Bruno Jamais

[GordonCooks]

Everyone chip in 17.50 a head and we'll have a standing reservation for Mr & Mrs E. Gulletino

[cabrales]

One (clearly flawed) basis for comparison of fees would be the various college clubs where alumni have to pay annual membership fees. I appreciate the clubs do not necessarily focus on cuisine, and often provide other services (e.g., athletic facilities, meeting rooms, hotel-type facilities). However, their membership fees generally fall far short of the Jamais level, even for resident members and even for members who graduated a long time ago (in the case of escalating fees).

[Junior]

maybe there should be a poll for how long this place will be open for.

[cabrales]

Has any member received an invitation? It sounds like regulars of Daniel and/or ADNY are likely to have been solicited.

[tommy]

i, for one, will not ever darken their doorstep. those bastards.

[cabrales]

In today's NYT Dining section, Florence Fabricant writes: "Bruno Jamais . . . is to open Bruno Jamais Restaurant Club *tomorrow* in a town house at 24 East 81st Street. Reservations will be accepted only from people on Mr. Jamais's list. Think of Rao's without meatballs."

[R Washburn]

I received one in the mail several weeks ago. I assumed everyone on the Daniel and ADNY mailing list received one. I don't think the club is going to be very exclusive.

[cabrales]

R Washburn -- Were you required to pay thousands of dollars for membership, or is there an initial period when you would be "permitted" to make reservations without having paid? I'm on the ADNY "general" mailing list, and I didn't receive one.

[Wilfrid]

I'm on the ADNY "general" mailing list, and I didn't receive one.

Moi aussi

[R Washburn]

Cabrales, it must have been from Daniel then. I get some interesting mailings from Daniel, such as the recent one for the "Food Allergy Ball" at the Plaza.

I am definitely one of Bruno's "shmucks", but I doubt he would turn any of us away if we ponied up the $7k a year memebership fee.

[cabrales]

R Washburn -- Does the mailing you received indicate you have to become a member before the very first time you dine?

[R Washburn]

Cabrales-the mailing was mainly glossy pictures, showing what the place was going to look like. No details about $$$ etc. I would assume you get to try it out before you plunk down all that cash. I doubt this place is for eGulleteers. Most of us would rather spend that $130/ week on food and wine.

[Bux]

It's difficult for me to stay away from this thread and yet difficult to weigh in without sounding coy. Many of you know I had a close relationship with the Daniel organization when I laid out their website and that both my daughter and son-in-law have worked for and/or with Daniel in many capacities. It's always been easy for me to talk about Daniel's food, for it was an appreciation for that food that led to everything else and presumably to my daughter's stage and meeting her future husband.

When we move from food to personality, I am apt to be more circumspect, especially when my contact is really a reflection of someone else's contact. There are some wonderful front of the house and management people at Daniel, of whom I think the world, but my access to the restaurant has best been via the back, or kitchen, door and as a poor relative, I've bypassed the schmuck/sport test and have nothing to say about those who may have been involved.

As I noted earlier in this thread, I know Richard Farnabe and I am happy to report that I hear his food at the pre, or soft, opening was splendid. That sort of thing might have more influence on whether I would actually eat there than would policy. I see the exclusivity of Bruno's Club as no different from the velvet ropes and bouncers who choose to admit people to the various "clubs" around town. Of course it's offensive, but it's standard operating procedure. I have also been the guest at lunch at clubs in which I could not gain membership because they are not the clubs of my alma mater.

My understanding is that there are members and a list of preferred guests who are not members. Perhaps preference is given to members over preferred guests. Maybe, as Florence Fabricant's column suggests, they've dropped the idea of membership, or maybe it's too exclusive to be mentioned in the Times. Back in my early post college days when I used to meet a few friends in one or two of the old Irish bars on Third Avenue, of which PJ Clarkes should not be taken as much of an example, although at the time it may have been an already upscale part of the circuit, I was told by one bar owner as he pushed my money back, that you don't tip the owner. I wonder, therefore, who's at the front door of Bruno's Club.

I wish Bruno well. I don't know if I'll go there or if I'll feel indebted to tell you all, or not to tell you all, but first I'll have to go to a few eGullet dinners so I can spot other members if I'm there.

By the way, in one of the articles linked to in this thread, mention was made of a dinner at the club that Daniel had cooked. My guess would be that the room was hired out and that Daniel's catering division was contracted to cater a private party, rather than that there was some connection.

[cabrales]

Bux -- Am I correct in interpreting your post to suggest that you believe you could have dinner at the Jamais place without paying the membership fee, e.g., because you are on the preferred guest list?

I was curious about what places prior to Daniel would breed a character such as Jamais. See the below, which, towards the end of the article, suggests Jamais was at Ledoyen (before Le Squer took over and aided the restaurant to three-star status; perhaps the chef with whom Jamais worked was Ghislaine Arabian , or perhaps not).

http://www.geomancyonline.com/ny-times/geo...0the%20Sand.htm

I believe L Brenner's book mentions where Jamais is from, and I vaguely it being a restaurant that is now a three-star beginning with the letter "L" in Paris (i.e., Ledoyen or Lucas-Carton). By the way, I wonder whether Boulud's new book is going to affect sales of The Fourth Star.

[Wilfrid]

And can you pull strings and get us all in too?

[weinhen]

I'm sure most know this, but jamais means never in French, no? Well this kind of fits since I'd never pay that $$$ and he'd never have me. Also kind of sounds like a "famiglia" name - Bruno never.

Andrew

[Bux]

Bruno never.

Although to the best of my knowledge, Bruno never answered the phone at Daniel, I always had the cartoon in my head of a somewhat intimidated prospective diner calling in hope of getting a reservation at the restaurant and having the phone answered by Bruno saying - "Restaurant Daniel, Jamais ici." In the next frame the caller turns to her husband and says - "He didn't even ask for my name, he just said 'never here.'"

[Bux]

Bux -- Am I correct in interpreting your post to suggest that you believe you could have dinner at the Jamais place without paying the membership fee, e.g., because you are on the preferred guest list?  

Am I correct in reading your post as a suggestion that we have an eGullet dinner at Bruno's?

I believe you meant to say "Am I correct in interpreting your post to suggest that you believe one could have dinner at the Jamais place without paying the membership fee, e.g., because one is on the preferred guest list?

--

"Geomancy." Perhaps I misread some of the those shingles I saw hanging outside homes and offices in France. I could swear they said "expert in geometry" and I wondered how many geometry experts we had in the states and why no one advertised as such.

[Stone]

"Ex-Daniel maitre d', Bruno Jamais, recently opened an exclusive supper club on the Upper East Side. Membership is $7,000 and the guests are handpicked by Jamais. The advantages: a $6 million wine collection, Pratesi table linens, reservation-only policies, an unlisted phone number, and best of all, no mixing with the vile hoi polloi. "I resent it on a Friday or Saturday night when restaurants have a crowd that isn't particularly 'preferred,'" sniffs Wall Street CEO, Robert Kanter. ("Well, I resent it when Wall Street CEOs have egos larger than their offshore bank accounts," sniffs Gawker Editor, Elizabeth Spiers.) The Post says "ascots are de rigueur," which is a bit confusing. The only ascot-ed man I've ever seen people take seriously is Hugh Hefner, and surely that speaks for itself."

Anyone been?

[Bond Girl]

I've seen pictures of the inside, I think it's designed by Tony Chi, but I might be wrong. It looked kind of stogey in the pictures, so I didn't pay much attention to it, but now I'm really curious. I will call up some of my more connected friends to see who has the unlisted number. It will be kind of fun to see what exactly is the application process. The whole thing may be well worth every penny of the $7,000.

[Bond Girl]

Now that I looked it up, it is designed by Tony Chi.

[Suzanne F]

Wasn't Richard Farnabe the original chef there? But already left??

[bilrus]

I guess this isn't much different than a Country Club - and at a much lower price than most country clubs. You pay the extra money for a less crowded course, the posher surroundings and to be a "member" with the preferential treatment that comes along with it.

But in a lot of cases the golf courses at Country Clubs are better than their public counterparts. The bottom line for someone who cares about hte food is - is it good?

But if that isn't a consideration then it is probably worthwhile.

[herbacidal]

am i mistaken for thinking he already had opened one, or is this his second?

[Felonius]

I've been, but only for drinks not dinner. A rather nice space, but the scene is so bad it's amusing. Picture a room full of short, pudgy, balding 50-something Wall Street nerds trying to dress like Hugh Hefner, a sprinkling of elderly Eurotrash with fake tans that would impress George Hamilton, surrounded by 20-something anorexic supermodel types bored out of their minds. My guess is that over half the women in the place were rented out on an hourly basis. Add to the mix a band that was probably featured on a "Love Boat" episode before being relegated to the Barmitzvah circuit, and things get even more fun. Top it off with $20+ for well drinks, and voila, you have the makings of a truly great evening.

This place is a caricature of itself.......

Edited December 10, 2003 by Felonius (log)