Born in Vietnam and raised in Paris, Alain Verzeroli remembers his Vietnamese mother making traditional pho for the family when he was a child, and in particular the care she put into preparing the broth. But his passion for cooking was not sparked until he was 18 and already attending business school. While eating at a Michelin-starred Alain Rayé restaurant, his first ever fine-dining experience, Verzeroli had an epiphany and spontaneously asked the famous chef if he could apprentice for him. Rayé agreed and, after a month-long apprenticeship, Verzeroli dropped out of his economics course to study the culinary arts at the acclaimed École Supérieure de Cuisine Française (ESCF).
Stints at Paris restaurants Arpège and Le Relais du Parc followed, before a move to Petrus in Hong Kong. After three years there, Verzeroli transferred to Château Restaurant Joël Robuchon in Tokyo, beginning a working relationship with Robuchon that would last over two decades. He remained in Tokyo for the next 18 years, with the restaurant winning three Michelin stars for 11 consecutive years under his guidance, until he was invited to New York City as Culinary Director of the Bastion Collection, responsible for the brand L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and his own new concept, Le Jardinier.
Restaurants
Open since May 2019, New York’s Le Jardinier (literal meaning ‘The Gardener’) is a vegetable-forward French restaurant created by Culinary Director Verzeroli. It is situated in Midtown Manhattan, in an elegant, airy space filled with lush greenery on the first floor of the Norman Foster-designed Selene building.
Offering a modern, metropolitan take on nouvelle cuisine, Le Jardinier promotes healthy fine dining in a refined, relaxed atmosphere. The menu is rooted in French culinary tradition and focuses on seasonal ingredients, including high-quality vegetables and fresh herbs. It is not, however, a vegetarian restaurant, also serving sustainably sourced meat, poultry, and fish.
The New York restaurant received its first Michelin star in 2019, the same year it opened, and has retained the award in subsequent years.
In August 2019, a few months after Le Jardinier opened in NYC, a second outpost was launched in Miami. Le Jardinier Miami received its first Michelin star in 2022, the year the Michelin Guide first sent inspectors to the city and has held the star ever since. Further Le Jardinier restaurants have since opened in Houston and Geneva.
Since 2023, Le Jardinier New York has been complemented by Bar Bastion, which also serves a selection of small plates.
Recipes and dishes
Le Jardinier's produce-centric approach highlights seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs, allowing them to enhance the meats and seafood they accompany.
Signature dishes on the menu include burrata with heirloom tomatoes and stone fruits, and seared Montauk black bass with lemongrass foam, roasted broccolini, and sweet potato puree.
These are complemented by an assortment of gluten-free breads, including rolls made with Japanese rice flour and seeded lavash made with red and white quinoa, matcha powder, Japanese shichimi pepper, topped with sesame and poppy seeds—all the work of master baker Tetsuya Yamaguchi.
Under Verzeroli’s direction, pastry chef Salvatore Martone creates colorful fruity desserts that mix fresh seasonal produce with herbs and even savory flavors, like lemon meringue tart with citrus marmalade, or warm rhubarb pie with rhubarb buttermilk sherbet shaped in flowers.
Among his personal favorite dishes at Le Jardinier, Verzeroli singles out the corn ravioli with roasted tomatillos, cilantro, and espelette pepper; the wagyu bavette au jus with artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and shallot; and the key lime tart with pineapple compote and coconut sorbet.
