Bid Brasserie

[Fat Guy]

The New York Magazine review of Bid is now available online:

http://metronewyork.com/content/02/wk09/review.htm

What Mr. Platt said exactly is this: He described Bid's patrons as "a genteel mix of auction-house patrons and well-heeled Sutton Place grandees with iridescent winter tans. They swilled luminous, expensive cocktails ($15 for my Isle of Skye Rusty Nail) and sipped an interesting selection of equally pricey wines."

I'm not sure that qualifies as a categorical statement that the wine list is expensive.

[Wilfrid]

You're right, but it just shows how careful a reviewer should be.  It's easy to imagine the reader walking away from that article with the clear impression that Bid has pricey wine list.

[mogsob]

Not to digress into an English lession, but the term "equally priced" must refer to something.  There are only two options:

1.  All the wines on the list cost the same (which is an absurd statement, given the breadth of the list); or

2.  The wines on the list are priced equally to the cocktails, which, to say, is expensively.

I believe that Mr. Platt wrote exactly what he meant to say, namely that in his opinion the wines were expensive and, judging from the tone of the review, overpriced.  That statement seriously undermines his credibility in my eyes.

Which brings me to another point, why is wine relegated to an afterthought by critics?  For me, and many others, wine is an essential part of the dining experience.  Restaurants with a poor wine list (either in terms of the selection or the mark-up factor) never factor into my dining decisions.

Perhaps this is (yet again) the fault of the Zagats, who value "decor" over wine.  I say, let's leave the interior design issues to those with steel-coated tounges.

[Fat Guy]

Far be it from me to defend Adam Platt, who is far from my favorite critic, but I think what he said was "equally pricey" and I think what he was trying to comment on was the wealth of the crowd and the wines they choose to drink. I'm not convinced he was making a declaration about the pricing of the wine list. There's no way we could nail him down on that, based on what he said, which is somewhat ambiguous but which I think tends towards my interpretation. Of course he could explain himself here if he wanted to.

I agree with you entirely about the lack of good wine coverage in restaurant reviews (except those in Wine Spectator), and I think I even said so in my first post on this thread. I think if magazines are going to hire critics who don't know much about food and wine, they should pay to educate them about both. Food education to a great extent comes as a natural byproduct of dining out at the best restaurants multiple times a week. Wine education, however, requires outside study and preferably formal classes.

[Bux]

I have, as I'm sure have others at one time or another in their life, eaten at a restaurant I could barely afford. I went for the food I couldn't have had at home and not for the selection of wines. Still I don't enjoy food without wine as much as I do with wine, even if the wine is not up to the food in quality. Therefore it can be important that one have an affordable selection of wines to compliment the food. While a wine that goes for less than auction prices might be a great bargain there are those who would prefer to able to get a twelve dollar wine for thirty five dollars even if it's a 300% markup (or more from wholesale prices). There are no bargains unless they're affordable in the first place. "Pricey wines" could be interpreted as a lack of "affordable wines."

[Rail Paul]

I would apply the same criteria for "afffordable" wines at BID as I would at apply at the local pizza / Italian / Chinese place on the corner. My point in mentioning the price range was, and is, to suggest the distribution of prices.

If you expect to pay $75 to $100 per person, perhaps a $75 wine is a bargain, at 3x retail price. Especially if it was a wine which was not in wide circulation, and had been selected to enhance a specific dish. BID, as I recall, named a wine selection for each menu item as part of its tasting program.

Dee and I are the couple toward the rear of the picture. The ringers are to the right.

[Fat Guy]

I am holding before me a stolen copy of the Bid wine list.

Wines by the glass range from $7 for 1998 aglianico 'fidelis' taburno (campania) and 1997 aligote rollin (cote de beaune) to $11 for 1996 carignan d'aupilhac (montpeyroux languedoc) and 1999 sancerre lalou (loire), with several others in between. Sparklings range from $9 for NV freisa frizzante ca del solo from bonny doon (monterey) to $15 for NV perrier jouet.

By the bottle, there are a few under-$30 selections that are quite respectable. For whites, 2000 sylvaner vieilles vignes ostertag (alsace) is $27, as is 1999 riesling goldtropfchen spatlese haart (mosel-saar-ruwer). There are at least 4 other $30-and-under whites. In red, there's a $28 bottle of 1999 dolcetto d'alba vignalunga albino (piemonte). The overwhelming majority of whites are between $30 and $50. In reds, the bulk of the list runs $35 to $65, with the most expensive non-Champagne on the whole list being a $250 bottle of ridge montebello (1985). Cos d'estournel 1995 is $225. But those are entirely atypical for the list. Out of four tightly-packed single-spaced pages, there are only 20 or so selections over $100.

[Bux]

I'd say that "pricey" in terms of a wine list for a restaurant such as Bid, would have led me to suspect a higher bottom end for sure.

[mogsob]

Steven, thanks for the update.  Bid's wine list is exactly as I recall: diverse and reasonable.  Not "expensive" by any means.

For what it's worth, here is how I judge wine lists.  I immediately eliminate from consideration the following:

1. Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet from California.

2. Bordeaux.

3. White Burgundy.

4. Tuscany.

5. Barolos and Barbarescos.

Obviously, this eliminates some of the world's great wines, but look at what is left.

1.  German/Austrian whites.

2.  The Rhone.

3.  Red Burgundy (which I find to be better value on the high end than Bordeaux).

4.  Amarone.

5.  West Coast Pinot Noir.

6.  Southern Italy (both red and white).

7.  French Country wine -- white from the Loire (muscadet and sancerre) and Alsalce, reds from the Languedoc.

8.  Spain.

And those are just the obvious places to look.  Restaurants like GT, Il Buco, Etats Unis, I Trulli, and Bid are deep in many of these areas, and due to demand factors (I guess), these wines are generally priced lower (both in terms of wholesale price and mark-up factor) than those in the earlier categories.

[ahr]

I'm creating this place marker before I collapse into bed, just so I get to name the topic.

Dinner tonight at Bid was a bittersweet affair: beautiful food with matched wines; attentive service by a sweet staff; elegant, comfortable room. Chef Matt and company did themselves proud, though ours was the last table that would ever be served.

The other participants may identify themselves if they so choose, but I do hope that two of them got back to Jersey safely, what with the garage foulup and all.

More tomorrow... er, later.

Edit: 3 a.m. errors corrected.

[Rachel Perlow]

AHR - Sounds like Jon and I got back to NJ before you got back to Brooklyn. To get the last part of the evening out of the way, here's an NYC tip I forgot to follow: always ask what time the garage closes before leaving your car.

Also, I would have sub-headed this thread, "Going, going, gone!"

~~~

Since Steven Shaw was unable to make the final evening of Bid, the restaurant where his good friend, Chef Matt Seeber*, cooks, he asked me to do my best to get there so there were some friendly faces in the dining room on its last night. I PM'd numerous people I thought might be interested in joining me and we ended up as a party of four.

Our evening started with the best Cosmopolitan I'd ever had at the bar, then a tour of the kitchen. I'd never been inside a restaurant kitchen in NYC before, it appeared efficient, clean, the staff welcoming. We proceded to our table and had a chat with Chef Matt, we looked at the menu, but basically said "Feed Us" which resulted in a 7+ course tasting menu, wines paired with each course.

After an amuse bouche of brandade on toast, my starter was Calamari stuffed with a seafood mousse, accompanied by rhubarb and a pea puree. Next was Braised Lobster Chowder with diced celery root, morels, fennel and bacon. Lobster bisque was poured over the solid items at table. This was my first "close my eyes and groan" dish. Lobster and morels are magical when paired.

The mastery of Bid's sommalier** was fully appreciated with his pairing of a chianti perfect for our course of Potato Gnocci with a tomato and yellow pepper relish, roasted morels and fried sunchokes. These were the most tender gnocci I had ever had and we started playing a "name this ingredient" game during each course. Picking out the bits we were unsure of in the various plates, trying to figure out what is was with Chef Matt verifying the answers between courses. (I will immodestly announce that I won, correctly identifying the sunchokes as being the same as Jerusalem artichokes, celeraic, black mustard seed, turnip not parsnip, diced rhubarb.) The gnocci was followed by Sauteed Quail and Foie Gras with dried cherries for Jon and I, Veal Sweetbreads for Cabrales and AHR. It was the first time I ever had a piece of foie that wasn't pate. Very delicate in texture, but I think I prefer the creaminess of pate to the straight liver.

At AHR's insistance I tried the sweetbreads, I can honestly say these were the best sweetbreads I had ever tasted. OK - you may have gotten the impression that these were the only sweekbreads I had ever tasted. Not true, I have had them on two other occasions and was not fond of them to put in mildly. I expect credit for once again sampling something I had a pretty definite impression I would not enjoy. I could appreciate the dish, but I'm still sure that sweetbreads are not for me.

Between us we sampled 7 of the 10 appetizers on the menu, and an appetizer sized portion of a main course (the braised lobster). For our mains they brought out one of each of the meat dishes. I had the Roasted and Braised Rabbit with fava beans, radish, crispy pancetta and sherry vinegar. This sounds like a description that lists every item on the plate, but it does not go far enough. The rabbit was actualy many different plated items: a braised leg, roasted breast and rack of ribs, liver (both sauteed and pureed for the sauce), and kidney. I believe this is the most ambitious dish I have ever had in any restaurant.

The Cheese Course was a slice of a Coach Farm Aged Goat, accompanied by a carrot-celery salad and walnut/fruit bread. This was followed by a delicious dessert amuse of rhubarb soup with rhubarb/goat cheese sorbet. When our dessert course arrived, we couldn't resist playing pass the plate so we all got to sample:

- Fresh Cherries and Cinnamon Macaroon with Cherry Sorbet and Tarragon

- Fromage Blanc Island "Cheesecake"

- Valrhona Chocolate Popover, Chocolate Cream and Warm White Chocolate Sauce

- Apple Tart Tatin with Granny Smith Granita and Pink Peppercorn Ice Cream

My favorites were the studies in Cherry and Chocolate. You'd think we were done, but no, petit fours followed. Lovely delicate one-bites of strawberry shortcake, toasted coconut coated marshmellow, cocoa dusted chocolate truffle and an incredibly thin sesame cookie. Many thanks to Pastry Chef Chika Tillman.

Final impressions

Bid was so much better than any of us preconceived. Over the course of the evening the music got louder and the crowd at the bar got bigger and noisier. These were the current and former employees all come back for a final wrap party. We got to enjoy Chef Matt's appreciative parting words and thanks to his loyal employess. We were sad we hadn't come earlier, but glad that we didn't miss out on experiencing his first, but surely not last, stint as head chef.

~~~

* For more information on Chef Matt, go to fat-guy.com, here are a couple good links: Risotto Day with Chef Matt and Matt & Steve's Ultimate Braising Weekend.

** I did not get the details of our wines or the name of Bid's sommalier, but Cabrales took home the wine list, so she may be able to provide these details.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Why did they close Bid, not enough business? The two times I went the food was good, not great. But certainly well beyond that standards that at most restaurants in the city. And the space was comfy, and there is a dearth of good places to eat on the Upper East Side. And it would figure that it would be a good draw for the gallery lunch crowd. What happened?

[Charles Smith]

I thought they were only closing for the summer as the auctions are shut down as well???

[glenn]

I thought they were only closing for the summer as the auctions are shut down as well???

Ditto, I thought I heard they got a reprieve and they were gonna reopen in September?

[Fat Guy]

As I understand it, and I have to double-check this with Matt, the restaurant is going to repoen in September but it won't be the same kind of place. I think they're going to do some redecorating and move in the lounge direction. Matt won't be involved, nor will anybody else from the current staff. And yes, I think the answer is not-enough-business. The main problem was the September 10 opening date, which threw the restaurant into several months of near emptiness. Later, the dining room started to fill a lot more, the restaurant established a good number of neighborhood regulars, and the private-functions business was pretty strong (it's really a much better space for a private party than it is for a restaurant meal). But it was never going to be enough to dig out from that hole, and the restaurant is in that bizarre half-sunken corner location in an office building, and there were a lot of other handicaps that collectively were too much to overcome. In a tough year for restaurants all over, Matt's gifted cooking just wasn't going to be enough to pull it out for Bid -- I doubt any chef could have made it work. That's my read on the situation anyway.

[Sandra Levine]

I hope Matt will be able to find another position soon, so the rest of us can enjoy his cooking.

[Fat Guy]

I'm hoping he opens his own restaurant, with a few smart investors behind him. That would be the next logical step for a guy of his talent.

Rachel, I was going to write a little tribute of my own, because I stopped by on Friday night (penultimate night), but I don't think I have much to add to what you wrote. However, I will contribute a few snapshots we grabbed:

Here's that lobster dish you liked:

Here's the rabbit:

And here's the short rib and strip combination, which is my favorite:

Finally, let's be sure to acknowledge one of the most talented unsung pastry chefs in town: Chika Tillman (formerly of Seeger’s in Atlanta). Her desserts are mature, elegant, and different. I'd proudly serve them to Steve Klc anyday.

Here's hoping these two talented artisans someday get the audience they deserve.

[jhlurie]

First, the meal.

Rachel's descriptions are good enough that, in general, I won't try and improve on them.

I'll say that the item which most impressed me was the gnocchi with morels, sunchokes and relish.

It was representative of several of the best dishes in that the sum was much more impressive than the parts themselves. The gnocchi by themselves were what gnocchi always are--inert lumps of potato. But taken in one fork-load with the saltiness of the morels, the sweetness of the sunchokes and the mustardy tang of the relish, it worked, by god.

If it wasn't a word which has been damaged beyond repair by reviewer misuse, I'd almost use the "s" word to describe it. But I won't. Who needs it?

The wine, overall, was good, but the Chianti was much more than good. I also hope that Cab grabbed that wine list.

And yes, I enjoyed the sweetbreads as well. But I've been burned by sweetbreads often enough in the past to still not be a wholehearted convert.

The Valrhona Chocolate Popover with Chocolate Cream and White Chocolate Sauce was interesting. Perhaps the pastry chef, Chika, has the same philosophy as Matt. The ingredients by themselves--particularly the popover--were fairly boring. But the three together were perfect. The "Cream" was kind of a highly dense mousse, a bit strong by itself, but mellowed appropriately by the White Chocolate Sauce and the Popover.

As for the closing...

Years ago, I lived in that neighborhood for a bit, my father had lived there for close to an entire decade before that, and my sister for four years past that. I know the area pretty well... since I don't think the nature of it has changed that much.

There's this big wall of restaurants along 2nd Avenue that people don't usually cross. York Ave. itself is kind of dead--it's a faceless uniteresting neighborhood, except for the hospital and Sotheby's. Certainly the timing and the nervousness of the investors were big factors... but its just not a good location. Period.

It's too bad--the space itself was very nice.

[Fat Guy]

Chika and Matt have very similar philosophies -- they're as compatible a chef and pastry chef as you're likely to find (well, I suppose the Adrias would exceed them by some margin in that department, but you get the point). Their wholistic conception of dishes -- which is really something any good professional chef should be focusing on -- is only one of their similar characteristics. There's also a similar look and feel to their dishes, and to the way in which ingredients are layered to amplify. Both are pretty good at getting something crunchy into most every dish -- though not all. For example that floating island of pseudo-cheesecake is intentionally a monochromatic single-textured item; it's a study in that one thing. But for the most part they emphasize the full range of contrasts of texture, flavor, and temperature in their dishes, and they're not afraid to work hard to make a dish good, or to take risks that might alienate some customers. These are the simple elements that so many chefs forget -- so much of good cooking is just staying focused on the fundamentals of food. And most importantly they work (worked) well together and have an incredible sense of drive and integrity. Chika was adding new desserts to the menu to reflect seasonal ingredients right up until two days before the restaurant closed. Matt and Chika were out at the Greenmarket together on Friday morning hand-picking the peaches for that peach dessert shown above. That's the way it should be. It may come as a surprise to some that most chefs and pastry chefs barely communicate. It should come as no surprise, however, that Chika's desserts are way too cerebral for the average Upper East Side neighborhood customer.

[cabrales]

I am considerably more saddened at Bid's transformation/closure after having taken in my first and only meal from Chef Matt Seeber there. Chef Seeber's cuisine was very good, and I would hope to sample more of his cuisine even though it would have to be elsewhere.

It was a special evening that we were fortunate enough to have been a part of. Our dining were literally the last table served at Bid in its then current form. Chef Seeber, through his cuisine and his visits to our table, imbued the evening with much generosity of spirit. In my mind, there will always be a difficult-to-articulate set of feelings associated with the meal. Fulfillment, from the food; sadness and a sense of the ironies of the world; insight into the professionalism and pride of those associated with a restaurant even through its last evening, from many parts of the dining room (including sommelier) and kitchen teams; a shared sense of conceptual closure, with respect to what the teams must have been feeling. As ahr noted, there were bittersweet notes. However, the cuisine was articulate and unequivocally tasty.

(1) Amuse of brandade -- This was average, but, happily, the only item of the meal that was so. I liked the aftertaste of tomato puree (was I imagining it?) in the little crostini-like bread toasts accompanying the cod. The dominant flavor in the bread toasts was, appropriately, garlic. I took it in with the remnants of the Veuve Cliquot I had been having at the bar.

(2) cabrales: Pickled sardines. Arugula salad, roasted red pepper and aged balsamic vinegar.

ahr: Yellowfin tuna tartare. Sea urchin vinaigrette, bottarga and horseradish confit.

In this dish, the bitterness of the arugula gave context to the acidity from the pickling effects on the fish and from the balsamic vinegar. The dish was good, but ahr's dish of tuna tartare with sea urchin vinaigrette was excellent. While I admit to having expressed curiosity about the appropriateness of the pairing prior to sampling the dish, the sea urchin sauce spoke clearly of the ingredient, doing it justice. The tuna was a far better canvas for the sea urchin sauce than I had contemplated. The very thin, circular crisp included in the dish was helpful to it too. This represented the best sea urchin dish I have sampled in NY. See "Sea Urchin" thread in the NY forum.

This course was paired with Chasselas, an Alsatian wine that ahr indicated reminded him on the nose of Gewurtztraminer. It was my first sampling of Chasselas. I handed the wine list over to ahr, who is better positioned to address the pairings. I really wanted to switch into ahr's sea urchin/tuna combination, but ahr was, rightfully of course, relishing it. Note that, unlike the Blue Hill and Union Pacific dinners with fellow eGulleteers when courtesy precluded me from suggesting dish switches, I was quite proactive about securing a dish in which I was more interested. I had originally received the asparagus salad that jhlurie was kind enough to switch with me. I think he may have preferred the salad.

(3) cabrales: Braised Nova Scotia lobster "chowder". Fennel, celery root, morels and smoked bacon.

ahr: Braised wild striped bass. Bok choy, fennel, roasted garlic and a saffran tomato broth.

The lobster dish was hearty and at the same time developed. The flesh of the lobster prepared appropriately and an appealing integration of the ingredients. Wonderful morels, with no hint of sogginess. Small cubes of celery root with a smaller amount of bits of potato, cooked just right. Good saltiness from the bacon; and nice use of leeks and fennel. The texture of even the vegetables was just right, despite the reference to braising in the name of the dish. I ordinarily do not like dishes with multiple ingredients that are too "busy", but this dish pleased me. While the taste of the individual components could be discerned, this was a case of, as Rachel indicated, ingredients amounting to more than the sum of the parts.

The saucing in my lobster dish was effective -- while conveying shellfish and cream notes. It had a medium and nice consistency and did not have typical bisque-like or "chowder"-like heaviness. Appropriate use of dill, which can be uninteresting at some other places due to overuse. I also liked, and subjectively found amusing, the inclusion of a few grains of pink peppercorn in the saucing.

ahr's bass dish was interesting. The broth had an enticing aroma when served, conveying to ahr and me senses of an "Asian" oil (perhaps peanut or sesame; it might not have been utilized). The tomato broth was darker (in a good way, and without connoting heaviness) than I had imagined, and delicious in a "clean" way. I had two generous spoonfuls of this dish. The first bite, I could not pinpoint what it was that made its composition unsual (in a neutral way). Then, it occurred to ahr and me that the bass was not the "star" in this dish; it was merely part of the rest of the dish, like the bok choy and the tomato broth. An appealing part of this dish was the little mass of bright yellow roasted garlic (it was in a creamy puree form), which wonderfully conferred a dominant flavor in this dish when taken with the bass.

(4) ahr, cabrales: Crispy Veal Sweetbreads. Chanterelles, pickled red onion and candied leek.

The sweetbreads were sooo yummy. Robust, yet controlled, jus-based saucing with a hint of "stickiness". An appropriate balance between the exterior of the pieces of sweetbread and their more pliant, rich interior. Tiny chanterelles -- the size I prefer. Perhaps there was too much candied leek placed on top of the dish for sampling purposes; however, the visual effects were aided by the sinuous-looking, semi-translucent, yet textured-looking dried candied leek strips.

(5) all diners: Potato gnocchi. Morels, caramelized sunchokes and pepper relish.

(I am unsure whether this dish preceded the sweetbreads/foie course)

Plump little gnocchi, enmeshed in an integration of vegetable goodies. The morels were sauteed, and enhanced the dish. The black mustard seeds identified by Rachel were, to me, a wonderful part of the dish -- their outer coating was slightly slimy/slippery (in a great sense) from the effects of the other ingredients. Their texture was an appealing touch. The gnocchi was paired with 1999 Rocca di Montegrossi, Chianti Classico -- a very good match.

(6) cabrales: Roasted free range chicken. Creamy pea and fresh herb risotto, morels and pickled wild leeks

ahr: Braised lamb shoulder. Roasted tomato, white beans, arugula and extra virgin olive oil

The chicken was flavorful, particularly for a non-Bresse specimen, and well prepared. Tenderness and preservation of juiciness, coupled with a delicately crisp skin. I specified in advance to our dining party that I hoped to receive the chicken, which was consistent with Rachel's wanting to sample the rabbit dish. And I was very pleased.

Rachel gifted me the rabbit kidney included in her dish. It was the size of a fava bean, a muted magenta color. I gobbled it up happily. Interesting texture, and quite different in the taste of the raw material from kidney of Bresse chicken (in a dish featuring also crest of that chicken, boudin blanc and meat) I had sampled at Ledoyen (Paris) recently.

(7) The cheese course and rhubarb item were as Rachel described. I liked the smokiness of the cheese selected for us.

(8) Dessert. I agree that Chef Chika Tillman is a wonderful patissier, and well matched with Chef Seeber. I found the fromage blanc-based dessert not to my tastes, but the Fresh Cherries and Cinammon Macaron with Cherry Sorbet and Tarragon was very good. The cherries were drippingly luscious beneath the top half of a medium sized macaron (the size of a small knuckle). The color and taste of cherries are intrinsically subjectively appealing to me, and this presentation was a prime example of desserts I like. Nice macaron too. The sorbet beneath the layer of cherries was slightly bland for my tastes. Overall, a very good dessert. Members of our dining party did taste each dessert; however, each ended up with more of one than the others. I was happy that dessert took the form of the cherries.

As evident from the above, Chef Seeber made a very good meal for us. A cuisine that is developed and that conveys integrated flavors. An articulate cuisine.

Other Information

The restaurant's decor was quite attractive, with a nice bar area. I liked the utilization of reddish/burgundy-colored little glass receptacles for the candles illuminating the bar. Upon entry into the restaurant, there was a modern looking reddish sofa that I liked. In general, ,modern artwork, although presumably part of a rotation. I liked the sculpture facing me quite a distance away in the dining room -- it was of a unclad woman with arms raised to couch the back of her head.

It was kind of Chef Seeber to provide a tour of his kitchen. That was only one of many forms of kindness offered by the chef on my first and last night (for relevant purposes) at Bid.

[Fat Guy]

Did I mention that the lobster dish you all enjoyed was engineered in the kitchen of my apartment a couple of years ago?

I was writing an article for Salon.com on mail-order lobsters. One Saturday morning, in excess of a dozen live lobsters from multiple purveyors up and down the East Coast arrived via FedEx. I placed an emergency phone call to Matt, who was thankfully between jobs at the time (I believe he had just left Gramercy Tavern after more than 5 years as sous-chef-in-charge-of-dinner, and was about to join the opening team at Club Guastavino).

We embarked upon a two-day lobster cooking project, wherein we prepared a half dozen different lobster dishes including that chowder. What we made was a more rustic version of what later developed into the restaurant-presentation-worthy dish depicted above. It was up until that time the best chowder-type dish I had ever tasted. It was matched once, last year, by the lobster "veloute" at Alain Ducasse at the Essex House. Of course, while Bid was open, one could have the dish any day. Now we'll have to wait.

Just for laughs, here's a photo of the rustic precursor to the Bid lobster chowder:

[seeber]

You all here at egullet have been very kind to me. Thank you all so VERY much for your kind words and support.

As I have discovered in the last several weeks, being the chef of a restaurant that is closing is a much more difficult thing than the opening of one could ever be. There are so many more emotions involved and needless to say, it’s a tough thing to turn with a positive spin.

Those of you who were able to visit with us in the restaurant during the last two days of operation certainly helped with the transition and lent a positive note to an otherwise difficult situation. Cooking for individuals who have a respect and appreciation for food that is on par with a chef is always very fulfilling. Thanks for being there for us at Bid!

Now that I will have some downtime, I resolve to come out of my shell (as I am doing now by posting for the first time) and take more active participation in posting as opposed to lurking behind the scenes. This forum is a wealth of information and I have learned much from the discussions I have seen over the last few months. It’s just a perfect example of what makes the web such a great thing!

Thank you again for your support and encouragement!!

Now, as my high-school geometry teacher used to say, “onward and upward to bigger and better things!”

[jhlurie]

For the record, my main course was Mr. Shaw's "favorite", the short rib and strip combination, prominently featuring fava beans and an assortment of "spring" vegetables.

It WAS quite worthy of praise, although Rachel's rabbit also looked kind of neat from where I was sitting.

The rib/strip combo was essentially a pretty simple dish, as you can tell from Steven's photo, but that doesn't detract.

The other item I consumed, which has not yet been mentioned, was the green and white asparagus salad--a vinaigrette, with thin but plentiful slices of summer truffle and a fairly wonderful layer of parmesan cheese crisp. The asparagus were not as crisp as my ideal, but overall the effect was nice.

Overall... I certainly wasn't dissapointed. Matt's not going to have much trouble finding a place if the world works like its supposed to.

[southern girl]

I am sooo disappointed I will have to wait to sample Matt's incredible culinary talent...keep us posted on what you plan for the future!

Fat Guy, I just finished a wonderful sushi dinner, but, your photos have whet my appetite all over again! Keep 'em coming!

[mogsob]

A truly sad moment. Bid was one of the few great restaurants near my home. We went for the first time the week after September 11th and were hooked. Splitting my time between London (mostly) and NY, we haven't been in some time and I'm sorry I missed the grand finale.

I just hope Chef Matt stays on the Upper East Side and can create a place just like Bid. Compared to its peers (or those trying to be its peers), Bid produced better food, a better wine list, and a more relaxed setting at half the price.