Grand central
GEORGE RUAN • Jōji
WORK • Tuesday Routine
GEORGE RUAN • chef / partner • Jōji
Neighborhood you work in: Midtown East
It’s Tuesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
Our restaurant at One Vanderbilt is closed on Mondays, so Tuesday mornings start the week, and it can be quite chaotic. Usually, I start at the Flower Market in Chelsea, picking up the florals for the restaurant. Then, it’s straight to Jōji, as I meet with the other two chef-partners, Wayne and Xiao, along with our management team to start our meetings regarding service, reservations, and events throughout the week. If there are regular or repeat diners, we’ll create special bespoke menus as we serve a different menu for every returning guest, so each dining experience is unique. In between meetings with staff, we receive deliveries for all the ingredients and fish coming in from our purveyors and prep for service for the night and Jōji Box, our omakase sushi to-go.
What’s on the agenda for today?
In addition to our usual routine with meetings and prep, we’re currently getting ready for private events in the upcoming weeks and preparing special menus for those, as well as our regular service.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
During the summer season, I had a rare opportunity to occasionally have a service off, and like to check out new restaurants. I attended a friends & family at Ikigai. Opened in Fort Greene by a former Masa colleague, Rafal Maslankiewicz, Ikigai is a kaiseki-inspired omakase. Beautiful ingredients and space, just an overall unique experience.
How about a little leisure or culture this week?
Typically, we like to check out new food spots around the city and go to a sports game when we can. My four-year-old loves going to Mets games.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I really enjoy collecting Japanese whisky and during our last trip to Japan, I purchased a Hibiki 30 year. I’m very excited to have this one join the other whiskies on my shelf.
What NYC store or service do you love to recommend?
Korin in Tribeca is a fantastic sourcer of Japanese plateware, cutlery, and kitchen tools. We visit them for our plateware when we’re not able to travel to Japan.