My fifth Taste of Hartford visit took me to J Restaurant/Bar on Washington Street near Hartford Hospital. I couldn’t wait to try it. Of all the restaurants that I was scheduled to visit on this go-around, J Restaurant was the one about which I knew the least and had the most curiosity. A glance at its website and Taste of Hartford menu showed it was a place of some ambition.
My companion and I were pleased to find that J Restaurant had its own spacious parking lot, a major plus when it comes to Hartford dining. The exterior presented a sleek, modern front, with enclosed patio seating for warm weather.
The interior had a spacious foyer, which later filled with guests seeking admission. I’m sure they found this waterfall and koi pond soothing.
Not far inside was a revealing photograph, showing the handsome owner with his parents, who opened the place some time ago as Pizza Plus. A couple of years ago, the owner clearly invested a minor fortune, remodeling and expanding until the restaurant could stand shoulder to shoulder with many of the Capital City’s better dining venues. The restaurant’s name was changed and the menu updated (but some old favorites were retained).
So for folks who are unfamiliar with J Restaurant, let me continue the photographic tour. Beyond the entrance, there is seating at the full-service bar and a handful of tall tables for two.
Beyond the bar area is the lengthy open kitchen.
Let me continue a clockwise tour through the restaurant. If you turn right at the kitchen, you’ll find a fireplace and short staircase
that leads to a raised dining space.
From there, you can look back down upon the main dining area, where my attractive friend, Monica, can be seen patiently awaiting my return.
Continuing through this dining area will bring you to the space that you would reach after taking a right upon entering the restaurant.
This nice couple typified the enjoyment people were taking in their meal.
Now that I have given you a photographic tour of J Restaurant, let me move on to a tour of its Taste of Hartford menu. J Restaurant took an approach that differed from most restaurants. It offered four courses rather than three, going the extra mile for the mixture of old customers and potential new converts that Restaurant Week would draw. J Restaurant initially offered three of these fixed four-course menus, but later reduced to the two that customers were favoring. The first course would be a soup or salad, the second a pasta, the third a seafood dish, and the fourth a meat dish. No dessert was included (actually preferable for a protein lover like myself), but there were plenty of enticing sweets one could add.
The menu that was dropped actually sounded pretty tempting. First was an iceberg lettuce salad with crispy prosciutto, oven-roasted tomato and butter croutons in a Gorgonzola dressing. Second was a Mac & cheese with leeks, spinach and sweet peas. Third was roasted sea bass with caponata and grilled ciabatta. And fourth was grilled chicken with creamy polenta and sautéed spinach. If few were persuaded to choose that menu, imagine the other two menus!
With tasting menus like Tisane’s and J Restaurant’s that one must elect in their entirety, I prefer to present them separately so I can communicate the dining experience more clearly to readers. In reality, though, Monica and I shared everything. The first tasting menu included a spicy tomato soup with crispy grilled cheese,
beautiful, soft, housemade cheese ravioli in a butter sauce with celery, apple and prosciutto,
seared salmon in an olive-orange relish with white beans and spinach,
and finally, roasted rack of lamb in a fava-Pecorino crust with grilled pencil asparagus and creamy polenta.
That would be pretty hard to top, but how about a baby arugula salad with extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and shaved Parmesan,
bucatini in a simple butter sauce with cracked black pepper and Parmesan,
perfect seared sea scallops flavored with lemon, bay leaf and rosemary plus grilled asparagus and creamy polenta,
and lastly, chili-marinated flank steak with fried potato wedges and sautéed spinach?
Although dessert wasn’t part of J Restaurant’s Taste of Hartford menu, we got to taste its masterful crème brûlée
and its seductive mocha fudge cake,
and we spotted this slice of banana cake (I believe) passing by.
There were three people in particular that should be singled out for making our meal at J Restaurant so delightful. The first was our attentive waitress, Emilia.
The second was talented executive chef Jennifer Krascella, who came up with Billy Grant at Max Downtown some years ago. There are all too few noteworthy female chefs in Connecticut—it’s nice to discover another.
And the third, of course, is owner Jordan Dikegoros.
If you haven’t yet discovered J Restaurant/Bar, isn’t it about time?
J Restaurant/Bar, 297 Washington Street, Hartford, 860-527-7764