Le Bernardin

[sct4a]

Le Bernadin is a good restaurant. However, a bit like Tom Hanks. Showed some early promise, got famous, commands a high price and overall isn't that interesting to me anymore.

"To me" are the most telling words in this post. LeB continues to serve wonderful meals to people who, I feel reasonably sure, aren't merely impressed because they read in a tattered old review that it is purported to be good. It remains, by the standards of this town, extraordinary.

This town needs higher standards if LeB is supposed to be considered "extraordinary". I went last night for dinner after having an amazing as always lunch at per se. LeB service was a complete joke with countless mistakes and being quite obvious they couldnt careless about us. Everything from making us wait 20 minutes PAST our reservation time to sit down to bringing wrong dishes, cold dishes, wrong silverware multiple times, not refolding napkins when one of us got up to use the rest room (not a big deal but is noticeable at this level), when we ordered desert we ordered 3 of them each and they brought out all 3 at once two of which were melting while we ate the first one - that of everything seriously pissed me off. It is beyond me how they have more than one star let alone 3 with subpar service like this. While the food was very good I must say I was slightly more impressed with the fish courses I had at per se earlier in the day - perhaps because they actually care unlike LeB. I also must say the countless staff walking around the dining room with those metal necklaces look completely absurd. Charging $17 for house sparkling water and espresso etc was also a bit tacky and nickel and diming when your spending hundreds of dollars per person. The one major plus of LeB was they did not automatically add the tip to the check because they had no chance in hell of us walking out and leaving anything close to a 20% or more tip.

[mkayahara]

Today Le Bernardin pastry chef Michael Laiskonis announced his departure from the restaurant early next year "to pursue new dreams, new ways of expressing [himself] through cooking, and new ways of exchanging ideas." It'll be interesting to see what that means!

Edit: It looks like it means he will be leaving the kitchen to write and teach.

Edited October 26, 2011 by mkayahara (log)

[Bobster]

So Pete Wells follows his New York Times predecessors with another 4-star review.

I guess I'll try going there one more time...

[weinoo]

Wells recently re-reviewed Le B, and it once again retained its four stars...

 

Eric Ripert and his team have emerged from the pandemic still carrying the flag for French technique, exquisitely handled seafood and pure pleasure.

 

 

Birthday aperitifs, at the bar.

 

 

Amuses, including the classic lobster bisque.

 

 

Oyster/Uni with Nori Cracker

 

 

Tuna/Foie.  What makes a restaurant great?  How about consistency?  I've had this dish before; it's one of their classics, and it's always great.

 

 

Shellfish medley in smoked pork dashi.

 

 

Poached Lobster Tail; Foie Gras-Mushroom-Truffle “Cake”, Natural Jus

 

Just a few desserts...

 

 

 

 

And petit fours, which we took home...and ate last night!

 

 

Our favorite restaurant in NYC - wish we could eat here more often!

 

[Duvel]

Action item #1: make that business trip to the US.

Action item #2: convince assistant that stop over at NYC is not an hardship that needs to be avoided.

Action item #3: align all those variables with a visit to Le Bernadin.

(Action item #4: meet up with @weinoo afterwards for a drink and smack him with the bill of AI #3, that damn enabler … 😝)

[KennethT]

49 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Poached Lobster Tail; Foie Gras-Mushroom-Truffle “Cake”, Natural Jus

 

 

Over 20 years ago, they used to have an appetizer on their menu that was a shrimp ravioli (there were 3 of them) in a foie gras truffle sauce.  The shrimp ravioli were basically just a vehicle for that sauce which was so good I had no shame in licking that plate clean so there wasn't a drop left over.  Ridiculously delicious but was probably the sole reason my cholesterol shot up like 40 points.

 

Years later I made it a few times for dinner parties - there's a lot of raw foie gras that blended in, and a lot of whole butter whisked in at the end!

[weinoo]

As Wells mentions, the sauces are textbook.  Great chapter in the cookbook about them. 

[MetsFan5]

I really want to go. I also really am not interested in taking the train to Manhattan, it’s unreliable and exhausting. 
 

  If I could find an open reservation on Resy when nothing major is happening in Manhattan, I’d jump on it and take car service. Would even be fine dining solo. 

[gfweb]

4 hours ago, MetsFan5 said:

I really want to go. I also really am not interested in taking the train to Manhattan, it’s unreliable and exhausting. 
 

  If I could find an open reservation on Resy when nothing major is happening in Manhattan, I’d jump on it and take car service. Would even be fine dining solo. 

 

I forget if they have a bar. I'll often slide into a bar seat when dining alone.

 

Agreed about the train. I did it daily for years. Even after all the renovation its still pretty grim and would be a stain on an otherwise nice evening. Maybe stay overnight at the Carlysle and have a drink in Bemelmans?

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

I forget if they have a bar. I'll often slide into a bar seat when dining alone.

 

Yes, they have a bar/lounge...https://www.le-bernardin.com/menus/lounge/lounge-menu

[Annie_H]

Our top ten most memorable meals are not in any particular order but LeBernadin I might put on top. Consistently fantastic and not too fussy with tweezers. I can't think of a similar seafood forward meal I like better. Bottom ten are due to a lazy kitchen and/or bad service. Usually Italian like Babo. 

Bar service is a great way to stop in without reservations and get a good light meal. Unfortunately our brunch/lunch or nights out are Sundays when everyone else has the same idea....but I'm just as happy with a good taco or slice if wait time is unbearable. 

Like most NewYorkers of a certain age, we would rather eat glass than wait in a line for anything...always something good around the corner. 

 

[weinoo]

There's also Aldo Sohm's (the head Sommelier) Wine Bar, next door...https://www.aldosohmwinebar.com/content/pdfs/aswb-all-day-january-2023.pdf

[weinoo]

Yesterday would have been my parents 76th wedding anniversary (had they still been around);  our 26th anniversary was this past February, but we celebrated it last night at Le B, sort of an annual tradition.

 

 

Amuse...on the far right, white gazpacho with lobster. Middle is a scallop thing, and on the left, hamachi tartare on a nori cracker.

 

 

Signature dishes are signature dishes for a reason; they're good. Here, everything meant to enhance the seafood, dependent on season.

 

The tuna/foie...

 

 

And the oyster/uni:

 

 

On to the "barely touched," first up is Significant Eater's magnificent Bacalao...

 

 

And a lousy pic of a great dish - warm lobster "carpaccio" for me:

 

 

Significant Eater's "lightly cooked" poached lobster with truffled gnocchi:

 

 

What's really cool is that by this point, my wife is getting full, so I get like half that plate!  While also enjoying the striped bass:

 

 

Those flowers are stuffed with a "mushroom casserole," in what must be a painstaking process. Let's just say that there is never a bite of seafood at Le Bernardin where there's any doubt about the precision of the cooking.

 

Some sweet stuff - 3 of the 4 ice creams and 1 of the 4 sorbets on offer, for me:

 

 

And my wife's hazelnut waffle cone thing:

 

 

Petit fours to go. A Stunning meal.

 

Menus:

Dinner Menu.pdf

 

Dessert 2024.pdf

 

 

 

Edited June 28 by weinoo (log)