We hadn’t seen each other in almost a year, so we made our brunch reservation at Jams in 1 Hotel Center Park early enough to reconnect before heading to see Monsters at City Center. In addition to being close to the theatre, my friend requested that the menu serve French toast and be quiet enough to catch up.

I chose the wrong one. Jonathan Waxman’s Jams is anything but quiet. It’s the type of noisy brunch place I try to avoid.

My friend requested her brioche French toast, which came with poached pear, whipped cream and maple syrup, well done. “Crispy,” she said, and had to send it back, as it was anything but.

My shrimp and polenta came topped with 2 poached eggs and 5 tiny red shrimp ($24).

Jams is close to City Center, where we saw the closing performance of the powerful two-character play, Monsters, written and directed by Ngozi Anyanwu and featuring Aigner Mizzelle and Okieriete Onaodowan.

Jams
1 Hotel Central Park
1414 6th Ave
New York, NY 10019
(212) 703-2007
1hotels.com/central-park/taste/jams