Le Jardinier

Le Jardinier's Midtown Symphony

"A fancy new bi-level restaurant from Joël Robuchon veteran Alain Verzeroli—his first—opens on the corner of East 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue with a laser focus on vegetables and a menu he describes as light, refined, unpretentious, and approachable, with smaller portions of protein. Designed by Joseph Dirand, the 62-seat room features an indoor garden, green marble walls, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Dishes lean vegetable-driven—think heirloom tomatoes with stone fruits and burrata; Montauk fluke crudo with Persian cucumber and crispy black rice; and Dover sole for two with lemongrass and leeks—while desserts by Salvatore Martone include lemon meringue tart with citrus marmalade and warm rhubarb pie with rhubarb buttermilk sherbet. Verzeroli emphasizes organic ingredients, more “organic” presentations, and clarity of flavor (“if it’s a strawberry dessert, every component should heighten the purest strawberry flavor”); five of the seven desserts are gluten-free. There’s also an entirely gluten-free bread program by master baker Tetsuya Yamaguchi—five months in the making—featuring an ancient-grain baguette (buckwheat, brown rice flour, white sorghum, teff, and rice flour) and mini Parker House rolls of Japanese rice flour and white sorghum that, he notes, give an airy, moist, fluffy texture. Open for dinner Monday–Thursday 5:30–10:00 and Friday–Saturday 5:30–10:30." - Abbe Baker