouping of words. It only becomes significant as it relates to what is presented on the plate and tasted by the diner. If the food works, especially for a restaurant with only ten seats, it won't really matter how the menu reads. Detailed description of each dish like what you provided for the Mediterranean Salad though not necessary for the restaurant menu would be helpful for a meaningful critique. Another useful tool will be photos of the food, though that too is still only a partial indicator of how things will work. Beautiful, appetizingly presented food is a necessary, but not sufficient element for successful fine cuisine.

To be more specific, a number of items on the menu are clearly provocative, the "Shellfish Consommé, Lobster, Vacherin, Escarole" dish perhaps being the most obviously so. What is not apparent from the words, although critical to making this a good dish, is a sense of the proportions of the various ingredients, how the ingredients are handled, the actual techniques employed to make the dish and if there is any sense of humor or playfulness present. I like the fact that the menu description is brief, leaving the diner open to a certain element of suspense and surprise, though in itself it is not enough to draw me to the restaurant or to determine whether the menu "works" or doesn't work. One of the biggest reasons this approach works for Alinea is that the results always exceed the expectations created or even what most diners can imagine. If you can do that, you will be successful. The best creative restaurants cast aside preconceptions and use the diner's imagination to their advantage.

I will be following your progress with interest. I like the name and the creative way it was arrived at. Good luck!

[Jon Dubrick]

What a waste....After you have misted it you won't be able to tell the difference between a 5 year old and a 50 year old sherry...or a Madeira, which may be better and more robust

←

Could be true under some circumstances....but what made you think that this was the only application the sherry was used in ? We do have a very large kitchen with over 3000 menu items used. So I am sure the sherry is used somewhere else

←

On a more techi note...For everyones info, if you have misted liquids certain things happen when they are aerated. For sherry as an example, since it is topic of discussion.

In our opionion as the lesser quality sherry's are used(ones with high vinegar vs actual sherry) they tend to aerate as pure vinegar. As you get to the higher quality(10, 15,20,50,100 year)(as you all now that has nothing to do with age, but the way they are distilled as with balsamic also)), we tend to actually get the scent of sherry which we are looking for.

Also when we "powder" our extra virgins and truffle oils the same applies when when transform them to the powder for, quality does make a difference in the final product. High quality oil, first presses and true truffle oils with no blends tend to work better.

Long story short...that is why we aerate 50ys rather than a two dollar bottle of sh*t. Plus one 4oz bottle of 50ys sherry gives about 500 sprays at approx 8.95 for the appetizer approx. so I think we are ok.

Thank you for the comment, actually made me happy thinking when I worked out the food cost... so thanks

[Jon Dubrick]

D

The menu as written is intriguing and interesting as have been the comments made in this topic. However, a menu is nothing more than a grouping of words. It only becomes significant as it relates to what is presented on the plate and tasted by the diner. If the food works, especially for a restaurant with only ten seats, it won't really matter how the menu reads. Detailed description of each dish like what you provided for the Mediterranean Salad  though not necessary for the restaurant menu would be helpful for a meaningful critique. Another useful tool will be  photos of the food, though that too is still only a partial indicator of how things will work.  Beautiful, appetizingly presented food is a necessary, but not sufficient element for successful fine cuisine.

To be more specific, a number of items on the menu are clearly provocative, the "Shellfish Consommé, Lobster, Vacherin, Escarole" dish perhaps being the most obviously so. What is not apparent from the words, although critical to making this a good dish, is a sense of the proportions of the various ingredients, how the ingredients are handled, the actual techniques employed to make the dish and if there is any sense of humor or playfulness present. I like the fact that the menu description is brief, leaving the diner open to a certain element of suspense and surprise, though in itself it is not enough to draw me to the restaurant or to determine whether the menu "works" or doesn't work. One of the biggest reasons this approach works for Alinea is that the results always exceed the expectations created or even what most diners can imagine. If you can do that, you will be successful. The best creative restaurants cast aside preconceptions and use the diner's imagination to their advantage.

I will be following your progress with interest. I like the name and the creative way it was arrived at. Good luck!

←

Doc,

Thank you for the comments....We have also added an A La Carte Section for people that dont want to be restricted to long tastings. That was one idea that came from this forum...so thanks--We should have some pictures from menu testing the end of this week.

[Tsulli1]

Jon,

How are things going?

It looks like you've already opened and are accepting reservations? What happened to summer 2008?

[Jon Dubrick]

Jon,

How are things going?

It looks like you've already opened and are accepting reservations?  What happened to summer 2008?

←

no not open yet, but line is open for any kind of information. Testing is going well, I hope to post some picks this week

[Jon Dubrick]

Jon,

How are things going?

It looks like you've already opened and are accepting reservations?  What happened to summer 2008?

←

no not open yet, but line is open for any kind of information. Testing is going well, I hope to post some picks this week

←

Hi everyone,44sorry to lead everyone on but you will see some pictures this week. We are testing this minute and I have a little break between tests so I thought I would give you a heads up.

[Jon Dubrick]

Ok here we go guys. Sorry about the lengthy time between the last post and now. I just want to say thank you once again for all the input in regards to the menu posting.

The staff and I have been trying to do as much work on the new menu with little available time, but we have compiled some plates for all of you to look at. Please feel free to give any feedback (positive or negative) and we will once again try to incorporate revisions in the future.

Topic 1: Menu

We have changed some new things in regards to the menu.

a. We added a Cheese option to both six and twelve course tastings.

b. Reorganized the order of dishes to provide a smother sagway between plates.

c. We also took some selected plates from the two tastings and provided an Ala Carte menu to accommodate a more diverse crowd.

Topic 2: Pictures

We have tried to imitate our original perception of each dish, but like everyone knows that things change with the seasons, unknown environmental events occur, and limited produce selection in the late winter early spring.

First there is a Beef Short Rib.

General info: Everything went according to plan, but we introduced a dissolving red pepper film to add a new texture to the dish and the Morels we received looked mediocre at best. So we substituted with some Asian mushrooms we found in the Vietmense produce store.

Taste: Killer Good (sorry about the slang).

Second is the Salmon.

We decided to cure the Salmon with Green Tea and then it snowballed out of control. We kept the salty tomato gelee and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette, but added some beautiful Dandelion Greens and some Matcha Cream Tea Foam. I know a lot of people think ‘foam’ was so five years ago, but we like and it really enhances the salmon in a subtle way.

Taste: Very Refreshing.

Third is the Duck.

This dish was originally going to be served on spoon as an Amuse, but we decided to up the ante and provide a bigger portion (we don’t want the customer leaving for the theater hungry). The duck skin is now served two ways. One as a crispy skin on a mini seasonal salad and the other is a Duck Leg Ragu. We added Balsamic and Red Pepper Beans to add some color, but we will sub the Red Pepper out for something else because the Short Rib already has dibs on the red pepper.

Taste: Really complex and rich.

Fourth is the Mediterranean Salad.

We featured this last year at one of our benefits. The actual salad concept is from the Cube of Imported Feta w/ Tomato Powder, Citrus Powder, Peppercini Powder, Olive Powder, Parsley Powder, & Caper Powder.

Taste: Very Discrete Flavors that provide a great entry to future courses.

Presentation: The Old Rubics Cube

[Jon Dubrick]

any observations, questions would be appreciated

Thanks

Jon

[docsconz]

Very nice presentations, Jon. The plates are beautiful. What is on the plate with the shortrib?

One quick observation, just having dined at Moto, three of your four plates are thematically if not visually or conceptually similar to dishes I had there. One of the opening dishes at Moto was a salmon dish although that one incorporated liquid nitrogen freezing. The duck confit reminds me of the Roadkill of fowl dish at Moto and the Mediterranean salad will likely taste like the Greek Salad at Moto although clearly the dishes are totally different in terms of presentation. This is not necessarily a criticism, but you will most likely be directly compared for better or worse.

[Jon Dubrick]

Very nice presentations, Jon. The plates are beautiful. What is on the plate with the shortrib?

One quick observation, just having dined at Moto, three of your four plates are thematically if not visually or conceptually similar to dishes I had there. One of the opening dishes at Moto was a salmon dish although that one incorporated liquid nitrogen freezing. The duck confit reminds me of the Roadkill of fowl dish at Moto and the Mediterranean salad will likely taste like the Greek Salad at Moto although clearly the dishes are totally different in terms of presentation. This is not necessarily a criticism, but you will most likely be directly compared for better or worse.

←

Hey Doc,

Good points but bound to happen. I have not been to Moto since its first years so I am not to familiar with what he he running at the moment. We also had to change our Short Rib dish a bit because a restaurant in New York pratically matched our same dish...Go figure Thanks for the reply.

Jon

[docsconz]

Very nice presentations, Jon. The plates are beautiful. What is on the plate with the shortrib?

One quick observation, just having dined at Moto, three of your four plates are thematically if not visually or conceptually similar to dishes I had there. One of the opening dishes at Moto was a salmon dish although that one incorporated liquid nitrogen freezing. The duck confit reminds me of the Roadkill of fowl dish at Moto and the Mediterranean salad will likely taste like the Greek Salad at Moto although clearly the dishes are totally different in terms of presentation. This is not necessarily a criticism, but you will most likely be directly compared for better or worse.

←

Hey Doc,

Good points but bound to happen. I have not been to Moto since its first years so I am not to familiar with what he he running at the moment. We also had to change our Short Rib dish a bit because a restaurant in New York pratically matched our same dish...Go figure Thanks for the reply.

Jon

←

The most important point is that the platings are such that I find them interesting and attractive.