Somebody has already told you to go to Jean’s, the new NoHo club-restaurant above the buzzy New York lounge by the same name where the vegetables are inexplicably crisp and sweet and farm-fresh, and the service is keen. So I’ll just tell you what to order. Start with the Dirty Jean’s martini, which comes with three olives and a Pointillism-invoking smattering of chili oil freckles floating across its surface. Get a Thai chicken salad, even though the soy-poached chicken, Napa cabbage, and coconut-curry dressing won’t really go with the rest of your order. (It’s reminiscent of Uncle Boon’s chicken banana blossom salad with a lot more mustard greens and sans its legendary spice.) Then, share a tagliatelle bolognese. The dome of springy fresh cut noodles, coated in a rich, slow-cooked ragu, will be the best thing you have all night. It’s still worth finishing with a bistro burger—which more than holds its ground against the bolognese—with its melty homemade American cheese, thick patty, and plenty of Tropea onions. When co-owners Max Chodorow and Ashwin Deshmukh wander through the dining room offering the provenance of the French fried potatoes and asking if you’d like another chili oil martini, just say yes.
Ella Quittner is a screenwriter and Family Style‘s writer-at-large. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Man Repeller, Bon Appétit, and across many group chats.