Changing of the Guard... Clearly there must be something going on beneath the surface that we do not know about... this restaurant, based on reputation and the article almost seemed to define what a 4 star restaurant is or was... yes, it is a little ostentatious and maybe the columns in the dining room are too big... maybe there are too many different steak knives to choose from, but to give a restaurant like this 3 stars? It seems that a new reality has set in the upper echelons of haute cuisine...not to be so haute. For instance Fat Duck in Bray, England recently received its third Michelin star. It's style --a blend of science and traditional cuisine along with a very unpretentious atmosphere --green carpet and wooded ceiling beams seem to be in stark contrast to Ducasse and the Essex House. So while controversial, maybe all this chemistry in the kitchen will become de rigeur: diners will be trading in their Mt Blanc pens (to sign their bill with) for test tubes, beakers, and perfectly cooked haricot verts.
