Jams
“Loved everything from the juicy burger to the skid ink rigatoni to the kale salad.”
“02.12.16 @jams_nyc
Opened in Aug 2015, #Jams by Jonathan Waxman, is a 100-seat restaurant in the new 1 Hotel Central Park, an eco-luxury hostelry.”
“The JAMS Chicken was also pretty good but not quite as tasty as the one with salsa verde that they serve at Barbuto.”
Jams
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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IN SHORT: A culinary legend from the '80s is brought back to life in Midtown Manhattan.
THE STORY: It is a rare film whose remake decades later is touted as better than the original. In a revival, the paradigms set by the original film somehow feel compromised, anachronistic, or just banal and no longer relevant. Rarely does a remake win an Oscar.
The same can often be said of a restaurant, particularly a restaurant like Jams, whose original style of California cuisine made waves in the restaurant culture of New York, but whose intellectual direction today is much less clear. Yet like many of these contemporary movies, Jams is still a restaurant worth experiencing, if not for insights into the culinary canon, then for tremendously well prepared food with a mild spark of freshness and creativity.
The origin of "California cuisine" and its then-novel idea of using all-natural, locally grown ingredients to establish a regional style of cooking rooted in abundant seafood, lightly cooked vegetables, and lots of herbs is usually traced back to the 1970s with Alice Waters and her Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse. But after cooking in her kitchen and in Michael's Restaurant in Santa Monica, Jonathan Waxman gets the credit for bringing this style of cooking with French techniques and Californian ingredients to New York in 1984 with the original Jams.
Despite its popular success and its bounty of light proteins, citrus, and fresh cilantro that drew New Yorkers eagerly away from the steakhouse, economic forces compelled Jams to shutter by the end of the '80s. Over 25 years later, the restaurant that now sits in the 1 Hotel Central Park on 58th Street and 6th Avenue is not so much a shot-for-shot remake of a once influential pioneer of cuisine, but rather a contemporary, New American restaurant with quiet nods to Waxman's Western culinary roots.
Much like the decor in the hotel rooms upstairs, the spacious dining room at Jams is airy and full of light, neutral colors and natural woods, with an occasional pop of green, crawling ivy. Large windows that stretch to the floor give the space a high-end, yet industrial loft-like feel. At night, the sense is that Jams could easily be sitting on the side streets of San Francisco or Downtown LA.
Occasional misfires on the menu threaten to shake the California dream of this restaurant, however. While the Roasted Mushroom Salad is full of delightfully earthy notes coming from the pine nuts, parmesan, and bitter greens, the muscatel vinaigrette is applied too liberally, and slimes up the mushrooms in a thick, oily dressing. The Maplebrook Burrata is a more balanced first bite, with subtle pepper flavors from the watercress and sweeter, nuttier flavors from the pistachio on top.
Seared, just barely cripsy Gnocchi is served with lots of shaved brussels sprouts, pecorino, and a massive dose of walnut sage pesto in what would have been a heavy-handed stylistic faux pas if it weren't so good. The sage is an addictive complement to the bitterness of the sprouts, and all balance the perfectly prepared potato pillows of gnocchi, which was served at the end of summer with corn, lobster, and cherry tomatoes. It's a dish that only improves as it evolves.
Proteins like the Jams Chicken and NY Steak are both charred on the outside and juicy on the inside, dressed with the lightest of sauces. The chimichurri sauce coating the steak is more successful than the simple tarragon butter melting over the restaurant's signature chicken dish, but they are likely the best two entrees on the menu.
Yet the film is still in post-production, it would seem. The restaurant opened in August of this year, so it may be helpful to think of it as a work in progress to forgive several blunders in service that can occur throughout the course of a single meal. At one point while ordering recently, my friend looked up from her menu at our waiter and asked if he could possibly replace the beets in a salad with tomatoes or something else. He just stared beyond our table, impatient and unsympathetic, and mumbled simply, "Tomatoes aren't in season."
That's not what she asked, but, well, okay. Thanks for reminding us that despite all of Jams' talk about low-fat sauces and fresh, colorful ingredients plucked in their prime, we are still in Midtown Manhattan, 3000 miles away from west coast hospitality, 3000 miles away from California.
Yet I suppose that's what happens when a remake is so far removed from its original. Some significant details are lost, replaced with sanitized versions of themselves. In the end, The Great Gatsby was a good movie, but it wasn't a Best Picture. The new Jams is a good restaurant, even if it isn't an inspired one.
Beautiful spot for happy hour! Unfortunately, they don't ACTUALLY have HH specials, but the location and decor are quite perfect for some post-work drinks. The service is a bit quirky and the wine selection is a bit limited, but generally you'll be able to find your drink of choice here.
Staying near by so thought I'd pop in for breakfast here. Try somewhere new and all that!
First of all the service could be better. Waited ages for someone to take an order. Then waited ages for a coffee to turn up. And then, guess what, waited ages for breakfast to arrive.
The was ok. Not great. Not bad. Just ok. I had bacon and eggs with toast. Had better in NY for cheaper. That said the bacon was nice and thick!
In short I think the place has way too much style instead of substance. Probably wouldn't go back.
Had a business lunch outside. The prices are a bit absurd. No alcohol and we managed to rack up a $100 bill. Aside from that, all was a pleasant experience. The staff rolled out the royal carpet, as a friend of mine knew the GM of the hotel. Food was tasty (minus the little bit of cartilage in the chicken salad). The poke was delicious. I wish I ordered two and called it a meal. Perfect for a hot summer day.
The food is okay here but very pricey. We did getto try a handful of items on the menu. I particularly enjoyed the beet salad w fresh mozz ball, calamari, the squid ink pasta, and the steak. Really nice decor but only 2 bathrooms, the other bathroom is further away from the seating area. Liked the fact u can see the chefs in the open kitchen area. Service was good.
The restaurant was such a treat! My friend took us here for a little after nuptial celebration. I had never seen it before and I work right near here so I knew it was new. To our surprise, our dear friend who was bringing us also had her friend, who works as the conceirge to the hotel with us for his birthday celebration. This place is amazing. Let me give you a little of the backstory as we were lucky enough to have Jorge explaining it all to us, as we ate:
Eleven fun facts about JAMs and 1 Hotel:
1) The ivy outside is grown in individual pots and watered daily such that it will live year-round;
2) The tables inside the restaurant are made from recycled wood from Hurricane Katrina;
3) The glasses in the suites are made from 100 percent recycled wine bottles;
4) The floors of the 2nd story conference rooms are made from recycled basketball courts in Harlem;
5) The doors of the main hotel (1 Hotel) are made from stumps and the majority of the hotel itself is both self-sustaining and environmentally friendly;
6) The food selection only uses materials from 100 miles away so that they can meet the level of freshness the chef requires;
7) As such the food alternates nightly however there are some things always on the menu, such as the Jam's pancakes (which is a MUST HAVE when here);
8) The chef and staff are amazingly friendly and treat you incredibly well;
9) The grill used for the chicken alone was imported from Spain in order to maintain the taste it gives the chicken and was broken apart and delivered brick by brick;
10) The pasta is all freshly made and perfect;
11) When they were building the restaurant they had a wall of herbs for the neighborhood to use as needed.
I have not had a meal like this in a long time, and the more I listened to the history of the restaurant and hotel the more I was hooked. I wish everyone had the opportunity to hear all of the fabulous things about this restaurant but I just had to share my knowledge. Thank you for reading an I am sure you will enjoy.
My fave spot in NY! My cousin and I was trying to find a place to have breakfast at. After walking for some blocks, and super hungry, we decided to try JAMS (the letters and location seemed nice enough to try)
The service was awesome, super friendly and attentive hostess and waiter. The inside is so cute, clean yet modern chic. And the food (most importantly) super yummy, awesome, good, great! Easily impressionable place, my cousin and I favorite eatery from out trip to NY! We tried to find some other spots like JAMS, but didn't. There's truly nothing like JAMS humble spot. Loved everything!
We were in this area to do the normal holiday stuff, and didn't want to deal with the traffic to our normal eating ground of village and LES. Jams is a new restaurant from Jonathan Waxman, who's Barbuto is highly respected. We knew eating in midtown would result in underwhelming results and Jams was a little better than expected. The standouts are location, ambience, and that kale salad. The chicken, tuna and seafood stew were good but a little over salted for my tastes. All in all, much like momofuku a few blocks down, the uptown production isn't close to the flagship. But still an okay choice in the area.