The Jane

The Jane Review at-a-glance

Awards: Two Michelin Star

+One of the best FOH I have seen in Europe (or anywhere really) - enthusiastic, attentive, and sincere

+Modern, lux dining room with high ceilings and memorable centerpiece chandelier

+Exciting, bold flavors with plenty of high-end technique

Score: 96

Verdict: The Jane is a shining example of what a modern fine dining restaurant should be. The food is dazzling, the service is genuine, and the dining room exudes luxury without being oppressive. While Chef Nick Brill’s cooking is difficult to categorize, no one would excuse him of being a reductionist. Dishes are extravagant but well thought out and coherent. Based on its reputation, The Jane seems like a prime candidate for promotion to a third star. Based on my meal they deserve one already. One of my favorite meals of the year.

Would I go again: Yes

Price I Paid: €215

Value: 14/20

The Jane and Chef Nick Brill Background

The Jane has been on my list to visit for some time as its reputation seems to outstrips its two-star status as it was one of the most recommended restaurants by fellow foodies with almost universal praise. The downside of all this acclaim is it is devilishly tough to get a reservation (for lunch or dinner) - if you want to visit you can expect to book a few months in advance. After my visit, I can say it was well worth the wait.

While The Jane was formerly part of the Sergio Hermann group (check out my Pure C review for further information on the group), it is now owned by its head chef Nick Brill. Chef Brill was Sergio’s right-hand man at Oud Sluis which is famous for being one of only two restaurants ever to be awarded 20 points by Gault Millau. While I have never had a chance to eat at Oud Sluis, I can imagine the food at the Jane reflects a combination of what Chef Brill learned working under Hermann while also showcasing his own unique personality.

Service at The Jane was arguably among the best I have ever had. Everything was just so smooth. The servers were deeply knowledgeable about the food and wine but most importantly exuded real charm and personality. I was dining alone and they actually proactively thought to ask me about the pacing of the meal and then held to my desired pacing, much better than Zilte which I asked to go on the quicker side but it took over 4 hours. Coordination was also very impressive. Not only did the 6+ people waiting on me all know I only spoke English but they must have even coordinated what I said to them - I mentioned to one server I had rescheduled my reservation multiple times, and the next time a different server came to my table they said they were glad I finally made it after so many COVID cancellations.

While you might expect this to be standard service for a Michelin restaurant, it is not. Most of the time you get efficient but formal service without much enthusiasm for the food. On the bad end, you have places like Restaurant Bras where each different server had to be reminded I didn’t speak French and English explanations of the dishes were limited to one or two of the most basic components. The Jane’s FOH was neither of those, the rare occurrence where the enthusiasm and competence of the service actually enhance what is on the plate.

I had what amounted to a half wine pairing where they kindly poured me six (very generous) half glasses so I could try all the pairings while still being able to walk afterward. This included 6 different wines, the 5 pictured above and a very interesting white wine which had been aged in sherry bottles and poured from a decanter to make it less harsh. This was an impressive wine pairing with a wide range of wines and a very knowledgeable sommelier (@vetstresor) who really told the story of each winery and why it was picked for the pairing. Particularly interesting was a sake which they served in two different glasses so you could tell how the glass impacts the harshness of the alcohol.

If you want to nit pick, the wines poured were excellent but generally reflected the sommelier leveraging his deep knowledge of the wine regions to pick out interesting wines which had a great quality to price ratio (I would say the average bottle ranged from €30-€40). This worked great for me as the flavors were interesting and all the choices played beautifully with the food. However, if you are seeking a pairing with some more prestigious or aged pairings from Burgandy and Bordeaux this might not scratch that itch.

What I ate at The Jane

The meal got off to a tremendous start with a gillardeau oyster that was paired with plankton, peach, and cucumber. Composed oysters are a common starter on tasting menus but I typically find the flavor of the oyster gets drowned out by the various components. Chef Brill’s version at The Jane smartly addressed this by making a granita out of the oyster juices which amped up the brine of the oyster to meet the other components head-on. Also excellent was the kitchen’s use of jalapeno which can be tricky in the best of times - thankfully, the kitchen was able to impart its flavor without its customary overbearing heat.

The next course felt very Dutch as it included two different compositions of fish common for the area but not typical for Michelin tasting menus - anchovies and herring. The main plate featured a version of dutch herring that was paired with goat cheese, beans, and saffron. I would not have thought to pair herring with goat cheese but it worked well with some green strawberries providing a nice dose of acidity. Also impressive was the use of saffron in the sauce which was used with extreme precision to be present without dominating. The other bite was a small tart of De la Cueva anchovies with an old groendal beer cheese foam and a bit of celery. This again paired cheese (this time in foam form) with a strong fish. Just like the herring dish, it worked very well with the strong cheese standing up to the assertive anchovies. Altogether a very nice course that I did not expect to enjoy but did.

The next course was labeled “focus” and included no description so you can do your best to identify the flavors yourself from the three mini dishes centered around Japan. First up was balfego tuna topped with caviar and kohlrabi which was a simple combination but one executed very effectively. Bringing the components together was the chef’s “secret sauce” which tasted like a mixture of soy, wasabi, citrus (yuzu?), and some other things. The second dish was a chawanmushi with north sea crab, ginger dashi, and sancho pepper. This was certainly well made but perhaps my least favorite of the trio (that is more testament to the quality of everything else) as it was a bit busy and the dashi did not quite blow me away. Last up was a dumpling filled with duroc pork and langoustine served with gooseberry. I loved this dish as the dumpling was made very thin and the langoustine flavor came through surprisingly well with the broth adding a nice level of heat. This reminded me a bit of a pork belly clam dumpling dish at Osteria Fransescana - I preferred the Jane version more.

While the anchovies and herring were good, they were mostly impressive because they made me like something I don’t naturally care for. Even better was the next dish which took something I love, foie gras, and made the best of it. Here, foie gras parfait was spread across the bottom of the bowl and topped with eel, verjus, cauliflower and green apple. This was a dish of bold flavors. The liver had a deep rich flavor that the best foie gras dishes should have. That rich flavor was expertly balanced out by the tart green apple which was served both raw and, most impressively, as frozen liquid balls spooned tableside with plenty of smoke from the liquid nitrogen still billowing. I did not really pick up on the cauliflower in the dish but there was plenty of flavor without it.

We switched back to fish with a plate of pollack with clams, algae butter, potato, and furikake. The choice of pollack, a fish with somewhat limited flavor, was a disappointment but the kitchen was able to create a memorable dish anyways. This was done mainly through a complex sauce made by grilling the bones of the fish and incorporating vin jaune and algae butter. The result of all this wizardry from the kitchen was a deeply flavorful, balanced sauce which went well with both the fish and clams included on the plate. This reminded me a bit of the sauce work at Pure C, perhaps due to both chefs starting out at Oud Sulis? In addition to the seafood, the kitchen included some carefully cooked spinach which had surprising flavor and richness for the usually bland vegtable. Lastly, finishing off the dish, were some cornichons which provided a welcome dose of acidity to balance out the sauce, and a furikake made from the fish’s scales which added a (surprisingly) pleasant textural component.

The last seafood dish was an excellent dish of lobster with bumbu, beet and lemongrass. The lobster was cooked lightly (sous vide?) to get it out of the shell and then given a quick grill on some binchotan to impart a bit of smoke without overcooking the meat. The overall effect of this technique was excellent with the lobster meat nice and tender and full of flavor. Accentuating the lobster was a classic sauce made with a reduction of the shells and beets which added a bit of earthiness.

The main meat course was pigeon from Anjou with choron, griolles and BBQ greens. Pigeon must be the bird of choice these days as this was one of four meals in a row that served pigeon as the main course. Of the four, this was the all-around best. The meat was slightly more flavorful at Le Neuvième Art and the jus was a little bolder at Takao Takano (both in Lyon) but The Jane was the most complete dish. The pigeon had a wonderful flavor and I particularly liked the choron sauce (similar to bearnaise but spiked with tomato) which added a nice fattiness to the dish that went well with everything on the plate. Also on the plate were some carefully grilled cabbage which had a great charred flavor that accentuated the grilled flavor of the pigeon.

I skipped the cheese and went straight into dessert which was at the same high standard as the savory menu. The first dessert showed off Mara de Bois strawberries with seaweed dulcey, rhubarb, and white miso. Mara de Bois strawberries are a breed of fruit known for their flavor and the examples here were excellent quality, making for a refreshing dessert with lots of textures and flavors. While including seaweed in a dessert can be a trainwreck, the kitchen actually pulled it off here in a way that it provided a bridge from the savory dishes and helped tamp town all the sweetness and tartness from the fruit. The description mentioned white miso which I didn’t really pick up on.

The last dessert was a combination of apricot and carrots with carrot cake draped in the apricot jelly. This was was another rock-solid dessert with the varying textures again in the forefront, showing the pastry section at The Jane really knows how important using varying consistencies and techniques is to create a memorable dessert.