Benoit

Note: This is a review under Chef Pierre Schaedelin, who left the restaurant in October 2010. Click here for a review under his replacement, the former Payard and Balthazar chef, Philippe Bertineau.

*

We returned to Benoit last Saturday—our third visit (past reviews here, here). The good news is that Benoit is doing well: it was as crowded as I’ve seen it since the opening weeks, this time last year. The bad news is that the service was slow, with long waits even for basic things, such as getting a wine list.

To start, we shared the charcuterie platter with cornichons and Dijon mustard ($42; below). Though nominally a serving for two, our group of three was unable to polish it off. Only at Bar Boulud have we seen a charcuterie assortment this good, this varied. I’m hard pressed to say which is better.

Unfortunately, that left us not very hungry for our main courses (not the restaurant’s fault). My girlfriend had the Steak aux Poivres ($38) and my mother the trio of Colorado Lamb ($36). Both struck us as competently done without being, in any sense, special.

The Braised Pork Shank ($21; above) was a fascinating dish, unlike anything I have ever seen. It was a hefty hunk of smoked ham, braised on the bone and flaked with a spicy mustard sauce. I am not a fan of smoked ham and probably wouldn’t have ordered it if I had realized how it was prepared—the menu just said “pork.” However, the dish was beautifully prepared, and I cannot really fault anything except the description.

Benoit is still uneven, but for its best items, the restaurant is well worth a return visit. The slow service dismayed us, but I am hoping we caught them on a bad night.

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

Jean Georges

Note: Click here for a more recent review.

Even four-star restaurants have to adapt. A couple of years ago, the dining room at Jean Georges got a make-over. I’m not the one to itemize all of the changes, as I visited the original space only once, but the space now seems brighter and yet more spare—a kind of Scandanavian economy that ensures no distractions from the food and the adjoining Central Park views.

The current recession brought another change: a $58 four-course menu that is served from 5:30–6:00 p.m. and from 10:00–11:00 p.m. (At other times, the minimum entry point is $98 for four courses.) Those might not be ideal dining hours, but it’s still the lowest available price point of any four-star restaurant, or indeed, of just about any luxury restaurant in the city. For that Jean Georges deserves to be applauded.

It was the $58 menu that brought us into Jean Georges the other night. With a $74 burgundy added to the tab, we were still out of there for $205 before tip, making this one of the better meals we’ve had for the price in quite some time.

The $58 menu offers no choices, except at dessert: you are going to get the three savory courses they’ve mapped out for you. However, it is not a bad selection at all. If I’d ordered these dishes at full price, I would not have been disappointed.

We started with a trio of amuses-bouches (above left): a swirl of pickled rhubarb on a disc of mozarella, a peekytoe crab fritter in a light mushroom sauce, and an herbal chicken broth. The crab fritter was the best of these. The chicken broth seemed like a throw-away. The appetizer (above right) was classic Vongerichten: cubes of delicate hamachi paired with Japanese cucumber.

The next two courses were superb, and at least to me, bracingly original. First was a goat cheese gnocchi with caramelized artichokes, rosemary and lemon zest (above left). I wrote in my notes: “remarkable”.

The last course was an arctic char (above right) with a rhubarb compote, ramp ravioli and olive oil foam. It had a sweet–tart contrast that Vongerichten is so well known for. The tart elements were slightly over-powering to my taste, but I give full credit to the ravioli and the fish itself, which was more tender than I thought possible.

We had our choice of any dessert on the regular menu. I chose “Caramel” (above left), while my Mom chose “Chocolate (above right). (“Rhubarb” and “Apple” were the other options.) It all seemed competent to me, but not as memorable as the savory courses.

We concluded with the usual array of petits-four, including the house-made marshmallows (left).

The service seemed more polished than it was on our last visit, but it surely helped that the dining room was not yet full. I still think that Jean Georges is a half-step behind the city’s other four-star restaurants, but this was my best meal to date in any Vongerichten establishment. I should schedule another visit while it is still possible to eat here at bargain prices.

Jean Georges (1 Central Park West at 60th Street, Upper West Side)

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

Peking Duck House

A couple of weeks ago, we headed down to the Peking Duck House for—well, you can probably guess.

The ways of this restaurant are a bit mysterious. When I called for a reservation, they claimed not to take them for parties fewer than six, but plenty of two-tops seemed to be waltzing right in (past the long line) to pre-reserved tables.

Our party of three waited at least half-an-hour to be seated at around 7:00 p.m. on a Friday evening. When we left, less than 90 minutes later, the walk-in line was even longer. As I noted in a previous review, this restaurant is geared to turning tables with military precision, though the food they serve, by its nature, takes a while to eat.

Most parties seemed to order the house special. For a fixed price of $36.50 per person, you get  a whole Peking duck (as long as you have at least three people) and some number of additional appetizers and entrées, depending on party size. The amount of food is obscene: even with four people, instead of three, I doubt we could have finished it.

After the appetizers (above), the duck (below) was presented tableside, then whisked away to be carved. There seems to be one chef who does nothing else.

After the superb duck, the entrées (above) seemed almost superfluous. It would probably be better if they were served separately, but as the restaurant wants to turn tables, they were served at the same time as the duck, which made for an awfully crowded table. A dessert of fresh sliced fruit (left) went barely touched.

If you can look past the factory atmosphere, the Peking Duck House remains an essential restaurant for its signature ingredient, which it prepares as well as anyone.

Peking Duck House (28 Mott Street between Pell and Mosco Streets, Chinatown)

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

The Payoff: La Fonda del Sol and Txikito

We were half-right, half-wrong about Frank Bruni’s double-review of La Fonda del Sol and Txikito. The latter restaurant got the expected singleton:

Across many meals here I had wonderfully memorable food (suckling pig as fine as any in New York beyond Eleven Madison Park’s); ridiculous food (a rib-eye so excessively fatty and undercooked it was almost inedible); food that fell somewhere in between (the crosscut spareribs, with too much bone and too little pork); and food that never tasted the same twice. The meatballs in a shellfish broth could be hard and dull or tender and nuanced. It depended on the night.

Although the prices on individual items are low, the bill can climb surprisingly high, especially considering the plainness and tightness of the quarters.

But to our surprise, La Fonda got the deuce. It’s not that we doubted La Fonda deserved two stars (it clearly does), but that we didn’t expect Bruni to see it that way. With two-star restaurants being a rarity these days, we had figured that any place he deemed worthy of the deuce would at least get the courtesy of having a review to itself. But Bruni’s review patterns were made to be broken:

Although the menu has weak spots, with a few too many dishes not from the heart but from a marketing plan, [Chef Josh DeChellis’s] cooking here feels less forced and more exuberant than it did at any of the other restaurants where I tried it.

More important, it reflects a steady, precise hand. A tried-and-true combination of octopus with potato seemed fresh again, because the kitchen got precisely the tenderness it wanted from the octopus and the firmness it sought in the potato, so that each was a textural mirror and mimic of the other.

At lunchtime, when so many restaurants put on their B if not C games, La Fonda served me a fillet of wild striped bass so vividly white in color and melting in consistency it could have been a snowdrift. The fish got a thrillingly salty, nutty charge — and some nice crunch — from the pumpkinseeds scattered over it.

We and Eater thought that Bruni would award a single star to both places. On our hypothetical one-dollar bets, we win $2 for Txikito and lose $1 on La Fonda, for a net gain of $1.

	Eater		NYJ
Bankroll	$127.50		$148.67
Gain/Loss	+1.00		+1.00
Total	$128.50		$149.67
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Won–Lost	58–26 (69%)		60–24 (71%)

Rolling the Dice: La Fonda del Sol and Txikito

The Line: We missed BruniBetting last week with the flu, but for the record our bet would have been the same as Eater’s: no stars for Charles. Oddly, we find ourselves nearly always in agreement with Eater these days. We realize that’s boring, but there’s no point in disagreeing for its own sake, especially where imaginary dough is on the line. Anyhow, back to business.

Tomorrow, Frank gives us a Spanish twofer, taking a fly on La Fonda del Sol and Txikito. The Eater oddsmakers have set the action as follows (√√ denotes the Eater bet):

La Fonda del Sol
Zero Stars: 10 - 1
One Star: 3-1 √√
Two Stars: 5-1
Three Stars: 25-1
Four Stars: 10,000-1

Txikito
Zero Stars: 7-1
One Star: 2-1 √√
Two Stars: 5-1
Three Stars: 500-1
Four Stars: 20,000-1

The Skinny: Eater gives a good explanation why both of these restaurants will get the singleton, but we have an even better one. In Bruniland, the line between two stars and one is the line between good and mediocre, between important and humdrum, between destination and also-ran. Though one star is supposed to mean “good,” in Bruni’s world it almost never does.

Two-star reviews have been extremely scarce this year. So we figure that if Bruni thought that either of these places merited the deuce, he would let it have a review all to itself. As best we can recall, Bruni has never awarded more than one star in a double review if the Times had never reviewed the restaurant before—as is the case with both of these establishments.

For the record, we really liked La Fonda del Sol, but the other critics haven’t been as wild for it as we were.

The Bet: The year of the one-star restaurant continues. We are betting that Frank Bruni will award one star to both La Fonda del Sol and Txikito.

Easter Food Bounty

Here are the food highlights from last week’s Easter feast.

Hors d’oeuvres

Fresh Tomatoes & Mozzarella; Roast Chicken

Rack of Lamb

Vinegar Hill House

[Kreiger via Eater]

Vinegar Hill is a tiny Brooklyn neighborhood, nestled between the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north and DUMBO to the south. Like many recovering neighborhoods, there are lovely blocks and others that look like a disaster area.

Then there’s Hudson Avenue between Front and Water Streets, where you’ll find elements of both side-by-side. As I was walking to Vinegar Hill House, I first encountered the dilapidated building on the left, below. I thought, “Surely I must be in the wrong place.”

Next door, I found the restaurant, which occupies a former carriage house and movie set. It’s a bit gussied up (though not much) since chef Jean Adamson (ex-Freemans) and her husband (who also live in the building) opened the place late last year. There’s a lovely outdoor courtyard where they’ll be serving food when weather permits.

Though the walk to get here isn’t pretty, diners have had no trouble finding the place. The 40-seat dining room was about 2/3rds full by the time I left at 7:00 p.m., and a party of 11, most wearing sport coats and nice dresses, was just arriving.

Adamson keeps the menu simple, with a frequently changing list of about eight appetizers and five entrées, many of which exploit the large wood-burning oven that you can’t help but notice in the open kitchen. The choices aren’t adventurous, but there isn’t a “bail-out dish” either—no burger, no strip steak.

I especially liked the Wood Fired Tart ($9; above left) with mushrooms, crème fraîche and thyme. The same ingredients seemed to re-appear in a house-made Tagliatelle ($14; above right), which seemed more pedestrian, but perhaps I should have realized the similarity before I ordered.

Service was friendly, and there seemed to be an ample number of staff for the small space. It does not strike me as a destination restaurant, but I’d be more than happy to return if I am in the neighborhood again.

Vinegar Hill House (72 Hudson Avenue between Water & Front Streets, Brooklyn)

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

The Payoff: Co.

Yesterday, Frank Bruni awarded one star to Co. We are still not sure what this review was doing in Bruni’s territory. If ever there were an obvious $25 & Under candidate, this was it. Anyhow:

Its sire and guiding spirit, Jim Lahey, hails from the breadmaking side of things. It’s bread above all he knows and loves, and you may well have tasted the evidence of that if you’ve eaten out in New York over recent years. Many restaurants buy loaves, rolls, focaccia and such from Sullivan Street Bakery, his yeasty baby. At least they do if they’re smart.

… … …

But he could indeed improve upon his pizzas somewhat. Although the best of them are outstanding and all pack the pleasures of a serious crust with serious blisters — Mr. Lahey uses an oven that generates heat in excess of 900 degrees — he hasn’t yet nailed the toppings. It’s as if he’s too focused on, and maybe too confident about, what lies beneath. A pizzaiolo-come-lately, he needs to sweat the cheese and the rest of it a little more.

We and Eater both took the one-star bet, but it paid only even money, so we win just $1 on our hypothetical one-dollar bets.

	Eater		NYJ
Bankroll	$126.50		$147.67
Gain/Loss	+1.00		+1.00
Total	$127.50		$148.67
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Won–Lost	57–25 (70%)		59–23 (72%)

Tse Yang

I tried Tse Yang last week with a friend visiting from out of town. It’s an opulent place that puts a fine-dining gloss on Chinese cuisine usually associated with take-out. It has been around for 20 years, along with a sister restaurant in Paris. All of the menu items are listed in two languages, French and English, an affectation that I suspect is mostly for show.

Most of the online reviews emphasize that this place caters to expense accounts and well-heeled plutocrats. Soups and appetizers range from $6.50–28.00 (most over $15), entrées $19.50–55.00 (most over $25), vegetables, rice and noodles $12.00–19.50. It’s a little odd to see items listed at $0.25 and $0.75 increments, at a place where the average check size is probably over $75 per head.

There’s a serious wine list (which we did not sample), and service is a big step up from the average Chinese restaurant. We ordered entrées to share, which were plated tableside. The servers are efficient, but they seemed bored—as you would expect at a place with laminated menus that probably haven’t changed in decades, except to raise prices.

We ordered quite modestly: a spring roll (left) plus shared orders of “Your Favorite Tse Yang Chicken” and “Lemon Sweet–Sour Pork” (right). There was nothing revelatory about either dish, but the flavor balances and freshness were well above what you’d get at take-out—as they ought to be.

The final bill was $36 per person before tip. You can probably get food just as good or better in Chinatown for a much lower price, but the refined atmosphere at Tse Yang fits the bill for a quiet, relaxed meal.

Tse Yang (34 E. 51st Street between Park & Madison Avenues, East Midtown)

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

Rolling the Dice: Co.

The Line: Tomorrow, Frank Bruni gives yet another audition for the $25 & Under column with a review of Jim Lahey’s Vongerichten-backed pizzeria, Co. (pronounced “Company”). The Eater oddsmakers have set the action as follows (√√ denotes the Eater bet):

Zero Stars: 10-1
One Star: EVEN √√
Two Stars: 5-1
Three Stars: 500-1
Four Stars: 20,736-1

The Skinny: Today’s action won’t detain us for long. We’re not regulars on the pizzeria circuit: there just aren’t enough days in the year, nor spare calories in our diet. But the notion of betting on anything other than one star strikes us as absurd, crazy, or absurdly crazy. Take your pick.

The Bet: The year of the one-star restaurant continues. We are betting that Frank Bruni will award one star to Co.