Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Le Bernardin


rockefeller666

Recommended Posts

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

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 by mkayahara (log)

Matthew Kayahara

Kayahara.ca

@mtkayahara

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...
  • 10 years later...

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.

 

IMG_8845.thumb.jpeg.c817edbf961c0072596d3170c92b3914.jpeg

 

Birthday aperitifs, at the bar.

 

IMG_8849.thumb.jpeg.e0b86417221aca0edd88de7fbf8571ff.jpeg

 

Amuses, including the classic lobster bisque.

 

IMG_8854.thumb.jpeg.b77b54f9cc8172282924d49e59858c95.jpeg

 

Oyster/Uni with Nori Cracker

 

IMG_8855.thumb.jpeg.2dd12bcdccaeb46d60acbfc670be5b14.jpeg

 

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.

 

IMG_8856.thumb.jpeg.0ade51f25ee9706a4db5cdfb9fc4ca3d.jpeg

 

Shellfish medley in smoked pork dashi.

 

IMG_8859.thumb.jpeg.65c2b8b637196fbea3d824a28a6572db.jpeg

 

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

 

Just a few desserts...

 

IMG_8860(1).thumb.jpeg.e6b2cfa973ca15868436b780a1e6fdbc.jpeg

 

IMG_8861.thumb.jpeg.640f7405501ea56239ea537ffe2ef4b3.jpeg

 

IMG_8862(1).thumb.jpeg.ba29dd9bdd6c980b4a652c4012402646.jpeg

 

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

 

IMG_8872.thumb.jpeg.7481ab0a8a974b989368f58c1065fbac.jpeg

 

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

 

  • Like 10
  • Thanks 2
  • Delicious 2

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 … 😝)

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
  • Haha 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, weinoo said:

IMG_8859.thumb.jpeg.65c2b8b637196fbea3d824a28a6572db.jpeg

 

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!

  • Like 3
  • Delicious 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

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.

 

IMG_2430.thumb.jpeg.f0a8b26ea3f7ee7b063b1fe6b930a2f6.jpeg

 

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

 

IMG_2432.thumb.jpeg.1a4bca7d4e59ccc18c58d7d52dea7226.jpeg

 

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

 

The tuna/foie...

 

IMG_2437.thumb.jpeg.3f38bc6ae29f44cfafb9b57928434c5e.jpeg

 

And the oyster/uni:

 

IMG_2434.thumb.jpeg.70fac835b991e59afde3c4137293043d.jpeg

 

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

 

IMG_2438.thumb.jpeg.00efb5a1b1cfcc8da120d11abc8cde4c.jpeg

 

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

 

IMG_2441.thumb.jpeg.bc3e4d350db9968239222abd1d2bc17b.jpeg

 

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

 

IMG_2444.thumb.jpeg.fa6fd409e26a6bbdfe714299e02f48fa.jpeg

 

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:

 

IMG_2442.thumb.jpeg.4e88a25ffdfaddb870ea58aab2ac5c0c.jpeg

 

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:

 

IMG_2447.thumb.jpeg.73039377b0112d3d2ae1ae153c09a203.jpeg

 

And my wife's hazelnut waffle cone thing:

 

IMG_2448.thumb.jpeg.5cbcba894546bc8a6b0d34931f095adf.jpeg

 

Petit fours to go. A Stunning meal.

 

Menus:

Dinner Menu.pdf

 

Dessert 2024.pdf

 

 

 

Edited by weinoo (log)
  • Like 4
  • Thanks 2
  • Delicious 1

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...