Per Se

[Bux]

So I'm going on an impromptu trip to NYC next week and I am going to try to squeeze my lonesome self into Per Se one of the nights I am there. What do you guys think my chances are? I was figuring that I would show up near 5:30 and just say that I am a professional cook and that I know this is touted to be some of the best food in the world right now and I would be forever thankful if I could get a one top in for the chef's tasting. Waddyathink?

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Your chances are probably slim and not helped by sounding so vague and naive about his talent and fame. I would expect a professional chef who's truly intersted in great food in this country to be very familiar with Keller's food through reading the press, his cookbook and Soul of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman. I'd call ahead as well, even if it was only to prepare the way for trying at the front door. To my way of thinking calling ahead shows some planning and determination as well as the importance of your quest. Showing up at the front door without a reservation can all too often indicate that it's a last minute decision made becasue you didn't find anything better to do. This is true in life whether you're looking for a job or a reservation. If you've written, called and done all you can before hand, been told "no" and you still show up hat in hand, it may indicate determination.

It might also be good to show your knowledge and understanding that Keller isn't there and that Benno is the chef. If nothing else, it will indicate you've been following the news and have had a real interest in the restaurant. Just my opinion.

[Bicycle Lee]

I have called and put my name on a waiting list...

I am familiar with Keller's reputation, but also that he is not going to the one preparing my meal....

I didn't feel it was necessary to blabber out all the praise verbatim, since it is clear that no one can get me a table at Per Se on this blog....not that I was expecting it. All I wanted to know was whether or not it was worth the trouble. I certainly am going to give it the old college try, but I would certainly not be disappointed with a seat at Blue Hill or Gramercy Tavern.

Whichever ends up coming to fruition, I will post pics and synopsis. Thanks

[docsconz]

Good luck. IMO it is worth it.

[Bond Girl]

A good part of my meal was extraordinary at Per Se, but a good part of it was underwhelming as well. Rather than boring everyone with details of my extensive lunch there, here are some of the highlight:

The Foie Gras mousse with huckle berry preserve was rich, airy and absolutely beautiful with a delicate buttery wafer.

The potatoes with spinach, chanterelle mushrooms and potatoes were interesting with ecellent herbacious potatotes, though I fail to understand the significance of adding sweet sour flavors to the chanterelle and cooking it beyond its flavor recognition (which neither add or improve the flavor of Chanterelle mushrooms).

There was a copia that was distinctly sweet with caramelized glaze that was very pleasing.

The lobster mitt braised in butter with truffles and baby onions, carrots and potatoes were to die for, and I wished there were more of it ( it was all of one claw cut into three pieces served on a huge dish).

The artichoke heart with more baby vegetables (onions and carrots) were disappointing at best. Why over cooked the artichoke so it's mushy, dull and flavorless? Artichokes should taste like....artichokes. There was a sprinkle of carrot dusts on the plate, which i think must be for visual purposes because it's sure the hell wasn't doing a thing for the dish.

Then there was a winter squash thing cut out to look like Gnocchis with some hand made pasta dressed with maple syrup. The winte squash was nice and tasty but those pasta reminded me of rubber bands and tasted like it too.

The first dessert consisted of a grapefruit sorbet with coconuts sauce, an Indian curry cake that came sitting on a large impressive dish sitting on a bed of peppercorns. When they serve the whole concoction, a server pours hot water on the peppercorns so that you get the smell of the heated peppers rising up from your dessert plate. The shape of the dish (like a gigantic modernistic bird with uplifted wings) makes me feel like I was getting a facial and the curry cake just didn't work, though the grapefruit sorbet was a breath of fresh air.

But, the chocolate dessert that followed with chocolate cake, chocolate sorbet, chocolate mousse on a bed of chocolate sauce was the most sinfully luscious creation. And, I usually stay away from chocolate desserts!

The service was great, if not a bit formal, which it's old fashioned to a point that can make you feel a bit silly.

The decor, though, has the mid seventies feel of a business class lounge, though the view was fantastic. Hey, but who can complain about that, it is in one of the greatest malls in NYC.

[Bux]

The artichoke heart with more baby vegetables (onions and carrots) were disappointing at best.  Why over cooked the artichoke so it's mushy, dull and flavorless?  Artichokes should taste like....artichokes.  There was a sprinkle of carrot dusts on the plate, which i think must be for visual purposes because it's sure the hell wasn't doing a thing for the dish.

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I've not had this dish and am in no position to respond directly to your question, or to provide any insight at all regarding the dish, but I am reminded of a thread in the Spain forum on "mushy" vegetables, which are prized in Spain, if done properly.

'Repellently flabby' Spanish asparagus

From that thread:

It seems to me that in today's vegetable culture, deeply influenced by 30 years of insistence on 'al dente' textures, some people no longer understand the subtlety of tender vegetables - and white asparagus must be tender and melt in the mouth - and confuse them with those boiled, mushy, overcooked vegetables that graced or disgraced plates of home-cooked food (particularly in the Anglo-Saxon world) in a previous era - or sometimes still appear on those plates today. I think these people are missing some great delicacies...

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i don't know about the rest of you, but it seems to me that the obsession with what one recipe writer used to call "tender-crisp" vegetables is waning. there is a good scientific reason for thoroughly cooking vegetables (though not, perhaps, as thoroughly as they may have been cooked in the past). cooking softens the cell walls, allowing their contents to mingle and creating more complex flavors and aromas. i think the whole thing with crisp vegetables was an overreaction to years of having had bad cooks boil vegetables for hours (though if you've never had green beans boiled with hamhocks for that long, you're in for a treat).

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[Bond Girl]

I've not had this dish and am in no position to respond directly to your question, or to provide any insight at all regarding the dish, but I am reminded of a thread in the Spain forum on "mushy"  vegetables, which are prized in Spain, if done properly.

I think the operative word is "properly". Artichoke hearts ar eone of my favorite things in this world. It has a slightly firm bite with awonderful taste that is a bit sweet but not cloyingly so. A soup made with puree artichoke hearts are heaven but it should preserve the artichoke flavor.

Artichoke hearts should not be subsititutes for cardboard, because then it would make all the work of artichoke preparation somewhat pointless.

[robyn]

A good part of my meal was extraordinary at Per Se, but a good part of it was underwhelming as well.  Rather than boring everyone with details of my extensive lunch there,  here are some of the highlight...

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My husband and I will be going to Per Se Sunday. Was the menu you had a tasting menu - or a 5 course menu - or some other menu? How did you (or anyone else who has been to the restaurant) reach the decision to try the menu you tried?

Seems as if most people here have had the tasting menu (although I haven't gone back over all the messages) - but I looked at a 5 course menu from a while back that I found on the internet - and some of the choices there sounded really interesting. I'd appreciate any comments from people who did try the 5 course menu. And I'd especially appreciate any comments from those lucky people who've been to Per Se more than once - and had the opportunity to try more than one type of menu.

By the way - my husband and I haven't decided what to do. We'll decide when we look at the menus that evening. I like to order ingredients that I love to eat - and if I see them on the menu that evening - any menu - I'll order them. Robyn

[Bond Girl]

I had the tasting menu not sure how many courses it was but those are the dishes that I can remember....I think it was seven courses, ther was also a cauliflower panna cotta with a dab of Iranian caviar that was a wonderful play of contrast and texture but that was may be two bites worth of food.

[robyn]

I had the tasting menu not sure how many courses it was but those are the dishes that I can remember....I think it was seven courses, ther was also a cauliflower panna cotta with a dab of Iranian caviar that was a wonderful play of contrast and texture but that was may be two bites worth of food.

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By the way - these were two of the dishes that sounded great:

CHILLED "PURÉE" OF ENGLISH PEA SOUP

Split Peas, White Truffle Oil-Infused "Mousse"

and Summer Truffle Sandwich

LOBSTER CORN CHOWDER

Applewood Smoked Bacon "Bits," Chanterelle Mushrooms,

Lobster Knuckle and Sweet Corn "Beignets"

My husband would kill for the first. I would kill for the second.

Ever see the movie "Defending Your Life"? That is my fantasy (at least it's one of my fantasies ) - being served 12 pies - all the most delicious pies you ever ate - being able to eat them all - and never getting fat . Also by the way - if you've never seen the movie do - great movie. Robyn

[Bond Girl]

Robyn,

The menu might have changed. I have a copy at home if you want I can fax it to you tomorrow, or ask Suzanne Fass.

[Pan]

Ya-Roo, what is "copia"? Also, the pasta really tasted like rubber bands?! I haven't tasted rubber bands lately but do remember just how awful that taste is.

[Jaybert41]

By the way - these were two of the dishes that sounded great:

CHILLED "PURÉE" OF ENGLISH PEA SOUP

Split Peas, White Truffle Oil-Infused "Mousse"

and Summer Truffle Sandwich

LOBSTER CORN CHOWDER

Applewood Smoked Bacon "Bits," Chanterelle Mushrooms,

Lobster Knuckle and Sweet Corn "Beignets"

My husband would kill for the first.  I would kill for the second.

Ever see the movie "Defending Your Life"?  That is my fantasy (at least it's one of my fantasies  ) - being served 12 pies - all the most delicious pies you ever ate - being able to eat them all - and never getting fat  .  Also by the way - if you've never seen the movie do - great movie.  Robyn

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That's the difficulty of per Se... The menu is amazing but fleeting. The thing changes all of the time to be represent what is available and what the chef is expressing at that moment! I would venture to say that neither of those two dishes are on the menu presently; due to the fact that I don't see a restaurant of that nature using Peas or Corn in mid-October. You have to almost commend the effort for not using these things out of season, but it sure is tough for those of us who read about other peoples' amazing meals there and cannot have the same dishes that make our mouths water. It just goes to show what kind of a league that they are playing in to be able to offer something entirely different from what you may be expecting and/or what your neighbor may have had last week. Love it or hate it, it seems like they could make even the most jaded foodie stand up and take notice of something tat happened during that particular meal period.

[Bond Girl]

My problem with the place based on one visit is the uneveness of the food. There were some brilliant moments, and some real bummers. The pasta, for instance, was a really low point. I also hate the way the restaurant is run. The whole elitist feeling of it. There is one number to call, and if you are lucky enough to get through, you were made to wait forever, with mid-seventies lite muzak on the background. Then you were given a list of rules and regulations that you must adhere to....All this for the priviledge to sit in a 70's looking dining room with art works that may have been trendy 20 years ago, and be served by a parade of servers, whose mannerism borders on theatrical ridiculousness.

The last time this happened to me, I was in grade school. As a adult (albeit an immature one) I rather eat at some place like Cru where I get to talk to a real living person when I make a reservation, a real living person when I confirm the reservation, wear whatever I feel like wearing to dinner, and have great consistent food all the way through.

[oakapple]

I also hate the way the restaurant is run.  The whole elitist feeling of it.  There is one number to call, and if you are lucky enough to get through, you were made to wait forever, with mid-seventies lite muzak on the background.

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How would you like the reservations process to work? Aside from changing the music, I'm not understanding what the problem is, other than popularity.

[Bond Girl]

How would you like the reservations process to work? Aside from changing the music, I'm not understanding what the problem is, other than popularity.

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Have more than one line going through the restaurant. Have more reservationist working on the calls. Set up alternative numbers for other business issues. An absent minded friend recently left something at the restaurant, and couldn't reach a real living person to retrieve her package. She ended up calling the reservation line, waiting for more than 30 minutes on the phone to reach a reservationist, and then was told that a manager would call her back as this is the only phone line that runs into the restaurant.

[robert40]

Put more reservationist on the payroll just to tell people there are no tables available.

[robyn]

That's the difficulty of per Se...  The menu is amazing but fleeting.  The thing changes all of the time to be represent what is available and what the chef is expressing at that moment!  I would venture to say that neither of those two dishes are on the menu presently; due to the fact that I don't see a restaurant of that nature using Peas or Corn in mid-October.  You have to almost commend the effort for not using these things out of season, but it sure is tough for those of us who read about other peoples' amazing meals there and cannot have the same dishes that make our mouths water.  It just goes to show what kind of a league that they are playing in to be able to offer something entirely different from what you may be expecting and/or what your neighbor may have had last week.  Love it or hate it, it seems like they could make even the most jaded foodie stand up and take notice of something tat happened during that particular meal period.

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You're right. Those particular dishes are from an August menu. I don't think it's unusual for a restaurant - just about any decent restaurant much less a great restaurant - to change part of its menus about 4 times a year based on seasonal availability of ingredients. On the other hand - you would expect a great restaurant to have certain signature dishes which are more or less constant (or at least slow to disappear from menus). Robyn

[robyn]

My problem with the place based on one visit is the uneveness of the food.  There were some brilliant moments, and some real bummers.  The pasta, for instance, was a really low point.  I also hate the way the restaurant is run.  The whole elitist feeling of it.  There is one number to call, and if you are lucky enough to get through, you were made to wait forever, with mid-seventies lite muzak on the background.  Then you were given a list of rules and regulations that you must adhere to....All this for the priviledge to sit in a 70's looking dining room with art works that may have been trendy 20 years ago, and be served by a parade of servers, whose mannerism borders on theatrical ridiculousness. 

The last time this happened to me, I was in grade school.  As a adult (albeit an immature one) I rather eat at some place like Cru where I get to talk to a real living person when I make a reservation, a real living person when I confirm the reservation, wear whatever I feel like wearing to dinner, and have great consistent food all the way through.

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What were the rules and regulations? I reconfirmed a NY reservation at another restaurant today - and the receptionist reminded me of the "dress code" (no jeans - flip flops - etc.). Frankly - I didn't think it would be necessary to tell people these things before they go to a high end restaurant in a big city - but I guess it is. Robyn

[robert40]

You're right.  Those particular dishes are from an August menu.  I don't think it's unusual for a restaurant - just about any decent restaurant much less a great restaurant - to change part of its menus about 4 times a year based on seasonal availability of ingredients.  On the other hand - you would expect a great restaurant to have certain signature dishes which are more or less constant (or at least slow to disappear from menus).  Robyn

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The Oysters and Pearls are a signature dish you will often see on the menu.

robyn,

I am so glad you were able to get a reservation. I am sure you and your husband will have a great time.

[Bond Girl]

You need to confirm your reservations by leaving a voice message on this answering machine, and if you cancel prior to 48 hours, even if most of your party showed up (ie. you changed the number of people your party say from 5 pepople to 4 people). You will be charged $100 per missing person.

Not sure if this is also true during dinner, but at lunch the other day, we needed to be buzzed in by the receptionist.

[Bond Girl]

Put more reservationist on the payroll just to tell people there are no tables available.

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Better that then putting people on hold for 30+ minutes. At least with more reservationist, they may be able to get reservation information right. As a side note, they screwed up the date of my reservation.

[Bux]

While I am hardly a die hard defender of the slow food movement, it seems to me that a good number of chefs and restaurants pride themselves on serving only fresh ingredients and ideally those that can be locally sourced. Seasonality is what these restaurants are about as much as great food. Restaurant today are also more about creativity and process than they have ever been. I understand the concept of signature dishes and of returning to a familiar place just to have a certain favorite dish, but many of today's best restaurants are offering an alternative to that. Thus one might want to see a signature dish and menus that are slow to change, but I no longer think an enlightened diner should expect to see that. Personally, I prefer not to make a value judgment on the issue and just appreciate that there are more options when I choose to dine out.

I suspect that if Per Se were to employ the number of people needed to man the phones so that every caller got a live person, you'd see an increase in the price of dinner. Actually, if Per Se were just to raise prices obscenely, it could probably still fill the dining room but reduce the demand to a level one or two receptionists could handle. As Robert suggests, the way they're handling it may well be the most advantageous way for most of us. The problem seems to stem from the intense desire to make reservation to eat there, by those who seem to have a lot to criticize. They must be doing something right.

[robert40]

The two reservations I made took me four hours to get through each time.

And I don't mean I called and put the phone down and tried again in five minutes, I hit the redial constantly non stop for four hours each time.

Now I realize this is not the norm as other people have gotten through in much shorter time, but as for myself I can't say how long it may have taken if they had more reservationist. Two hours maybe.

[Bux]

If they had enough reservationists as they needed to answer the phones promptly, you can almost be assured that there would be double bookings as even a computer couldn't handle all the simultaneous entries.

[Bond Girl]

There is all of 16 tabels at that joint. Come on, the Spice market had 10 times that volume, and just as many people clamouring to get in. Not that I like the place, but at least they bever screwed up my reservations.