Jeune et Jolie

Jeune et Jolie is a French restaurant that has been open for a little over a year. It made Esquire magazine’s list for one of the best new restaurants in America for 2019 and won San Diego Eater’s 2019 Restaurant of the Year. We recently dined here for both brunch and dinner.

The restaurant is named after the owners’ daughters. The interior is intimate and charming, with its plush pink booths and open kitchen space where you can watch the care and detail put into each plate.



Our first trip to the restaurant was for dinner. While we were tempted to try the nightly tasting menu, we ended up working our way through the regular menu instead because I wanted to focus on staples the restaurant has to offer.

PAIN ET BEURRE
baguette, milk bread, normandy butter

The bread plate we ordered included a classic French baguette and a Japanese inspired milk bread roll. Both breads were very enjoyable.

CREVETTE
blue prawn, kataifi, green curry, thai basil

This small bite consisted of a prawn wrapped in crispy pastry, served with green curry and thai basil.

GRENOUILLE
frog legs, fermented chili, tamari

The frogs legs were one of our favorite dishes of the night. The tiny lollipop frog legs were lightly battered and fried.

ESCARGOT
snail, puff pastry, mushroom, brussels sprout, evoo

Small pieces of snail and mushroom were stuffed inside this delicate puff pastry.

AGNEAU
lamb sausage, squid, beluga lentil, truffle, lebneh, turnip

Another favorite of the night. We especially enjoyed the lentil puree.

POISSON CRU
market fish, coconut, coriander, kiwi, daikon, chili

This dish was so beautifully plated. I really enjoyed the colors and the textures.

LARDON
bacon, persimmon, burrata, pistachio, balsamic

COQUILLE
scallop, sunchoke, abalone mushroom, vin jaune

Probably our favorite dish of the night. We opted for the additional white truffle shavings on top, but I think the dish would have been a favorite regardless. The caramelized scallops were perfectly cooked.

COTE DE BOEUF
wagyu beef, sweetbreads, mirepoix, yogurt, streusel

My favorite part of this dish was actually the rich sweetbreads and medley of miniature vegetables.

PORC
iberico pork, eggplant, artichoke, buttermilk, chermoula

The pork was prepped and ate like a steak, which was quite interesting.

CITRON VACHERIN
almond, meringue, citrus, anise

MIEL DE PANNA COTTA
honey, pear, blackberry

I really enjoyed this dessert. It had so many different contrasting textures and flavors.

If you enjoy absinthe, Jeune et Jolie serves it complete with their own absinthe fountain.

A few days later, I returned to try out their brunch with my friend CC.

BEIGNETS
jam, cream

The beignets were incredibly tender and light, served with banana cream and almond jam. It was a great way to start our meal.

OMELETTE
boursin, fine herbs

We did find the omelette to be a little too salty.

TARTINE
toast, soft scrambled egg, mornay

BRIOCHE BOSTOCK
french toast, almond cream, fruit
My favorite dish from brunch. I loved the use of almond and almond paste in the French toast. Having now sampled a few of their sweets, I really wish Jeune et Jolie also had a bakery. I would definitely visit often for their pastries and desserts.

Overall, we quite enjoyed the food we had during our meals at Jeune et Jolie. The only thing we didn’t quite love was the service on both occasions. During our dinner visit, our waters were rarely refilled and our empty dishes sat for long periods of time before they were taken away. During my brunch visit, after taking our drink order, we waited nearly 30 minutes before someone finally came to take our food order. The maître d’ was very apologetic and even gave us complimentary beignets to start our meal, which we really appreciated. Hopefully, they will be able to work out the service issues as the food we had was quite enjoyable. I do recommend dinner over brunch only because the brunch menu is fairly limited.

Menu: https://www.jeune-jolie.com/m-e-n-u

Jeune et Jolie
2659 State St, Carlsbad, CA 92008