Q&A: Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten Dishes On His First L.A. Restaurant And His Love Of In-N-Out
The name Jean-Georges Vongerichten is synonymous with classic fine dining, elaborate hotel restaurants and well-earned Michelin stars. With 35 restaurants around the world (another may open in the time it takes you to read this sentence) and devout fans who include celebrities and world dignitaries, Vongerichten, a native of Alsace, France, may be the best-known chef in the world.
His flagship restaurant Jean-Georges, in New York's Trump Hotel, has three Michelin stars. He has published numerous cookbooks, including "Cooking at Home With a Four-Star Chef," for which he won a best cookbook award from the James Beard Foundation. And he co-hosted a PBS series called "Kimchi Chronicles" — he makes his own kimchi, but we'll get to that later.
And now he's getting ready to open his first Los Angeles restaurant, Jean-Georges Beverly Hills, along with the Rooftop by JG and Jean-Georges Beverly Hills Bar, all at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, next to the Beverly Hilton at the corner of Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards. The hotel and restaurants are scheduled to open June 1.