Superstar chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, he who reinvented the city's approach to food and dining out (not to mention nouvelle cuisine) over two decades, has the cover of New York Magazine all to himself this week, plus a lengthy piece written by Jay McInerney, author of quintissential 80s New York novel "Bright Lights, Big City".
From Jean-Georges Is Seeing Stars:
The backlash might seem inevitable, from the outside. The guy, after all, has had nothing but hits, and until recently he’s made it look easy. He’s rich: Prime Steakhouse in Las Vegas, just one corner of his empire, did $16 million in business last year. He’s earned not just one but two four-star ratings from the Times and won seven James Beard awards. He just moved into a beautiful apartment overlooking the Hudson in the most talked-about residential complex in the city, a project in which he was a partner. He has a beautiful young wife, former Jean Georges hostess Marja Allen, the mother of his 4-year old daughter, Chloe. He doesn’t seem tortured like Thomas Keller, nor wacky like David Bouley. What’s not to hate about someone this successful and seemingly well adjusted?
If he was ever complacent or distracted, he’s definitely not feeling that way now. One of his most likable qualities—and he is a very likable guy—is his willingness to take criticism to heart. He thinks of himself as a host, and he hates to see his guests unhappy. “Maybe I was stretched a little thin last year,” he says in his melodic, mumbling English, flipping an omelet in the spotless kitchen at Jean Georges while he watches two sous chefs plating an order. “I open four restaurants. But I love creating new things. It’s difficult to be creative once a restaurant’s open. People want the same dishes. For me, the creativity is in opening a new place and starting a new menu.”
Vongerichten is opening another restaurant this week, his eighth in New York: Perry, in the West Village, a 60 seater. According to the piece he's been struggling with his partners in V (the steakhouse he opened in Columbus Circle's Time Warner Center) and will make the decision whether to leave it or stay after this summer. So if you haven't been and have been wondering, as McInerney put it, "Do you need a chef of Vongerichten’s magnitude to cook a steak? Isn’t that like hiring Cy Twombly to paint your house?", this is the time to go.