Frank Bruni and the Fine Dining Deathwatch, Part 2

Six months ago, I wrote about the Fine Dining Deathwatch since Frank Bruni became the New York Times restaurant critic. I noted Bruni’s overwhelming bias against traditional “fine dining” restaurants, unless they happen to be Italian or Italian-influenced. Over and over again, you find in his reviews that he is actually offended by restaurants that pamper him. He not only doesn’t give credit for high-end service; he actually penalizes it.

Later on, I posted about Frank’s repeated use of the word “fussy” in his reviews to describe traditional formal service. He never means it as a compliment. This must weigh on restauranteurs and investors as they plan new openings. The presence of tablecloths, all by itself, costs you half-a-star before Frank even walks in the door. Some restaurants can overcome that handicap, but it is difficult.

As we approach another fall season, it’s worth taking a look at the year just past. Between September 2006 and August 2007, Frank Bruni awarded three stars to the following restaurants:

Felidia
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Picholine
Eleven Madison Park
Bar Room at the Modern
Esca
Gramercy Tavern
Café Boulud

All but L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon were re-reviews. Hence, in the last year, only one new restaurant in New York City earned three stars. (None earned four.) Leonard Kim, the star-system historian over at eGullet, confirmed that this has not happened since 1995–96, when Ruth Reichl handed out eleven three-star reviews, ten of which were re-reviews.

In Bruni’s defense, I cannot think of another restaurant that opened in the last year that clearly deserved the third star. It so happens that I awarded three stars to Gordon Ramsay at the London and Anthos, but I can’t definitively say that Bruni got them wrong. There were plenty of critics that disliked Gordon Ramsay, and my visit to Anthos came after it had been open a while, and perhaps some of the early flubs had been worked out. So, it may simply be that this was an unusually lean year for high-end restaurants.

There’s no question that dining has become much more informal than it used to be. Frank Bruni never misses an opportunity to remind us of the fact. But many of the city’s high-end restaurants are regularly booked full, which suggests there remains untapped demand for that kind of luxury. Restauranteurs may be leery of making a big commitment, knowing that as the size of the investment goes up, the room for error goes down. Are they giving the people what they want? Or, do they feel that the city’s two main critics (Bruni and New York’s Adam Platt) are not going to give that kind of restaurant a fair shake—even when it’s done well.

But ironically, even among the casual restaurants that Bruni loves, the only new restaurant that merited three stars was a chain restaurant imported from France.

The Payoff: Café Boulud

Today, as expected, Frank Bruni awarded three stars to Café Boulud.

As I predicted, Bruni included a backhanded slap at Boulud’s flagship, the four-star Daniel, saying that Café Boulud is “the most consistently enjoyable” of the chef’s restaurants. Daniel is the only four-star restaurant in New York that Bruni has not yet reviewed. The comment certainly suggests that it might not retain its lofty perch when Bruni finally gets around to it. Indeed, I suspect the only reason he hasn’t done so is that he has no other restaurant to replace it with, and he doesn’t want the four-star club to dwindle below its current five members.

The review was one of the few times Bruni has been able to visit this type of restaurant without bitching about the elegant service that top-tier restaurants offer. Unlike most people, Frank is actually offended when you pamper him. But the best he could say, was that Café Boulud is “no less fun to visit in this informal dining era.” Though that’s a compliment coming from Frank, I doubt the Boulud empire will be pulling it as a teaser quote.

And isn’t it just typical that it was a pasta dish that sealed Frank’s opinion that Café Boulud still deserved the three stars it earned from Ruth Reichl?

Both Eater and NYJ win $3 on our hypothetical $1 bets.

	Eater		NYJ
Bankroll	$36.60		$33.67
Gain/Loss	+3.00		+3.00
Total	$39.50		$36.67
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Won–Lost	15–4		13–6

Rolling the Dice: Café Boulud

Every week, we take our turn with Lady Luck on the BruniBetting odds as posted by Eater. Just for kicks, we track Eater’s bet too, and see who is better at guessing what the unpredictable Bruni will do. We track our sins with an imaginary $1 bet every week.

The Line: Tomorrow, Frank Bruni sharpens his knives at Café Boulud. Eater’s official odds are as follows (√√ denotes the Eater bet):

Zero Stars: 8-1
One Star: 7-1
Two Stars: 4-1
Three Stars: 3-1 √√
Four Stars: 5,000-1

The Skinny: “Rolling the Dice” returns this week after a two-month hiatus. Sorry to say, we don’t have much by way of original analysis. As Eater noted, Frank Bruni is already on record with the view that Café Boulud is the most enjoyable of Daniel Boulud’s three New York restaurants. I wasn’t enraptured when I visited last year, but a friend whose opinion I respect assured me it must have been an off-night.

I also agree with Eater that CB has flown under the radar in recent years, and there’s really no reliable way of telling whether the new chef, Bertrand Chemel, has his act together. And there is always Bruni’s well known aversion to French cooking. But I have to agree that three stars is the most likely outcome, given Bruni’s already-documented affection for the place.

The Bet: We agree with Eater that Frank Bruni will award three stars to Café Boulud. Regardless of the rating, look for Bruni to include a back-handed slap at Daniel, the only one of the four-star restaurants he has yet to review.

Bette

 

Note: Bette closed in June 2008.

*

There is no particular reason to visit Bette. Proprietress Amy Sacco, who had made her name in the nightclub industry, tried to transfer her success to a restaurant, which she named after her mother—the name rhymes with “sweaty.”

That was two years ago, when Bette was a hot ticket. Today, you can get a table anytime you want. Bette’s proverbial fifteen minutes are up. We were half-an-hour late, but it might have been half-a-day. It really didn’t matter. On a Saturday night in August, we nearly had the place to ourselves. I suppose Amy and her friends had decamped  to the Hamptons.

In the New York Times, Frank Bruni awarded a remarkably generous one star, but he admitted it was mostly about the celebrity scene. “Bette clearly means to make a splash, its food isn’t remotely splashy.” He got that right.

The kitchen has gotten lazy in its old age. The whole menu was something like half-a-dozen appetizers and an equal number of entrées—all rather ordinary stuff. Frank Bruni found “a bevy of interesting selections” on the wine list, but that list has now shrunk to about two pages. For the record, we settled on a sangria-like rosé (label below), at a budget-friendly $30.

 
Asparagus salad (left); Pork chop (right)

An Asparagus Salad ($12) was totally forgettable, as was a Pork Chop ($26). My girlfriend had the same reaction to a Hamachi Ceviche ($16) and Short Ribs ($25). While all competently prepared and unobjectionable, nothing at Bette really rose above the ordinary.

The service hit two of my pet peeves. After we sat down, the server asked, “Will you be having bottled watered this evening?” It’s a minor point, but do they really think you’ll forget that tap water is an option?

Bread rolls had no doubt been baked the night before, but they were served without separate plates or knives. After the appetizer plates were cleared, the server had to come along and clear up all the crumbs. 

There was nothing particularly bad about Bette, but when you’re spending almost $120 for dinner (including tax, before tip), you want to taste at least something that goes beyond the ordinary, and Bette didn’t have it.

Bette (461 W. 23rd Street just east of Tenth Avenue, Chelsea)

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

Anthos

Note: This is a review under chef Michael Psilakis, who left the restaurant in March 2010. Anthos closed in August 2010. It is now the Empire Steakhouse, from the Ben & Jack’s team.

*

Anthos is the latest creation of Greek wonder-chef Michael Psilakis. For a self-taught chef, Psilakis has made a remarkable name for himself in just a few years. First he opened Onera on the Upper West Side. I loved the place, but the space was admittedly a bit dismal, and the location worked against it. And maybe the Upper West Side wasn’t ready for an offal tasting menu.

Then, he opened Dona, an Italian/Greek hybrid with comely restauranteur Donatella Arpaia. I wasn’t quite as infatuated with Dona as some other people, but there’s no question it was a big success. But then, Psilakis and Arpaia lost their lease, and Dona was no more. Around that time, he closed Onera and re-opened it as the more casual Kefi, and it’s now a hit. Then came Anthos (“blossoming”), which was meant to propel Greek cuisine to the three-star heights that Onera and Dona both missed.

The question is, did they succeed? Both Adam Platt in New York and Frank Bruni in the New York Times didn’t quite think so, both awarding two stars, though Bruni thought Anthos came awfully close to three. He pronounced it better than either Onera or Dona—both of which had won two stars from him—and several of his complaints seemed petty: “fussy tics” and “self-consciousness” (both recurring turn-offs for him), as well as “drab” décor (a complaint several critics have noted). He added, “Pauses between courses are too long, and not everything that arrives is worth the wait.”

We found Anthos to be just about everything a Greek restaurant could hope to be. Perhaps some of the early rough spots have been smoothed out. Or perhaps a Saturday in August, with the restaurant only half full, didn’t provide an indication of what service would be like when traffic is busier. We had no complaint with the purportedly drab décor, which seemed to us comfortable and appropriately restrained.

Canapés came first (above, left), followed by an amuse bouche (above, right). The server describing them had a heavy accent, and was difficult to understand. The latter—a smoked Halibut, I believe—was about one inch square. My girlfriend didn’t much care for it, but I thought it was successful. In any case, it must have set a record for most ingredients in a small package.

The menu at Anthos is re-printed daily. Both the appetizer and entrée I ordered aren’t shown on any of the online menus, and I don’t have exact descriptions. A Skate Salad (above, left; $16) was excellent, but I was especially impressed by Cod wrapped in zucchini (above, right; $33).

To start, my girlfriend ordered Sheep’s Milk Dumplings ($16), which were beautifully executed. But the highlight for her was the Roasted Chicken (above; $28), which was impeccably prepared, tender, and very attractively plated.

The wine list is a tad over-priced, but we found a wonderful Greek white wine at $55 (label pictured above). Curiously, the sommelier tried to steer us away from Greek wines—we weren’t sure why—but the choice we finally landed on was excellent.

Mileage may vary, but we left Anthos more impressed than we have been with any restaurant in quite some time.

Anthos (36 W. 52nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, West Midtown)

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

Hudson River Cafe

Hudson River Cafe caught my attention, in the first place because well publicized openings north of 125th Street are fairly rare, and in the second place, because it opened just in time for my big move uptown. It’s a beautiful bi-level space, with ample space both indoors and out. So far, it seems to be attracting mainly a local crowd. With live music on Friday nights, the bar resembles a bustling Caribbean resort, while the indoor dining room is a bit more sedate.

From the restaurant’s name, you might expect river views. But you’d be wrong. The only views are an elevated viaduct on the restaurant’s west side, and Fairway Market to the south. The architect and designer did the best they could with the hand they were dealt, but it almost seems a pity to have a restaurant with no view of the river it’s named for. We initially requested outdoor seating upstairs, where I thought we might have a decent view. Once we realized that a cement wall was all we could see, we asked to go indoors.

The only mainstream media review so far is from Randall Lane in Time Out New York, who calls it a “Harlem oasis” and awards three stars out of six. The cuisine is difficult to classify. Savory New York calls it “New American,” but Lane’s “Nueva Latina” might be nearer the mark. The menu offers several ceviches and paellas, and the choice of spices has a distinctly Caribbean feel. But there’s also an emphasis on locally sourced seasonal ingredients, like Blue Point Oysters and Bell & Evans Chicken. Some of the items are generic, like the raw bar, pastas, and steaks.

Arctic Char Ceviche (left); Crispy and Spicy Buffalo Shrimp (right)

My girlfriend started with the Arctic Char Ceviche ($12), which was absolutely spectacular—one of  the best ceviches either of us has tasted. The photo doesn’t show the depth of the serving bowl, but it was actually a quite sizable portion. We were also surprised at the bounty of Crispy and Spicy Buffalo Shrimp ($12), but the preparation was rather pedestrian and unsubtle.

Whole Branzini with Garlic Mashed Potato and Garlic Chimichurri Sauce

As one so often sees these days, the entrées are divided into composed plates ($20–34) and “simply grilled” items ($18–26), for which there is a multiple choice of side dishes and sauces. The Whole Branzini ($26) was in the latter category. It was beautifully done, and perfectly satisfying on its own; the garlic chimichurri sauce (which the server recommended) was redundant, and the garlic mashed potatoes (also a server recommendation) didn’t do much for me either. My girlfriend ordered the strip steak ($32), which was competent and unremarkable.

The beverage menu didn’t list the sangria, which is an odd omission, as it is terrific. We saw it on another table, so that’s what we asked for, and we were glad we did.

Hudson River Cafe is off the beaten path. The travel time from our Hudson Heights apartment turned out to be quite a bit longer than it appeared on the map—about 45 minutes. It’s a hike from either of the two nearest subway stops (125th Street or 137th Street on the #1 train). Some might be a bit skittish about the neighborhood, especially at night. While there’s plenty of activity in the immediate vicinity, the streets nearby are a bit desolate. We didn’t mind it at all, and will probably return, but I can’t yet call Hudson River Cafe a destination restaurant. With some judicious editing of the menu, it very well might become one.

Hudson River Cafe (697 W. 133rd Street at Twelfth Avenue, Manhattanville/West Harlem)

Food: ★
Service: ★
Ambiance: ★
Overall: ★

Smith & Wollensky

Smith & Wollensky isn’t quite the dean of New York steakhouses, but at thirty years old, it predates most this city’s beef emporiums. There are now S&W’s in nine cities. In New York alone, the same restaurant group also owns Post House and Quality Meats, in addition to the flagship at 49th & 3rd.

I believe I paid my first visit to S&W around fifteen years ago. My only recollection is the after-dinner cigars we enjoyed at the bar, an experience that couldn’t be reproduced today. A few weeks ago, a friend visiting from out of town was in a steakhouse mood. We chose S&W, as it was near his hotel.

S&W offers the same generic menu, at the same generic prices, that you find at most New York steakhouses. We both ordered the filet mignon, which came in a huge double portion. It was charred, nicely aged, and prepared to the correct temperature. The server was no doubt aware that it came with an ample helping of vegetables, but he didn’t mention that as we ordered an entirely unnecessary side order of creamed spinach.

The décor is unremarkable. When I wandered around looking for the restroom, it struck me that the upkeep was a bit sloppy, with various carts and trays left lying around in a hallway.

Smith & Wollensky has enjoyed four full New York Times reviews—a remarkable achievement for a formula restaurant. In December 1977, shortly after it opened, Mimi Sheraton rated it “Fair.” The format has apparently changed over time, as Sheraton described Smith & Wollensky as an “Italian steakhouse,” and there certainly is no vestige of that today. For the record, there never was anyone named Smith or Wollensky; the founder, Alan Stillman, chose those two names at random out of a Manhattan telephone directory.

In 1986, Bryan Miller upgraded the restaurant to “Satisfactory,” and then again in 1990 to one star. In its most recent review, in 1997, Ruth Reichl called it “A Steakhouse to End All Arguments,” awarding two stars. It was a peculiar headline, given her admission that she preferred Peter Luger (to which she had awarded three stars). To her, the difference was that at Smith & Wollensky you could order a fish entrée, and not feel like it had been an afterthought.

In  the last several years, there has been a glut of new steakhouses. Many of them mindlessly follow the traditional format, but a few have actually improved on it, such as BLT Prime, Porter House, and S&W’s sister establishment, Quality Meats. I suspect even Ruth Reichl would agree that, these days, a traditional steakhouse needs a little something extra to win two stars. These newer restaurants have it; Smith & Wollensky does not.

Smith & Wollensky (797 Third Avenue at 49th Street, East Midtown)

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

Mint

My friend Kelly and I paid a visit to Mint a few weeks ago. The décor has a cool, modern vibe that’s calculated to appeal to the East Midtown lunch circuit. At dinner time, it was not particularly busy.

The menu is a mix of Indian standards and a few original dishes. I shot photos, but didn’t take notes at the time. Our general sense was that the appetizers (top row of photos) were better than the entrées (bottom row). Kelly particularly raved about the Crispy Cauliflower tossed in Tomato Garlic Sauce (top right). The platings, however, are rather humdrum and might even be called careless. Prices don’t break the bank, with all appetizers at $12 or lower, and entrées at $20 or lower.

Service was a bit confused. There are different drinks menus at the bar and the tables. Our server had trouble understanding that, although we were seated at a table, we wanted one of the drinks from the bar. I cannot recall another restaurant with such a peculiar arrangement. Our bread order also flummoxed them.

Mint is a slight cut above the usual Indian restaurant in New York City, and certainly acceptable if you happen to be in the neighborhood, but not worth going out of the way.

Mint (150 E. 50th Street in the San Carlos Hotel, between Third & Lexington Avenues, East Midtown)

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

Felidia

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

Felidia is the gold standard for Italian restaurants in New York. If the arc of New York Times reviews can be believed, it has only gotten better since it opened in 1981. Just three months after it opened, Mimi Sheraton awarded one star, finding the food “disappointingly inconsistent.” By 1988, Bryan Miller found it “more consistent,” bumping it up to two stars. By 1995, Ruth Reichl found it “charming and professional,” promoting it to three stars, which Frank Bruni re-affirmed last year.

Bruni said that Felidia “hasn’t changed all that much” since Ruth Reichl’s review, which only shows how careless he can be. Reichl referred to “the bare upstairs dining room.” Judging by the photo (which is almost exactly the view we had from our table), the restaurant has been renovated since then. Reichl also referred to “great wines (at great prices),” which today is only half true. The enormous wine list is still terrific (and hard to navigate), but no one would call it a bargain.

More importantly, Felidia got itself a new executive chef a year after Reichl’s review was published. Fortunato Nicotra has helmed the kitchen since 1996. With owner Lidia Bastianich busy running a restaurant empire, writing cookbooks, and hosting TV shows, it’s safe to say that Felidia’s three-star laurels rest on his shoulders more than anyone else’s.

I dined at Felidia with a colleague about a month ago. Everything we ordered was absolutely first-rate. Fortunato makes a terrific appetizer with asparagus, prosciutto, and a sunny-side-up fried egg. At $24 it’s rather pricy, but well worth it. (The rest of the appetizers range anywhere from $7–30.)

Pastas range from $20–36, but the restaurant will gladly divide an order at no extra charge. My colleague and I shared the duck pappardelle ($24), which was again excellent. Entrées range from $24–38. Crusted blue-fin tuna ($34) didn’t knock my socks off the way the appetizer and pasta did, but it was very solidly executed.

Tables are rather tightly spaced—at least upstairs, where we dined. However, it was not crowded, and there were none of the service issues that one occasionally hears about when this restaurant is busy. Service was polished, if perhaps not quite living up to the elegance of the food.

A couple of years ago, Lidia Bastianich teamed up with Mario Batali to open Del Posto, which was supposed to be the first all-out attempt at creating a four-star Italian restaurant in New York. We all know the story: Del Posto garnered only three stars from Frank Bruni, and many people thought he was being generous. Having now dined at Felidia and Batali’s flagship, Babbo, my sense is that Del Posto was less than the sum of its parts. Babbo and Felidia are the royalty of Italian dining in New York, and Del Posto is their bastard child.

Felidia (243 E. 58th Street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues, East Midtown)

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

Chinatown Brasserie

Note: Chinatown Brasserie closed in June 2012. The owners say it will relocated to an as-yet unidentified smaller space. The current space will re-open as a French restaurant helmed by Andrew Carmellini, with whom the same owners are in partnership at Locanda Verde and The Dutch.

*

Chinatown Brasserie is another of the high-concept big-box Asian palaces that have opened in recent years. But my girlfriend and I found it more pleasant and less cynical than many of its brethren. It’s owned by the same team as Lever House and Lure Fishbar, and once again they seem to have hit the mark.

The restaurant’s specialty is Dim Sum (various items, $8–22). We ordered a selection, of which I’m afraid I don’t have a specific recollection. The pièce de résistance was the traditional Peking Duck for Two ($48), which fully lived up to the better preparations of it that I’ve enjoyed elsewhere. (Other entrées were priced $17–28.)

Dim Sum

Peking Duck

Chinatown Brasserie (380 Lafayette St. between Great Jones St. and E. 4th St., NoHo)

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