Jeune Et Jolie is Campfire’s sister restaurant and literally one block away. Located in Carlsbad, this recent opening is a hidden gem. With an open kitchen and soft, light colors to deliver a bright springy atmosphere, Jeune Et Jolie is warm and welcoming to enter to.
The front outside is hipster and modern. The inside decor was like a modern French bistro. There were pink velvety booths with a gold drink station.
The open kitchen was so fun to watch, especially because we sat at the higher counter seating in the corner that was front row seat to the open kitchen. So throughout dinner, we enjoyed watching a live food show where we watched them prepped, cooked and decorated.
The first two cocktails we got at the bar (because we were early for our dinner reservation), were both very tasty and aromatic.
Viet Nam. Blane vermouth, manzanilla sherry, aveze, lemongrass and birds eye chili, yellow chartreuse, lime, pastis, Thai chili. This drink is supposed to represent some of the elements of Vietnamese cuisine. It was very sweet and sour with a very strong spicy kick.
Algerie. Calvados, floe de gascogne, Creme de poire, ras el hanout, lemon, mint, absinthe. This drink was so good for me. I love the aroma being held in that rose petal, which eventually sunk down to the bottom of my drink and gave it a light green hue. Slight sour and plenty of sweet.
Pain Et beurre. Baguette, milk bread, Normandy butter. This was soooo good! The baguette had a thick crunchy crust and airy , hot bread on the inside. The milk bread was incredibly soft and fluffy. It had a perfectly thin and crispy crust too. The butter was so creamy and buttery. Very smooth.
The milk bread is just my favorite. Especially when you know it’s baked fresh and served hot for you..
Louisiane. Cognac, rose pineau, coffee-infused rouge vermouth, petite shrubb, Peychaud. One drink isn’t enough for my boyfriend so he ordered another one. This drink had a very sweet and inviting aroma as you lift it up to your lips from the orange peel. The drink was very strong!!
Ris de veau. Veal sweetbread, sauce chausseur, bacon, onion, cabbage. Look at this pretty place of veal sweetbread! It’s dressed so nice, it doesn’t even look like you’re about to eat veal. The veal itself is on top of a mixture of onion and cabbage that is creamy and savory. I forgot what the rose petals were on, but it was a quenelle of something! The sauce is killer!
I tried to take a picture of the inside to show how flaky and tender and moist the veal was but not sure if you can tell. All of the flavors are very strong on this dish and believe it or not, it’s filling.
Agneau. Lamb, wax bean, chard, garlic, shishito. Must I say that the 3 small piles of onion, garlic and shishito peppers were delicious! They were crunchy, light and firey! Love the crunch!!!!!!
The lamb was beautifully medium rare, fatty, soft, tender. Easily falls off the bone with the help of a knife.
You get two lamb chop pieces!
Coquille. Scallop, sunchoke, abalone mushroom, vin jaune. This ring of mushrooms and scallops and potatoes were beautifully decorated and topped in two layers!! The potatoes were crispy and crunchy; nice and firm on the outside, almost rare on the inside.
The scallops are the mostttt soft and tender scallops I have ever sliced through and chewed on. Incredibly soft. So soft. I can say the same for the mushrooms but more firm.
The sauce reminded me of a warm, creamy sesame seed sauce in terms of taste and texture. Almost like Dan Dan noodles haha..
For our 1.5 year anniversary date, they gave us glasses of champagne on the house during the dessert round at the end. How sweet of them! Not only did our waitress know it was our anniversary.. the host and the other people did! They kept wishing us a good anniversary.
The champagne was pretty good! Very light and slightly carbonated. They didn’t tell us what kind it was and we didn’t wanna ask!
Cafe brulot. Calvados, coffee, petite shrubb, orange peel, cinnamon. This alcoholic coffee drink was served hot and similar to my boyfriend’s second drink.
The service here is so attentive, friendly and welcoming. Everyone is so happy!
And I need to comment on these plates!!!! They are so chic, modern yet heavy. Real ceramics. I checked and it’s felt&fat ceramics. Super expensive. I want this chinaware for my house!!
I need to come back here because throughout eye watching all of the decorating and food plating in the open kitchen with our front row seats, I spy some dishes I wanna try next!
