Daniel Boulud at the Mandarin Oriental

[gavinhanly]

Just in case anyone hadn't seen it - Boulud is coming to the UK:

http://www.hot-dinners.com/Gastroblog/Latest/mandarin-oriental-london-confirms-daniel-boulud

I've always wanted to try Daniel or Bar Boulud in the States - but have never managed to fit it in. So has anyone been? What can we expect fo the UK?

[howardlong]

Not sure I could stomach going to any outlet of the Mandarin Oriental considering the amount of disruption they've caused at this end of town for the past couple of years plus. I don't know how the MO and the Candy brothers have managed to get away with it, although I wouldn't be at all surprised if some serious oiling of the wheels occurred. The alleged lucky recipients are probably lying on a beach right now, while everyone else sits on buses on Brompton Road wasting away hours of their lives. It has become a regular topic of discussion between locals at the eateries around here, so don't expect too many of us to be rushing out to pay homage either to Boulud's or Blumenthal's new ventures at the Mandarin Oriental.

The Candys' answer to fixing the traffic disruption, as they overlook La Condamine safely ensconced in their Monaco pad? Shut Knightsbridge for two weekends. In touch with reality, or a nasty case of arrogant middle-fingerism? I fear the latter.

Cheers, Howard

[eatenmess]

i can see it now, instead of anti foie gras protesters the 'my bus was 40 minutes late 6 months before this opened' activists.

not really,

i doubt the majority of people who will go there will give a monkeys if they had to shut down knightsbridge for 2 weeks, in fact it will probably add to the experience of it all. the maitre'd can boast about as hes pouring the glass of chateau yquem to go with the customers amuse bouche as they embark on another michelin starred dinner.....

[howardlong]

No, they'll be stuck in a cab instead racking up another ten or fifteen quid on the meter.

Myself, prior to the disruption, I had always gone to Foliage either on a push bike or walked there, typically walking through that horrid wannabe bar with me bike clips on.

Sadly I think you are probably right that most people who will go will have no clue or care about the history of disruption that came before, although I do find it rather strange that the MO and the Candys seem to take the disenfranchisement of the locals as an irrelevance.

Cheers, Howard

[Kropotkin]

I was in Las Vegas in the spring and wandered into The Wynn hotel: all very glam and very bling, so I thought I’d be guaranteed a decent dinner. By a featured-pool (where a spectacularly odd performing light show was staged, I soon discovered) was Daniel Boulud Brasserie, and they had a table free…

Yet the dinner was underwhelming. The menu was relatively limited, but as a Brasserie that’s fair enough. A Caesar salad, however, was uninspiring and, in truth, pretty bland. The duet of beef which followed was perfectly fine save for the crunchy vegetables atop that seemed to do nothing for the dish. The fries were nothing special either. Perhaps I should have had the beef and foie burger, but I allowed the waiter to up-sell me to the more expensive beef ensemble. I was offered dessert but had decided to pass by this stage. Service was haphazard throughout (I had to ask for a fork to eat my main course for example); and had to request water (of all things), twice.

So, I was rather mystified by the whole experience – as the Wynn, and US service levels in general, promise better than this. I left thinking I must have hit an off-night but then spotted a One Michelin Star plaque on the way out (I hadn’t realized they’d reached Vegas). And, of course, with M’s focus on consistency, their listed places shouldn’t have off-nights. Yet this experience wouldn’t inspire me to travel far to any of Boulud’s other lower-end outposts…

[Soundman]

Did the light show involve a singing frog?

[Kropotkin]

Yes! A wierd frog peering over a waterfall, and brightly-lit balls whizzing around on the pool below... Let's hope that 'What happens in Vegas [in this case], stays in Vegas'...

[sunbeam]

Sadly I think you are probably right that most people who will go will have no clue or care about the history of disruption that came before, although I do find it rather strange that the MO and the Candys seem to take the disenfranchisement of the locals as an irrelevance.

My heart bleeds for all those poor people living in Knightsbridge. As if they haven't got enough crosses to bear, such as being down to their last crate of foie gras etc.

S

[eatenmess]

.

Edited November 22, 2009 by eatenmess (log)

[eatenmess]

Sadly I think you are probably right that most people who will go will have no clue or care about the history of disruption that came before, although I do find it rather strange that the MO and the Candys seem to take the disenfranchisement of the locals as an irrelevance.

My heart bleeds for all those poor people living in Knightsbridge. As if they haven't got enough crosses to bear, such as being down to their last crate of foie gras etc.

S

i love this

[howardlong]

Have you actually tried buying fresh, non-tinned foie gras in Harrods or Harvery Nics recently? That's right, they don't have it.

Cheers, Howard