“Great chef, bad room.” For years, it’s how I’ve explained Christian Graves and his restaurant, Jsix. Kimpton Hotels usually does bang-up design jobs, but Jsix was weirdly segmented and antisocial. Mercifully, the team just overhauled it. It’s all brick, metal, and ye olden modernism, with tons of natural light and communal wooden tables. It’s time to go—or go back. Try Graves’ creamy meat-silk guanciale and that pork belly, redolent of cloves and star anise, that’s the best I’ve had in this pork belly-hysterical city. Also, spend quality time with bartender Nate Howell’s excellent “New Jersey Farm,” with Laird’s Apple Brandy, ginger syrup, lemon, cucumber, and peach bitters. 616 J Street, downtown
Jsix
