For me, there are really two different ways to go out to eat:
First, there’s a quest for the best flavor. It doesn’t have to be well presented. The dining room can be as shabby as it likes. The service can be lacking. And I don’t give two damns. Because the flavor stops me in my tracks.
I’ve fallen in love with sushi eaten in a strip mall, gourmet burgers at outdoor festivals, and tea-infused sorbets in fancy dining rooms. And the reason those things brought me back again and again. The reason I can list them off the top of my head is simply this: Flavor.
But there’s a second type of meal I tend to feel good about, even when the flavor doesn’t knock me over. And that’s a meal with interest.
I don’t mean that interesting meals that taste terrible are something I’d recommend or duplicate. But I do mean that interesting meals that taste good but not life-changing still go in the success column of my foodie life experiences list.
And this is the type of meal we had a Jy’s in Colmar, France.
The restaurant is quite possibly the top-ranked in Colmar, with two Michelin stars (there are more Michelin stars in the region, but this is currently the highest-ranked in Colmar itself).
If there’s one thing Michelin always gets right, it’s service. The service was poised, with waiters sweeping in to larger tables to set down each course at the exact same moment, never leaving a diner behind his fellows. Dishes were explained along the way and plating was beautifully done and sometimes a little whimsical, with foods created to look like small stones or the inside of a raw egg.
We ordered the business lunch, at a reasonable $60 per person, and since there were two of us and two options for each course, we tried them all, passing plates back and forth across the table.
The starters, main courses, and desserts were perfectly fine, but it was the in-between courses, the amuse bouches, the experimental, pretending-to-be-something-else bites that really kept me engaged with the meal. My favorite was the thin, crunchy, slightly sweet flat bread criss-crossed with cheese, two thin slices of melon with tart cheese in the middle, made to look like ravioli, and a sweet in-between dish that looked like a raw egg and was actually made with fruit and perhaps coconut milk.
Personally, the food wasn’t quite what I’d expect from a two-star establishment, but they did hit the atmosphere, service, and experience levels I’d expect from this type of restaurant. And while I wouldn’t eat here again, I didn’t regret stopping by.
Address: 17 Rue de la Poissonnerie, Colmar
Phone: +33 3 89 21 53 60
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 12 – 13:30 for lunch and 19 – 21:30 for dinner. Closed Sunday and Monday. Reservations strongly suggested.
Price range: The business lunch currently runs about $60 USD per person. The average per-person cost according to La Forchette is about 98 euros.
What (else) to do in Colmar and Alsace
Colmar is a stunning little town full of colorful characteristic wood-beamed architecture built up around pretty canals usually lined with flower boxes. We loved just strolling around the center.
Outside Colmar, Kayserberg and Eguisheim are stunning little towns and Kaysersberg has a nice little (very short) hike up a hill to a castle. Beyond that, you can continue hiking into a forest area if your heart so desires.