JoJo

Jean-Georges Vongerichten had a rough 2017: abcV was mostly z’s, his flagship Jean-Georges lost a Michelin star, and Public Kitchen flopped. So he returned to JoJo, his 1991 debut as a one-man game changer. JoJo is back! But why renovate without a wow factor? The warm seafood salad with avocado is fine. The way the roasted brussels sprouts are tempered with Parmesan is perfectly nice. “Try the salmon with the almond-sumac sauce and roasted carrots,” encouraged our waiter. “They’re glazed with kumquat.” (Later the restaurant clarified that there was no glaze, then switched to a three-oil glaze with lime juice.) He was trying. The whole place was trying—very trying. JoJo feels like an ad for a Vongerichten-catered wedding, a Men’s Wearhouse tuxedo of a restaurant, a dressed-up palate with nowhere to go and nowhere to take you (although the Wagyu tenderloin’s sriracha-style sauce is drop-what-you’re-doing piquant). “It didn’t wow me,” our dining companion shrugged. “And I’m from East New York. I was kinda hoping to be wowed, y’know?” We know.