intimate ambiance at JLOB
When I was in NY in November I met fellow food blogger Steve for a nice dinner at Tailor’s. Since I brought my friend Jeff and Steve brought his friends Toby and Brendan we were quite a nice round of food enthusiastic diners that evening. During this evening which ended in a bar in the West Village, we found out that Brendan is a young chef holding the reins at Jack’s Luxury Oyster Bar – a restaurant in the East Village. Of course we instantly realized that we couldn’t miss the opportunity to have a dinner there, especially when we just witnessed that he was at least as passionate about fine food as we were ourselves.
So for my last night in town we headed to Jack’s luxury Oyster bar, or JLOB. Actually the place will be renamed Jack’s restaurant soon since it isn’t a true oyster bar anymore. They still have a (delicious) oyster platter on the menu, but the focus of the restaurant has changed to a general fine dining place, whose particular concept is to offering small sized portions of contemporary cuisine creations.
The venue is quite intimate and cozy with only 25 seats, but the very particular ambiance is created by the kitchen which reaches into the dining area. In fact it begins right behind the bar where Brendan prepares dishes in front of his guests. Fascinating.
4 varieties of oysters: 2 from the East Coast, 2 from the West. I think we ate them in the right order since they got more and more delicious. This place is absolutely worth it if you only crave oysters and nothing else, hence it still holds as an oyster bar if you want!
Octopus slowly cooked in olive oil (several hours) with avocado purée and chipotle sauce. Loved the tenderness of the octopus!
Hamachi
Salmon
Clams with chorizo. Hearty comfort food in a sophisticated way with a sauce you just want to lie in to. Bits of Chorizo add an extra kick to fruity tomatoes and seducing mussel juices.
Fried oysters on potato soup. The soup had a nice spicy flavor and complemented the fried oyster well.
Yummy fish, but I don’t remember which one exactly…
Brisket of Pork
Back of lamb – perfectly cooked
One delicious dessert. I forgot to take pictures of the cheese platter though which was clearly one of the better ones.
We had a great dinner! Very creative, young chef Brendan is definitely serving delicious food. I really like the versatility of stiles: some dishes appear more hearty, some lighter and more subtle. Maybe for some compositions the single flavors of the ingredients need to be sharpened out a little before they come together but texture-wise he already reaches perfection.
The cozy atmosphere adds a lot to the dining experience also and there’s a nice little wine list. If you haven’t been to this restaurant yet, you should definitely give it a try!
Jack’s Luxury Oyster Bar
101 Second Ave. nr. 6th St.
NY
