World-renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten held a launch party for his two new restaurants in Dubai on Thursday. The 500 person invite-only guest list was filled with VIPS, including actor David Hasselhoff and actress Nargis Fakhri.
JG Dining Room and JG Kitchen, two restaurants under one roof, will open to the public next week at the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach, right next to Coya and Nusret. JG Kitchen, an all-day dining venue, will have a casual à la carte menu, while the fine-dining JG Dining Room will operate on a prix fixe basis with a range of Vongerichten’s signature dishes on offer.
Chefs from Vongerichten’s restaurants in New York worked with the new chefs in Dubai as they carefully prepared thousands of bites for the launch. With Vongerichten himself leading the team, the chefs served up 17 different appetisers and mains and four different desserts. Standouts included the crispy squid with yuzu and sesame; grilled lamb chops with smoke chilli glaze, black truffle fontina pizza; lobster summer rolls with sriracha dip; scallops in a green chilli butter; tuna tartare with ginger and radish and Dover sole with chalon sauce.
Vongerichten said, “These are bites of what’s to come. We want to give people enough to entice them to come back. This is the best from Jean-Georges in New York.”
Vongerichten has almost 30 restaurants around the world. JG Dining Room and JG Kitchen are his first restaurants in the Middle East.
Look for our full story on Vongerichten, his restaurants and his life as a chef in Tuesday’s edition of Arts&Life.
sjohnson@thenational.ae