Adour at the St. Regis

[sethd]

Tony Esnault, the original chef at Adour as well as the last chef ADNY, was and remains a superb chef. Also, Adour was never meant to be a four star restaurant. The hope when ADNY closed was to open a less formal restaurant and open a formal dining restaurant later in New York City. That is one of the reasons why they opted not to transport the ADNY wine list to Adour.

[Bu Pun Su]

After closing the extravagant Essex house restaurant, Alain Ducasse finally returned to New York. This time, he returned with simpler concept and food – here comes the first Adour. My meal was when Joel Dennis acted as the Executive chef.

Food (and wine) – 91/100

Similar to other Ducasse restaurants, the resources are quite plenty. There are several choices for each section, this time with friendlier price compared to his previous NY restaurant. I decided to go for the tasting menu and overall I was happy with the food. I thought some of the dishes certainly worth 2 stars such as: the sweetbread dish – rich and tender meat combined with tasty runny yolk, earthy wild mushrooms and carrots/celery, honestly the brioche was unnecessary (lack of butter fragrance). Another top dish and also my favorite was the piece of perfectly cook Elysian lamb (delicious and juicy) – a scrumptious dish, the lamb was about as good as the one I had at per se.

The rests of the dishes were alright: the marinated hamachi was fresh; the lobster raviolis – while quite tasty, I could not really taste the lobster’s meat texture. The zucchini was also a bit more dominant for my taste … unless you can do lobster/langoustine ravioli as good as Robuchon/Ramsay, then it’s kind of a ‘waste’ to prepare lobster this way. When the dessert came, they looked ‘bulky’ but surprisingly it’s delicious and it’s ‘original’ among Duccase desserts. By the way, I ordered dark chocolate sorbet (wonderful cocoa flavor) that’s mixed well with caramelized croutons. My friend also ordered a degustation menu and was happy with the sautéed duck foie gras, but found the duck breast was OK only. Her pistachio soufflé was nice, but not too airy. I suppose my dessert was better. The meal was closed with the best macaroons (raspberry and passion fruit/chocolate flavors) I’ve ever had in the US. Sandro Micheli is probably one of the most solid pastry chef in NY, or even in the nation.

Adour put emphasized on the wine pairing for every dish created. I did not quite follow it somehow. For this meal, I only had a class of Duccase NV brut champagne and a glass of 2006 Parr selection chardonnay of Santa Rita hills (bright gold with smoky pear aromas, rather sweet with dusty minerals finishing). Almost in every Ducasse restaurant, the wine selection was solid. The price? Expensive as expected from a fine dining place. I think Adour is capable to cook delicious dishes; they simply need to be more consistent. I don’t believe this place will get Michelin highest accolade, but with the potential it has, Adour should strive for 2-star (I grant this in my notes). With the arrival of Didier Elena, I believe Adour will be capable of doing so.

Service (and ambiance) – 92/100

The restaurant was full house when I dined there a couple of years ago. It seems to be doing good business. The main dining, a mixed of modern and traditional decor, is quite relaxing but as always the hardware are top notches from the plush burgundy chairs, a few modern ‘paintings’ and some wine vaults that served as walls. The service was courteous and professional. My captain was kind and flexible when we changed the menu; he tried his best to make guests happy – but don’t expect a smooth and flawless service a la Ducasse top places in Europe. The napkins were sometimes changed. Overall, this place was on par with the experience I had at EMP (91.5 pts aka low 2-star)

Pictures of the dishes: Adour summer