PaulaJ

I would love to have been able to cancel tomorrow; I was and am very angry re; Saturday pm. However, the decision for tomorrow was not mine. No, they comped nothing. While it would have been gracious, I'm not certain that anything can compensate for such a delay.

I had penned a short note to L'Ecole, noting my disappointment with the program to date and my surprise that it didn't meet Relais & Chateaux's promotion. I received a reply, stating that this was not the usual experience...an apology...and the offer of going forward to try and make it an excellent experience or a full refund. Whatever I chose to do, I found this response gracious and reasonable...and give them credit for it.

The original Bouley as housed about 2 blocks away and is now the home to Scalini Fedeli's NY venue. A few years ago David Bouley opened 'Bouley Bakery'. The right side of the establishment was a working bakery and the left side, a restaurant far more casual in decor, menu and cuisine than the original Bouley. As the BB became more and more popular, the 'more casual' seemed to nudge upward. During the period the restaurant was closed subsequent to 9/11 happenings, the right side/bakery was closed and completely redecorated into a very attractive room. I find it closer to the old Bouley than not, but opinions may vary on this. They also gave the left side diningroom a touch up. The prix fixe last Saturday, the menu of our first poster in this thread, cost $75. Service is very good........but, as I posted, the handling of reservations was beyond the acceptable. We return there tomorrow and hope things will be calmer.

We first re-visited when Bouley opened about 6 weeks ago. At my post at the time indicated, we were thrilled with the ambiance and meal a like and ever so happy he had returned! Unfrotunately, we returned there last evening and had a miserable experience. This was due primarily to an egregious delay in seating. We walked in for our 8:30 reservation, to be told that we would be seated "in a few minutes". We had specifically req'd the new section--so weren't thrown about a short wait. At about 9:30+ they came to seat us....in the original section. When I reminded them of my request, they said it would be a few moments more. We were seated at 10:10 pm!!! We had been careful at the bar, but even 2 glasses of wine on an empty stomach [no munchies] combined with the late hour made dining a very unattractive experience. I had spent the preceeding 20 min begging the other 3 in our party to go for a hot pastrami on rye and still rue that we didn't. This was unacceptable and ruined our meal. We are entertaining there this week...although I am so annoyed that I'd like to change the venue.

Peter, Thank you for your idea. But I am dealing with the US rep of the R&C program who simply states that 'Mr. Boyer has scheduled a short trip on the 12th and 13th of June and will join me on the 14th.' She then suggests that Mr. Boyer has double duty as a owner and chef and probably is only in the kitchen during service. I am not familiar enough with restaurants to understand if this is always the case......... but a 40% of the time absence does not seem to be in the spirit of the program's advertisements.

A Christmas gift of a week in this program sounded exciting. However, it is exceedingly difficult to get scheduled as the office does not maintain a comprehensive list of programs available. First there was the good news that Alain Dutournier spoke english, ff his not participating at this time. Then I chose Marc Meneau ff it being 'discovered' that he only did two day programs. Then Jacques Lameoise was a firm choice---ff the incorrect day being given for starting his program. For the past month Gerard Boyer was the firm choice. My date was June 12th. Today I received notification that Mr. Boyer would be absent June 12th and 13th! While I hardly expected to be his siamese twin, this is a program that advertises one-on-one with a celebrity chef. I would have expected better from the Relais & Chateaux group which heavily promotes this program. How would you process this 'change'? Changing dates [airline tickets,etc] is not an attractive option at this point and of course, there is no guarantee that the next round of attempts would be any different. ???

Scalini Fedeli is $52 prix fixe with several obvious [e.g.lobster] choices bearing a supplement. While clearly an upscale destination, we were quite satisfied. Their menu is extensive. I would estimate about 15 or so offerings in @ the appetizer and entree categories. The dishes themselves are often complex. The menu gives a detailed description...and I wouldn't even attempt to try and recite it. I recall several fish entrees, a scallop, a lobster-shrimp, duck, veal chop, rack of lamb, tenderloin of pork,etc. In addition to the menu, there is a printed page detailing several 'signature' dishes and the nights specials are recited. I had become disenchanted w. Serenade's dis- appointments & prices. Has anyone been there recently? Have you tried Adagio?

We revisited Scalini Fedeli on Saturday evening and enjoyed an excellent dinner. Rare, seared tuna on salad w. vinaigrette + duck breast in port wine w. foie gras + sorbets+ creme brulee tart. Yum.

Thanks everyone. Your notes mirror many of my concerns. I had a difficult time deciding as I,also, think Boyer's facility and cuisine are very fine. However, I'm in the process of trying to arrange my time with Lameloise,whose cuisine I also admire. He seems to do some cooking and I hope to see him in operation. I thought that a smaller kitchen might work better for me. I will keep a journal and let you know all that happens, including the staff meals! I would assume that they are rather casual, brewed dishes du jour; I doubt that I will starve in the heart of Burgundy. Magnolia, do you have any more info on Meneau? It's difficult to imagine him leaving his homestead in Vezelay. He offers only 2 day programs and no english is spoken, so his kitchen would not work for me. He does offer discounted accomodations. Lameloise does not...and I never inquired re; Boyer. Again, thanks to all. Paula

I,too, read today's NYTimes article. However, last night's 'supplies' seemed fresh & wonderful to me. Comes to think of it [re; A Daguin] I didn't notice quail or foie gras, but then it was a set menu.

Bouley is no longer the 'bakery'. The retail bakery section has been renovated into a beautiful diningroom. The design blends with the existing diningroom although the colors and decorative touches are more lush. The newly styled entry now has the original Bouley door; the entry has lighted racks of apples on one side and wooden boxes of fresh spring flowers on the other. Dead-center there is a small bar/ waiting area. Service and cuisine were excellent. For another week or so they will be serving only a tasting menu/ getting their legs, they say. I think they have already found them!

I can spend the week at either Lameloise's in Chagny or Boyer's in Reims. I'm finding it really difficult to decide. Does anyone have any perscpective to add?

Rachel, Considering the resources you were able to locate in a slow period,wow!...You'd knock the socks off in the world of event planning! We did attend a chinese banquet wedding reception... in a private party room of a NY chinatown restaurant.... name of restaurant escapes me as it was 10 yrs ago. Very interesting experience. Elegant, formal multi-course meal w. some identifable [to us, that is] items .. e.g. Peking Duck, shark fin soup...and some items new to us. Great fun

I think I'm correcting in stating that Adagio is the haven of Joseph Cetrulo, relative of Michael Cetrulo who oversees the other three. I wish for Adagio that they become as consistent and interesting as Scalini. We'd all enjoy that!

Ah, what to say about a restaurant whose chef-owner [Joseph Cetrulo] obviously conceived, designed & decorated this neonate with great attention and love? I wish that I could tell you that it was wonderful..or excellent...or..or. We have dined there x2. We went with good spirit, anticipating that we were in the shakedown period. Visit1: Think of this as almost an L shaped restaurant. The long leg of the L is the trattoria/taverna [more casual] section. While attractive, the ceilings are high and the sound, conversation-defying. The menu is upscale in price and, I am told, service is very slow. We stopped here only for a drink at the bar/ insignifcant merlot, $9.75 a glass. We dined in the upscale backroom/ jackets req. It is very pretty w. tented ceiling, mirrors, paintings, flowers & candlelight. If only you could eat the flowers & candles! We were tempted... as we waited over 40 minutes without bread or water. It took 4 hours for dinner, all due to excruciatingly slow service. The menu advertises FOUR courses for $50/pre fixe. The menu has 4 categories app, primi,secondi & dessert...but there must have been a battlefield change of plan, because we are informed that there are 4 courses...an amuse, chose a first course from app+primi and entree/dessert. Do they think no one knows the term amuse??? Our pasta app. w. fresh, chopped lobster contained two petite morsels of still in the shell lobster & a bland sauce---it has been sitting some where and is tepid and mushy. We left most of it; no one asked. At 1.5 hours after we sat down, who wanted to send it back?? The rack of lamb was perfectly cooked but its thick crust of breadcrumbs fell into the olive-mashed potatoes making it a dark & swarthy dish our guest was disinclined to consume. The fillet mignon was very good quality but the gorgonzola cheese is mashed on the fillet, not as a sauce and overpowers it. My guest, who had fish, asked for grated cheese. The waiter haughtily told him it wasn't recommended and he had to insist as he wanted it for his polenta. Too much attitude on a night that should have been filled with gracious appreciation for non-complainers. Well, enough of visit 1. On to visit 2. The restaurant is far less crowded/ in fact by 9;30pm half the tables in the back room are empty i.e. not turned. Service was better...but still slow. Don't know why. Bread is good but not re-offered...and empty water glasses languish. Only 3 meats are being offered ["We're starting slow...]..and amuse is still a course! The arugola salad is good...the fritto misto also. Portions are not huge. One diner enjoyed the fish entree. The banana tart has runny pudding and the molten chocolate cake oozes a peculiar tasting raspberry. All staff seem totally impressed with themselves. This is a very pretty restaurant. I hope that they -enlarge the menu -improve the service -re-evaluate value for price -drop the 'attitude'