Entries in Cuisines: French (152)

Wednesday
Jul122006

Bouley

Note: Click here for a more recent review of Bouley.

I’ve been dining out periodically with some consultant friends from Boston. Last week was their final week in New York, at least for a while (their contract having ended), so we decided to go for a “blow out” meal somewhere special: Bouley.

Bouley is one of New York’s iconic high-end restaurants, helmed by celebrity chef David Bouley, who also runs Danube and Upstairs, both of which are just steps away. The restaurant is located in a stately TriBeCa building that announces its importance with understated elegance. Inside are two lovely rooms dubbed the “red room” and the “white room.” The entrance lobby is lined with fresh apples. The intense aroma transports you into Bouley’s world.

Unusually for a restaurant at its level, Bouley hasn’t succumbed to the prix fixe trend. The menu is pricey, but still à la carte. Appetizers are $16–29. Entrees are $38–45. The tasting menu ($90) is also unusual, with several choices offered for most of the courses. It is also shorter than some tasting menus, offering an amuse bouche, three savory courses, a palate cleanser, and dessert. The menu mentions the availability of a seasonal chef’s degustation menu, without stating the price.

In light of the special occasion, we chose the regular tasting menu, on which I had the following:

  1. Chef’s Canapé (which I have forgotten)
  2. Phyllo Crusted Florida Shrimp, Cape Cod Baby Squid, Scuba Dived Sea Scallop, and Sweet Maryland Crabmeat in an Ocean Herbal Broth
  3. Mediterranean Rouget with Mung Bean and Saffron Risotto, Rose Olive Puree, and Parmesan Foam
  4. Maine Day Boat Lobster with a Fricassée of Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snap Peas, Celery Root Purée, and a Passion Fruit and Port-Wine Paprika Sauce
  5. Wild Hudson Valley Strawberry Soup with Homemade Fromage Blanc Sorbet
  6. Washington State Rhubarb “Shortcake” with Crème de Cassis, Guava Sorbet, and Warm Wild Strawberry Jam

(For the record, there were two options for the second course, three for the third, four for the fourth, and two for the dessert; the list above shows the selections I had, copied from a menu I brought home with me.)

All the courses impressed me as complex, expertly composed, and exquisitely prepared. I particularly loved the seafood medley (the second course). The lobster was superior to a similar dish I had at Per Se in February. The presentations, too, were gorgeous and artistic, with each course on a different style and pattern of china, and usually accompanied by a decorative swish of some kind of sauce.

As there were only three savory courses, each came in a portion large enough to appreciate and dwell upon. As special as the Per Se experience is, the nine bite-sized courses on its menus go by too quickly, even if the meal itself is a long evening. The portion sizes at Bouley seemed perfectly judged.

Bouley is legendary for its bread service. On a cart wheeled to your table there’s a choice of eight breads, all baked in-house. They are all, of course, fresh, but I found the butter a little too hard and uncompromising.

The pacing of a tasting menu can be a challenge, and this one felt a bit rushed. From arrival to departure, the whole experience was just 90 minutes. Service was polite and efficient throughout, and no one ever acted like they were pushing us out the door, but in the end they did just that. An extra dessert course (not listed on the menu) arrived while we were still eating the first one.

As we were leaving the hostess said, “I have a gift for the ladies.” Then, my two companions were each handed a wrapped Bouley coffee cake. I didn’t say anything, but I thought it should have been obvious that I was not going home with either of them, and deserved a coffee cake of my own.

Until a couple of years ago, Bouley carried four stars from the New York Times. The current critic, Frank Bruni, demoted it to three. I can see why. Bouley doesn’t create the sustained magic of a Per Se or an Alain Ducasse. The food, I think, is up to that level, but the overall package falls a bit short.

Bouley (120 West Broadway at Duane Street, TriBeCa)

Food: ****
Service: ***
Ambiance: ***
Overall: ***½

Wednesday
Jul052006

Perry St. revisited

Note: Click here for a more recent review of Perry St.

I enjoyed my last visit to Perry St. in February, notwithstanding that I felt like death warmed over that day (no fault of the restaurant’s). I went again last night. It was a very light crowd, with much of the clientele probably being out of town for the July 4 holiday.

We found the seating pattern mysterious. Twice, the host seated a couple at the table right next to us, despite acres of free two-tops elsewhere in the restaurant. (The first time, the couple objected, and were moved.)

My friend and I ordered identically: the homemade fried mozzarella to start ($12), followed by the herb-crusted rack of lamb ($36). Both were excellent, and indeed I broke my usual rule, and had dessert. It was a coconut/caramel/banana mix with whipped cream on top, which is a can’t miss combination in my book. Like last time, the bread rolls were so hard they could be used as doorstops.

As before, the menu is brief, with about 8 appetizers and an equal number of entrees listed. The wine list, too, is brief for a restaurant serving this type of food. Although we both chose the expensive lamb entree, there are plenty of choices in the $20-30 range. For the quality, Perry St. is reasonably priced.

Perry St. (176 Perry Street at West Street, West Village)

Food: **
Service: **
Ambiance: **
Overall: **

Wednesday
Jul052006

db bistro moderne

I dined at db bistro moderne a couple of years ago, but my only memory is their $29 gimmick hamburger. A couple of Saturdays ago, I went back with my friend, determined to try anything but that hamburger.

The restaurant caters heavily to a pre-theatre crowd — and I must say that it’s a far higher-class dining experience than most Theater District restaurants can offer. The décor is stylish and comfortable: a “modern bistro” indeed. We arrived at 7:30 to a busy, bustling room. By 7:45, it was practically deserted. A few more diners came in later, but clearly their busiest hours were behind them.

No one seems to have told the serving staff that a couple who arrive at 7:30 probably aren’t going to the theater. The appetizers couldn’t have taken more than five minutes, and the entrees came out pretty fast too. In all, we didn’t spend more than about an hour at db, and that included the time we spent lingering over our bottle of wine at the end. Although the staff didn’t suggest that they were eager for us to leave, it seems the kitchen is geared up for turning out food in a hurry, and they don’t change their rhythm after the theater crowd has departed.

The food, however, was wonderful. I had a great tuna tartare followed by duck confit. My friend had duck pâté followed by coq au vin. All four dishes were prepared in classic style and were flawless. If there was nothing particularly imaginative, there is much to be said for executing old favorites to near perfection. The wine list mentioned that the sommelier was highlighting syrah and granache this month, so we tried one of the recommendations in that category, and were pleased we did.

The bread service was underwhelming, and not up to the level of the rest of the food.

db bistro moderne (55 W. 44th St. between Fifth & Sixth Avenues, West Midtown)

Food: **½
Service: **
Ambiance: **
Overall: **½

Tuesday
Jun202006

Au Pied de Cochon

My friend and I spent last weekend in Montreal—the first visit for either of us. Au Pied de Cochon (“The Pig’s Foot”) was tops on our list of restaurants to try. We were totally delinquent in making reservations, so we were pleased that our hotel concierge was able to book us in at 9pm on the night of our arrival (Friday), and Toqué (see the next post) at 9:30pm the following evening. In New York, we probably wouldn’t have had such luck.

Perhaps a better name for the restaurant would be Au Pied de Cochon et Canard, because the signature ingredient is foie gras. A whole section of the menu is dedicated to foie gras, and it figures in many other dishes as well. Several of the foie gras selections are clearly meant to be humorous riffs on popular comfort food normally served without it, such as foie gras poutine, foie gras grilled cheese, and foie gras hamburger. (A recent article in Gourmet said that Au Pied de Cochon goes through 300 pounds of foie gras per week.)

Poutine is a popular fast food dish (even McDonald’s has a version of it), consisting of french fries, cheese curd, and gravy. Foie gras poutine, naturally, is the same thing, but with a huge hunk of seared foie gras as the centrepiece, and a hint of foie gras in the gravy. We thought it was terrific.

Many of the dishes have cryptic names, of which the most humorous is “duck in a can.” There is no explanation on the menu, but our server explained that it’s duck breast and foie gras cooked inside a can. We didn’t order this, but we saw a serving of it delivered to another table. Sure enough, the server brings a medium-sized soup can to the table, opens it with a conventional can opener, and then pours the meal onto the diner’s plate. Who would think of such a thing?

During the summer, the menu skews towards seafood. We saw massive raw bar platters being delivered to the tables, priced anywhere betwen $45 and $320. Pork, lamb, and venison also remain fixtures on the menu. Au pied de Cochon’s steak frites is made with venison all year long.

We ordered the pied de cochon foie gras, which again would be obscure if the server didn’t explain that it’s a whole shank of pig’s foot with foie gras, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. It was indescribably good, and the kind of dish you’re not going to find anywhere else.

Portion sizes were enormous—not just the things we ordered, but also the servings we saw delivered to other tables. Our server kindly advised that one order of poutine foie gras and one order of pied de cochon foie gras would be ample for two people, as this wouldn’t have been apparent from the menu. That pied de cochon was $48, but when served for two it is a bargain.

The apple pie was the only thing we ordered that was listed as a portion for two on the menu. Naturally, it was big enough for three. It came freshly baked, and was about the best apple pie I’ve ever tasted in a restaurant.

The chef, Martin Picard, has made a reputation with his button-down shirts (never tucked in), wild hair, and three-day-old beard. While we were there, he was all over the place — cooking some of the food, drinking beer and wine, and chatting up the customers. He said “Bon soir” to us as we left.

The space is informal, with tables fairly close together. The restaurant is only about 20 feet wide (although it is fairly deep). To get to the men’s room, you actually have to pass through the open kitchen. However, service was friendly and attentive. Our server recommended a superb wine at about $48 that went perfectly with our foie gras festival of a meal.

Au Pied de Cochon (536, rue Duluth Est, Montréal, Quebec)

Food: ***
Service: **½
Ambiance: *½
Overall: ***

Tuesday
Jun202006

Pastis

Note: Pastis closed in February 2014, as the building it occupied closed for renovations. Owner Keith McNally claims it will re-open in 2015. We shall see.

*

A colleague and I visited Pastis a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t my choice. I have nothing against the place, but I’ve seen the long lines plenty of times, and I doubted that it would be worth braving the crowds. However, he made a 7pm reservation, and at that hour the restaurant was only just beginning to fill up.

My colleague mentioned that Pastis seems to be one of those iconic New York restaurants where you’re supposed to see celebrities—or that’s the theory, anyway. We didn’t spy anyone famous. He mentioned that he’s watched Sex and the City only four times, and twice the characters dined at Pastis.

Well, what about the food? I had a mediocre steak tartare and a decent grilled sea bass. A not unhappy experience, but certainly nothing to justify the restaurant’s reputation. Tables are both small and uncomfortably close together, the noise level is loud, and menus double as placemats. At least the prices are reasonable.

You won’t eat badly at Pastis, but we could hardly see what all the fuss is all about.

Pastis (9 Ninth Avenue at Little West 12th St, Meatpacking District)

Food: *
Service: okay
Ambiance: fair
Overall: okay

Pastis on Urbanspoon

Tuesday
May092006

Ici

Ici is an unpretentious neighborhood restaurant in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn. Like many restaurants these days, Ici emphasizes its reliance on seasonal local ingredients. It’s about a fifteen-minute walk from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (our reason for being there) and is a safe choice for a pre-show meal.

A friend and I had dinner at Ici last Friday night. I should have taken better notes when my memory was fresh, but I vaguely recall starting with a goat cheese salad that was unspectacular, followed by sea bass that was simply grilled, and presented competently without any frills. Much of the clientele seemed to be from the neighborhood. The outdoor garden is lovely, and the restaurnt is child-friendly.

Our meal was nothing special, but it was enjoyable and easy on the pocketbook. I will certainly consider going back the next time I am going to BAM. Otherwise, I wouldn’t make a special trip.

Ici (246 DeKalb Avenue between Vanderbilt & Clermont Aves, Fort Greene, Brooklyn)

Food: *
Service: *
Ambiance: *
Overall: *

Wednesday
Apr122006

Jarnac

Note: Jarnac closed in June 2009 due to a rent dispute. Its owners now operate Bistro de la Gare. The Jarnac space became Recette.

*

A friend and I went to Jarnac a couple of weeks ago, on a Saturday night. This is a casual French bistro in Greenwich Village, not far from the Meatpacking District.

We both started with the Duck Rillettes ($10.25), which came in thin wrapped pastry dough and packed plenty of flavor punch. We then tried the Cassoulet-Braised Pork Cheeks ($24), with duck confit, pork sausage, great northern beans, tomato & garlic. It’s a heavy meal, which neither of us was able to finish. The dish comes painfully hot, to a point that some of the flavor potential is cooked out of the ingredients. Your server provides an extra plate, along with the advice to spoon the cassoulet in stages onto the plate for cooling. It’s a bit too much of a production, with the danger of a scorching burn if one miscalculates.

Our table was comfortable, service was friendly, and we were pleased to find a reasonably priced wine list. In nice weather, be sure to get one of the window seats (which we had).

Jarnac (328 W. 12th Street at Greenwich Street, West Village)

Food: *
Service: *
Ambiance: *
Overall: *

Sunday
Mar052006

Perry St.

Note: Click here for a more recent visit to Perry St.

I visited Perry St. with two friends a couple of weeks ago.

Perry St.’s very existence speaks volumes about the evolution of this part of town. Twenty years ago, the idea of a fine dining destination on West Street would have been madness. This part of town had evolved to serve the shipping industry, with factories and warehouses girdling Manhattan to serve piers on the Hudson River. The shipping trade eventually found more commodious digs, leaving the West Side Highway derelict—useless for any purpose except as a transportation artery. It’s hard to think of another metropolis that had so thoroughly squandered its coastline.

But West Street is gradually making a comeback, and the two luxurious Richard Meier-designed apartment buildings in the Far West Village are part of the area’s long-overdue return to respectability. Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who owns Perry St., lives in the same building as the restaurant itself. One must doubt how often Vongerichten darkens its door now that a three-star review from the Times has been secured, but its proximity to the place where he sleeps probably offers an incentive for him to stop by a bit more often than he visits the other restaurants in his far-flung empire.

Perry St. is cool, quiet, and elegant. There are some nods to informality (e.g., the paper placemats and the lack of tablecloths), but it is still one of the more refined dining experiences you can have in this part of town. The lounge and bar area are both large and extremely comfortable, and they serve the full menu. The dining room posts a panoramic view of the Hudson River and the New Jersey skyline. It is an especially attractive view at sundown.

My review comes with a significant caveat. Earlier in the day of my visit, I came down with a high fever. I had already cancelled my dinner with these friends on an earlier occasion, so I was determined to keep the date. However, I was frankly miserable, for reasons having nothing to do with the food or the service.

I tried the chicken soup ($10.50), which Ed Levine praised in a recent Times article:

In the best chicken soups, the meat is added at the end of the cooking process. At Perry St., the sous-chef, Paul Eschbach, actually cooks the chicken sous vide (by vacuum-sealing it in a plastic pouch and cooking it in a water bath) separately with dill, butter, salt and pepper, and then puts it in the soup at the last second.

The chicken broth was actually added tableside. The soup bowl contained an array of fresh vegetables (carrots, radishes, greens), and the server poured the broth on top of that. The soup was fresh and tangy.

At Perry St., the menu is spare: just eight appetizers and eight entrees are offered. Our server advised that only two of the entrees have been on the menu since the place opened. One of those is the crunchy rabbit ($31), which Frank Bruni had liked, so I gave it a try. It looked like a wrap sandwich, but was warm with a crisp breading on the exterior with a splash of avocado puree on the side. Here too, a broth was added tableside. I finished only half of it, due to my fever. Two different staff members asked if there was any problem with it. There wasn’t; I just wasn’t up to finishing.

My only significant complaint is the bread service. There is wonderful, fresh butter at the table, but the bread rolls tasted like they were baked eighteen hours ago. At its price point, Perry St. needs to do a better job with the bread.

We didn’t drink (except that I had a cocktail to start). The total was about $150 for three, before tip.

Perry St (176 Perry Street at West Street, Far West Village)

Food: ***
Service: ***
Ambiance: **
Overall: ***

Saturday
Mar042006

La Goulue

Note: La Goulue closed in August 2009 after losing its lease. The owners hope to re-open elsewhere.

*

When the 2006 New York Michelin Guide came out, many of the usual suspects received the coveted stars. But there were a handful that came as a surprise, and La Goulue was one of these. Once known primarily as a people-watching destination, La Goulue seemed about as likely to be honored with a Michelin star as Tavern on the Green or Café des Artistes.

The restaurant opened on East 70th Street in 1972 and moved to its present Madison Avenue address in 1993. In 1994, Ruth Reichl gave La Goulue zero stars (“Satisfactory”) in the New York Times:

La Goulue is a club; there are no dues and no secret handshakes, but its members know who they are. Interlopers are quickly put in their place. Reservation for Jane Doe? “I don’t seem to have that,” the hostess has told me on three of my four visits.

………………

Salmon with green tea and truffles sounded like a nice idea…. But that dish was a joy compared with the risotto of blue prawns. The night I had it the prawns were so mealy I could not swallow them, and the risotto was just a bed of soggy rice. I wondered how I was going to explain the fact that I had eaten no more than a bite, but I need not have worried. Nobody asked any questions.

This should not be a surprise. Few people go to La Goulue for the food. It is one of New York’s best addresses for people-watching and for that alone may be worth the price of admission.

There hasn’t been a rated review in the Times since then, although by 1998 Reichl had evidently mellowed a bit—but only a bit: “Le Tout Paris descends on La Goulue when visiting New York City. Chic, attractive and expensive, this is one of those upscale bistros that tastes much better if you speak French.”

La Goulue’s chef in 1994 was one Jacky Pluton. Today, it is Antoine Camin. Service, too, has improved, perhaps because La Goulue is no longer in such high demand. I had no trouble scoring a 7:30pm reservation on OpenTable, which was cheerfully honored. Service was superb. My companion called our server “the best waiter ever,” a tribute to his attentiveness and cheerful disposition.

La Goulue doesn’t have its own website; its URL redirects to a site called “iseatz.com.” The text pays homage to the restaurant’s days as a celebrity dining spot: “Recent guests of La Goulue have been Stanley Tucci, Ashley Judd, Rod Stewart, Jude Law, Rene Russo, Bruce Springstein, Giorgio Armani and LeeLee Sobieski.” Further down: “The lunch crowd at La Goulue is a mixture of business men and women looking for a low-key, fun atmosphere to dine, and young, hip, upper-east side lunching ladies. La Goulue also entertains politicians, writers, actors and actresses, and European tourists staying at some of the many swanky boutique hotels nearby.” And so forth.

But if the Michelin inspectors know anything, they surely know French food, and here La Goulue excels. To start, I had a homemade chicken & pork sausage (Boudin Blanc, $12.50 on the bill), while my friend had the crab meat salad ($14.50), both excellent. We each had the John Dory entrée ($30.50), a hearty cylinder of fish atop a crisp mushroom tart.

For dessert, my friend had the chocolate tart ($9), which she found a bit too salty. My dessert was called “Oeuf à la Neige”, which was translated as “Floating Island” ($9). I guessed that it would be a kind of egg cream custard, which was about right, and it was superbly executed.

The restaurant boasts an excellent wine list, or so I’m told, but when I asked for wines by the glass, our server recited them, rather than providing a list. I settled for a glass of sancerre ($11.95), which proved to be an excellent recommendation.

The décor at La Goulue gives every indication of being an authentic Parisian transplant. The website boasts: “Burnished wood panels, century-old mirrors, yellow, nicotine-tinged, pressed-tin ceilings and brass luggage racks enhance the intimate bistro’s ageless ambience. Many of the lighted wall sconces are extremely rare and are signed by the French glassmaker Majorelle.” I found the chairs not particularly comfortable, however.

All of the staff are French, although they have none of the stereotype French stuffiness. The menu items are all written in French, with English translations. It appears that the menu is updated often; the copies we were provided were dated late January. La Goulue isn’t cheap, with many appetizers in the $20-30 range, and most entrées over $30.

But for authentic French comfort cuisine, I haven’t found better in New York. It’s high time for La Goulue to put its menu on the website, instead of talking about all the beautiful people who dine there. It really is about the food.

La Goulue (746 Madison Avenue between 64th & 65th Streets, Upper East Side)

Food: **½
Service: **½
Ambiance: **
Overall: **½

Sunday
Jan222006

Alain Ducasse

Note: Alain Ducasse at the Essex House closed in late 2006. Ducasse transferred the kitchen team to a new but less formal restaurant, Adour, at the St. Regis Hotel, which opened in early 2008.

I had been looking for a special occasion to visit Alain Ducasse at the Essex House Hotel, a/k/a “ADNY”. That occasion presented itself yesterday, and my friend and I had a grand time. The experience was, if not perfect, certainly extraordinary—the definition of four stars, if ever there was.

I’ve seen many photographs of the room, but they fail to do it justice. It is creative, comfortable and luxurious, without being over-the-top. The exposed kitchen surprised me. Obviously there are plenty of open kitchens at fine restaurants in New York, but here it seemed slightly out-of-place.

ADNY virtually defines extraordinary service. One could give a thousand examples, but what especially impressed me is that our coats were taken when we arrived without a check ticket, and were ready for us when we left. Somehow, the staff is able to keep track of every coat and has telepathic insight when you are ready to leave.

Your options at ADNY are a three-course meal at $150, four courses at $175, the seven-course tasting menu at $225, or the six-course tuber melanosporum (black truffle) tasting at $290. We chose the four-course meal ($175 plus supplements), which offers an appetizer, a fish course, a meat course, and dessert.

ADNY tries mightily to tempt you with the truffle menu. Before we ordered, a member of staff brought around a box of several enormous black truffles in a bed of rice. I was encouraged to pick one up and take a whiff, which I did. We had already decided on the four-course, but we were still going to see truffles later on.

The water service might be seen as an attempt at upselling. Almost every starred restaurant tries to entice you to purchase bottled water, but at ADNY a water sommelier comes along with six waters for you to choose from. However, our request for tap water was heeded graciously.

I was beginning to wonder if attempts to pad the bill were going to take over. I asked the wine sommelier either to recommend a single bottle in the $150-200 range, or wines by the glass paired with each course. He was happy to do either, and when he didn’t state a price, I wondered what was coming. I was happy to find that the paired wines came in at only $140, below the bottom end of my stipulated range.

Our service began with two wonderful gougères and an amuse of seared tuna with pureed celery root. There was a choice selection of warm bread, of which an olive roll was especially memorable, along with two fresh butters (one salted, one not).

For the appetizer, I chose the butternut squash ravioli, celery “moustarda di cremona”, and sage emulsion, a complex dish that is difficult to explain. More straightforward, but no less superb, was my friend’s foie gras terrine, with mango chutney sandwiched by layers of foie.

I had no firm idea about the fish course, but I chose the Chatham cod, which includes “fennel—some braised, others raw—Taggiasca tapenade, and clear essence.” I reasoned that as this dish is part of the tasting menu, the chef must be rather pleased with it. It was, of course, impeccably prepared, but utterly unadventurous, and in the end unacceptably dull. My friend made the happier choice: poached Maine lobster with truffles ($35 supp.), which she pronounced superb. She must be getting to know me pretty well, as she said, “I took one look at that cod, and could tell you weren’t going to love it.”

(Update: Over on eGullet.com, Steven A. Shaw (the “Fat Guy”)—who is a professional food writer and has been to ADNY more than just about anybody else who writes about it—read my review and said, “I agree that the fish dish oakapple described is unremarkable as were two other fish dishes I tried on our most recent visit, when we also had the four-course menu with all the same choices oakapple described. On the whole, the fish course was weak. Maybe as part of a longer tasting menu I’d have seen it in a different context: a beautiful little piece of fish with a technically correct sauce. But as an entree-type course the fish dishes fell flat.”)

I’d heard rave reviews of the blue foot chicken ($35 supp.), which we both had. This dish is a truffle orgy, with truffles both under the skin and all over the plate. The raves are entirely justified; it was outstanding.

Another dish everyone raves about is “Monsieur Ducasse’s favorite dessert,” Baba Monte-Carlo style, with rum of your choice. A server comes around with a tray of five rums. You choose one, and it is poured into a small copper cup. You also receive a bit of the rum in a snifter. The Baba comes out in a sterling silver bowl that must have been custom-made for Ducasse, as I’ve never seen anything like it. Your server slices the cake in half, pours the rum over its innards, then ladles on heapings of cream. If there’s a better dessert in New York, I can’t imagine it.

We were not finished yet, as the kitchen sent out a small serving of sorbet as a palate cleanser. Then, a cart comes out with more sweets, of which you may choose as many as you please. (I had the vanilla panna cotta and a marshmallow coated with almonds.) The selection of coffees ($8) was impressive, including even M. Ducasse’s custom espresso, which I enjoyed.

The meal was not perfect: the Chatham cod didn’t live up to the surroundings, and none of the vegetable accompaniments wowed me. But at its best, ADNY operates at a level few restaurants can touch.

Alain Ducasse at the Essex House (155 West 58th Street between Sixth & Seventh Avenues, West Midtown)

Food: ***½
Service: ****
Ambiance: ****
Overall: ****