Lucques

[southern girl]

I had what I would describe as an awful lunch at Lucques. I should have convinced my dining companion (who was bound and determined to dine there) that when you walk into a restaurant at 12:30 and there is only one other table in use in the dining room, it is time to "exit stage left"! We were led to the booth adjoining that of the only other couple in the room...and of course, I asked if we could sit somewhere else...the reply was a shrug and a new seat by the door adjoining the wait station which I didn't think would be a problem as there was a skeletal staff and they had plenty of other places to stand around and entertain themselves...another wrong move on my part.

The lunch menu is rather limited. I had a hard time finding something that appealed to me, so I asked for guidance from our waiter. Since the items he selected didn't seem like things they "needed to move" I followed his lead (like a lamb to the slaughter).

Starter: Brandade fritters with spicy aioli, escarole and cornichons: Two overfried, greasy fritters appeared atop overbraised escarole, surrounded by a pool of greasy broth dotted with completely flaovrless aioli and not a cornichon in sight. The escarole was bitter from being braised in a broth with waaaayy too much rosemary. I ate a couple of bites and left the rest, mentioning to our waiter my displeasure with the dish. His reply was "it's one of my favorite things on the menu (do you hear more warning bells here )?

Main Course: Orecchiette carbonara with English peas, bacon and parmesan: A gelatinous mound of flavorless pasta. The peas were of the Green Giant Frozen variety. The egg had congealed at the bottom of the dish, the "bacon" consisted of mostly fat (I would think the leftover trimmings of pancetta where the meat was used in another dish). At least the pasta was al dente.

Dessert: Chocolate layer cake with cocoa meringue and creme fraiche: The most acceptable dish of the day, but, still a loser...a layer of basically flavorless (including lack of sweetness) cocoa meringue beneath a layer of creme fraiche, followed by a dense but dry layer of chocolate cake topped with an undersweetened layer of dark chocolate ganache.

I did look at the dinner menu, which appeared much more appealing...but, after the extremely poorly executed meal I had a Lucques for lunch I won't be returning for dinner.

[tissue]

I have also been underwhelmed at Lucques...

[lizziee]

We had one of the worst dinners ever at Lucques. I can't understand all the hype about this restaurant. It was packed with trendy types eating huge amounts of lousy food. We had about two bites of each course and gave up, dreaming of stopping for a pastrami sandwich at Johnny's pastrami. (We didn't!)

[tissue]

I've sat at the bar for drinks before and the bartenders were really nice.

I didn't have bad service when I ate dinner there. I just don't see what the fuss is all about...

[carpet bagger]

Without going into all the horible details, i am glad that we were not the only ones this happened to. I cannot for the life of me understand why there is so much hype for this restaurant. It was packed the nite we were there. 6 of us were packed into a corner at a round table, which I was initially gratful for. The waiter was rude and acted as though he was the special one. We were not allowed substitutions even though they had the other items on the menu. The steak supposed to be med rare towards rare came charred on the outside and med well in the middle. The desert was a chocolate of some kind ( I have put it out of mind ) but it was completely inedible. As was the other desert items. There were many other problems which I mentioned to a friend who is a backer of this and other of their restaurants. His response was that the Lady chef was not working that Saturday so you have to come another time. I'm sorry there will be no other time. Wow am I glad to get this off my chest.

[Beachfan]

Weak food, and after we were told BYO was fine, we got the snooty treatment, even dissing my wine when I offered him a taste (it was a William Selyem RRV Pinot).

[rjwong]

Bump. After three years, Lucques seems to have improved itself, I suppose ...

Given all the press with Suzanne Goin recently, I finally decided to have a Saturday lunch at Lucques.

I was sitted in the back part of the restaurant where the garden/patio section is. The place was a bit quiet, one or two groups in the front, one couple in the back, along with a party of older gentlemen engaging in a wine tasting & lunch also. It felt casual, relaxing & leisurely. Restaurants that are open for Sat. lunch are quite unusual.

I started with the green garlic and nettle soup with windrose tepery beans and grana. A very nice warm broth with no distinct flavor that I noticed, except for the shaved grana cheese.

The grilled market fish for the day was a New Zealand seabass, with shaved fennel, herb salad and grapefruit salsa. The fish tasted wonderful. The grapefruit salsa was a good complement with the salad. Overall, the entree made for a nice light lunch.

I would definitely go back and probably try one of those Sunday suppers.

[SiseFromm]

I've eaten at Lucques a dozen times at least and can't recall ever having anything other than a totally exemplary dinner. Suzanne has been incredibly gracious to us as semi-regular Sunday diners and I can't give them anything but praise.

[FoodMan]

We did end up going to Lucques for my B-day this past Sunday, I made up my mind after I saw the following menu, with pork belly on the list :

sunday, april 2, 2006

kumquat and arugula salad with golden raisins,

toasted almonds and shaved parmesan

***

grilled tasmanian salmon with spring onion frittata,

roasted asparagus and black truffle butter

or

slow-cooked pork belly with turnip-parsnip galette,

sherry and french horn mushrooms

***

strawberry crostata with pine nuts,

saba and mascarpone cream

We both enjoyed the dinner very much. The restaurant was busy but by no means packed or noisy. Service was efficient and professional.

The food was top-notch and a very good value for the price tag. Both my wife and I went with the pork belly. It seemed that even at a place like this selling pork belly is not an easy job for the waiter. He seemed genuinely please that we both ordered it. Throughout the meal we heard him several times trying to sell pork belly and extolling it’s virtues to the suspecting diners with little success. Salmon seemed to sell much better. We were very happy with this main course, it was tender, very juicy, properly crisped on the skin side and with very little melting flavorful pork fat right under the skin. It was by no means greasy or cloying and was subtly seasoned. The galette served under the pork with it’s turnip ribbons was a perfect match as was the slightly tangy “jus” surrounding the whole thing. I would order this again without hesitation.

The salad and the crostata were nothing special, but well done and a very good beginning and end to the meal. I also loved the little plate of almonds and olives they place on the table and polished it off.

To drink I had a glass of Sancere with the first course and a Pinot Noir with the rest of the meal. My wife, 5 months pregnant, had just water.

Lucques lived up to our expectations and we would love to check it out again on a “full menu” night.

Thanks to all who recommended Lucques!