Juniper & Ivy has a new chef with Michelin bonifieds. It had been ages since I had been - Richard Blaise was still chef - but went this evening.
As usual parking sucked, but they were full (as was Crack Shack next door). We had 2 items from the snack menu, 3 items from the small plates menu and 1 entree.
Halibut Handroll…2 per serving. Impeccably fresh slices of local halibut wrapped sesame leaf with sushi rice, yuzu and serano aioli and shiso. One of the best dishes of the night
Crispy Baby Back Ribs…2 per serving. The ribs had been cook and deboned, then wrapped in brick pastry (cousin pastry to phyllo), then deep fried and served with nuoc cham. Intense porky flavor, would order again
Heirloom Tomatoes…enough for 3 of us to have a generous portion. Beautifully ripe tomatoes topped with lemon curd, pickled shallots, pine nuts and a pink peppercorn vinaigrette. This may have been the best dish of the night. The flavors and blance of the dish were outstanding but a lot depended on the ripeness and quality of the tomatoes,
BBQ Carrots…once again more than enough for 3 people. Rainbow carrots roasted with the skin on and then nestled down into a carrot mole and dressed with a calamansi vinaigrette and topped with chopped peanuts. A surprisingly rich dish that really highlighted the carrtos.
Red Romaine Lettuce salad…large portion. Pretty basic salad but the avocado green goddess dressing was delicious.
Braised Short Ribs…enough for 2 people to split if there have been apps and small plates proceeding. Two generous blocks of boneless short rib, richly satisfying. Big beefy flavor. Accompanied by a simple saute of summer squash.
Banana Split Yodel…3 poeople split this. The Yodel was an opening menu item and it is still on the menu, the components change but it’s still one of the most popular desserts and worth every calorie. This one had a banana split orientation. Strawberry, vanilla and chocolate liquid nitrogen ice cream encased in a chocolate shell with salted caramel chocolate sauce poured over it tableside.
Peaches & Cream Puff…3 people split this.
Pate Choux cream puff filled with peach diplomate creme, sliced peaches and frozen whipped cream. Black tea caramel was poured over it at the table. Super tasty.
2 snack size dishes, 3 small plates, 1 entree, 2 dessert, 3 cocktail + 1 bottle of wine was came to about $110 per person including tip.
Service was top notch and there were plenty of servers, runners and busers. There did not appear to be a staffing issue,
Juniper & Ivy has been around for abobut 7 years. I don’t think it’s lost a step. It’s still a delicious option and worth the money.
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