Most restaurants don’t make it. Here’s how Jean-Georges restaurants have survived the test of time—and even a pandemic

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 06: Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten attends A Taste of Asia in NYC at Madison Square Park on October 06, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Siskin/Getty Images for Madison Square Park Conservancy) (Credit: Jared Siskin - Getty Images)

To know Jean-Georges Vongerichten is to know decadence.

The 67-year-old Strasbourg, France native may be best known for his eponymous midtown restaurant with two Michelin stars. He moved to New York City in 1986, when the city’s fine-dining scene, depending on who you ask, was in a dire state of affairs. (Vongerichten, for one, said the American palate hadn’t quite progressed to its current state of cultural advancement.)