The "sophomore jinx"

[John Talbott]

I try to warn readers of my restaurant lists to be aware that my first impressions of a new restaurant may be overly enthusiastic and subject to revision on subsequent visits. This spring I’ve had my doubts reinforced several times and thought I would provide the details here.

Places that suffered from the “sophomore jinx” were:

L’Angl’Opera

Petit Pontoise

But those that held up were:

Fables de la Fontaine

L’Ourcine

L’Astrée

Then there were the places that were OK but not as good as the first visit:

Le Duc de Richelieu

Les Ormes

And finally, the places that just fell off the radar screen:

Mon Vieil Ami

Le Gourmand Grenadin

Casual Café

L’Absinthe

Rouge Tomate

Le Soleil

Le Vin Dans Les Voiles

[John Whiting]

John, I'm sorry your second visits to Le Duc de Richelieu and Les Ormes were anticlimactic. I'm about to write them both up in glowing terms for my website, crediting your Paris restaurant summaries as my vademecum. We visited the Duke for lunch on two successive days -- my wife's idea, with which I didn't argue -- and were equally happy on both occasions. We even toyed with the idea of taking a simple hotel room around the corner for a week and working our way through the ardoise.

Did you read the framed newspaper clipping on the wall which told something of Le Duc's genesis, or rather the demise of its predecessor? I snapped it to read later but my focus was so bad that it's illegible.

Edited July 14, 2004 by John Whiting (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

We have often pondered this phenomenon, John. There are many considerations coming into play, I believe, including a first visit's surprise factor, a second visit's elevated expectations as well as the dreaded devastating effects of fast success and popularity. We have watched the latter destroy more than a few of our favorites. Thanks for your continued input and alerts.

[fresh_a]

Details, please, John no1

[John Talbott]

OK.

In the case of L'Angl'Opera, what seemed to me the first time as "edgy" food, pushing the envelope, inventive and interesting, on sampling a second time seemed too contrived and trying to make a point by juxtaposing ingredients, eg Granny Smith apples and catsup, rather than presenting new stuff. Gilles Choukoun, whose food at the Café des Delices I always liked, seemed to be straining. The first time, I ate alone and the second time ate with three others, so I also saw and tasted many more items.

As for the Petit Pontoise, the first time I thought what they did (e.g. foie gras) was perfect but the second time, the "chutney" that accompanied it, made it too sweet and rather than cutting the "fat", (I'm sorry, there's no other way of saying it,) it was a cloying additive.

I think Margaret has a point. The first time, I'm often really struck by something or things but on repetition, they either seem less interesting or are familiar or as she says, you expect too much.

The other factor, I think, is that with some places, the chef is always moving forward and changing whereas with others after a few visits you've seen what he or she can do. For instance, I'm impressed that Thierry Blanqui at the Beurre Noisette seems to be adding new dishes every time I go.

I'm not saying that the reasons behind the jinx are always on the part of the chef or the restaurant, certainly I and any diner bring a lot to the table; it just seems to me that some places wear better than others; again, in my case the Fables de la Fontaine, L’Ourcine and L’Astrée really did. In all three cases, the second and sometimes now third meal is/was every bit as good if not better than the first.

But I'd be interested in what you and others think. Maybe I'm just more fickle.

[Bux]

One thing that's sure is that restaurants that please on the first visit are more likely to fail on the second visit than restaurants the displease on the first visit are likely to succeed on the second visit--if only because it's rare that we return. Some times a restaurant does five dishes really well and five very poorly. It could be the luck of the draw on a first visit. If a poorly executed dish is the first one I taste, I may write off the restaurant. On the other hand, if I've had a couple of successful dishes before I run into the clunker, I'm liable to be more philosophical and learn to use the restaurant for what it does well.

Nevertheless, I think we make first visits in a very optimistic mood and tend to give new places the benefit of the doubt. We want to like them. Somehow when we go back, we feel more more cheated if the restaurant isn't as good as we remember. For all the philosophical explanations, I should add that we are as grateful for your updates as for your original posts on these places.

[raisab]

Could one of the two JOhn's please advise me? I have read different stories on L'Ourcines hours. Are they open weekdays for dinner?

I would like to try this resto next Thursday evening. If not, I am in total agreement about sophomore visits. My last few meals in Paris have been nice, but not great. What rest would you recommend to the tunes of La Regalade which was my favorite of all times. Has anyone been back since the new owners?

[John Talbott]

L'Ourcine was reportly open on Saturdays (according to Figaroscope) but I've never tested the statement (I've been disappointed by their lack of fact-checking before.) You might try calling - 01.47.07.13.65, saves you time.

Regalade has been visited by several eGulleteers and you can check the various threads for their reports. Good friends, whom I can trust, ate there this weekend and thought it was better than under Camdebord with several additions to the carte that made it much more interesting. But as you see from the threads, the reports are mixed. I have not gone since the change.

[Poppy Quince]

John T., I too very much liked Café des Delices and wonder what's happening there now that Gilles Choukroun has gone to L'Angl'Opera. Can you tell me?

As for the sophomore jinx, in my case it was the "junior jinx" at Clos des Gourmets...the third visit disappointed. After two good meals though, I'm more willing to give a restaurant the benefit of the doubt and try again, allowing for an off night hitting anyplace once in a while. That said, I'd be more reluctant to make allowances if the price were €300 rather than €30.

[John Talbott]

No, sorry, I've not been to the Café des Delices since L'Angl'Opera opened.

I've walked by and the menu still looks interesting though.

[robert brown]

What about the reverse? I was quite underwhelmed the first time I visited Fredy Girardet, ca. 1983. Every meal after that (about six or seven) was divine. Much had to do with ordering his renown foie gras chaud, which I later came to appreciate. But I just last week had the phenomenon under dsiscussion at what was, after my first visit, my favorite restaurant in Piemonte, Il Centro. This time it simply fell off the charts because, I sensed, there was something that had changed of a fundamental nature; i.e. with the couple involved. It was strange. I'll go into detail on the Italy board in the report of my otherwise remarkable dining trip. The truly great always hold up.

[John Whiting]

Re Sophomore Jinx: For the perfect meal, everything has to be right; for the failed meal, only one thing need go horribly wrong.

[robert brown]

Well-put, John. I believe that the heart of the matter is that with the near-universal cheapening of the restaurant, the sophomore jinx has to be more prevelant. Cutting back breeds inconsistency.

[John Talbott]

Robert - I was interested in your experience at Giradet. Ours was that we had our first meal right after hitting the ground there in 1984 and were blown away - despite the one-month rule we pleaded and made a reservation for our last day of the trip and ate there again two weeks later on our way to the airport and were equally as impressed. Returned only once more, even though we got to Geneva fairly often, probably because friends turned us on to other places, but that's another story.

[BigboyDan]

Being overwhelmed or underwhelmed by a restaurant after one or two visits says nothing much about the restaurant, but does say much about the diner.

[John Talbott]

Dan - Agreed - at least in part. In that light, I'm reminded of a story Gerry Asher of wine fame told of working at Sherry-Lehman when he first came to the States. A woman of a certain age came in and asked him for a bottle of "x" wine which she'd had one evening as the sun set on a terrace overlooking the Bay of Capri with a younger Italian man. "Madam," he said, "I can order the wine, but there's no way to reproduce the man, the meal, the setting and the sunset."

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Dan - Agreed - at least in part.  In that light, I'm reminded of a story Gerry Asher of wine fame told of working at Sherry-Lehman when he first came to the States.  A woman of a certain age came in and asked him for a bottle of "x" wine which she'd had one evening as the sun set on a terrace overlooking the Bay of Capri with a younger Italian man.  "Madam," he said, "I can order the wine, but there's no way to reproduce the man, the meal, the setting and the sunset."

My husband and I once enjoyed a magical evening over a very simple dinner with a very simple wine in a very simple restaurant. He proclaimed that he had never enjoyed a wine so much. So I tracked down the precise wine, vintage et al, and bought him a case as a surprise. It took us a long, long, long time to get through this quite ordinary wine, day, by day, by ordinary day! You can't buy magic by the case.