Back to the Future III: Britchky's stars in 1986

[emsny]

A different perspective: not the NY Times, but the late Seymour Britchky. He too used a four-star rating system, and the 1986 edition of his The Restaurants of New York lists the following in the three- and four-star categories.

****

Chanterelle

Lutece

***

Auberge Suisse

La Caravelle

Chalet Suisse

La Cote Basque

Le Cygne

DeMarco

Gloucester House

Maurice

Il Nido

Odeon

Parioli, Romanissimo

Phoenix Garden

Raoul's

Russian Tea Room

La Tulipe

[Gifted Gourmet]

this thread was one which began with his obituary and contains several classic Britchky quotes ... He had, it would appear, impeccable taste in his day and a keen mind and palate for what he ate.

[Fat Guy]

Thanks emsny -- we're becoming quite the archive here!

I wish I'd been able to dine at Le Cygne.

Is Maurice where Delouvrier was in 1986?

[oakapple]

I have a Britchky 1991 guide. That year, these were the four-star restaurants:

Aquavit

Le Bernardin

Chanterelle

Lafayette

Lutèce

And these were the three-stars:

Adrienne

Arquà

La Caravelle

Chalet Suisse

Le Cygne

Da Silvano

Da Umberto

Gotham

Huberts

Mondrian

Montrachet

Petrossian

Polo

Raoul's

La Régence

San Domenico

Vucciria

Among the two-stars that still exist (may not be exhaustive, but s/b close):

Aureole

Bouley

Café des Artistes

Duane Park Café

Felidia

La Grenouille

Le Périgord

Rosa Mexicano

TriBeCa Grill

Union Square Café

And among the one-stars that I believe still exist:

B. Smith's

Chez Jacqueline

Four Seasons

Indochine

Le Madeleine

Manhattan Ocean Club

Minetta Tavern

Odeon

Provence

Smith & Wollensky

Le Zinc

Also notable among the one-stars, although it doesn't exist, is one Café Rakel. Is this not Thomas Keller's former New York restaurant?

[milla]

Is Maurice where Delouvrier was in 1986?

Yes. In the early 80's Chef Delouvrier was at Maurice. At that time, the restaurant was under the consultative services of Alain Senderens, then still at L'Archestrate, the space that is now currently Arpege. The menu was entirely Senderens' at that time. I believe Maurice had a solid three stars in the Times at that time also.

BTW, I notice no mention of the Quilted Giraffe in any of these very interesting archive lists.

[milla]

Actually, I am not sure if Chef Delouvrier was at Maurice in 1986. I know that he was there at least from 83 to 85.

[ahr]

As I recall, Britchky disliked the Quilted Giraffe. Intensely.

[Trudges to bedroom, flips through newsletters...]

Yes, here's what the man had to say, in the February 11, 1980 issue of The Restaurant Reporter:

"In any talk about the new styles in food, the name Quilted Giraffe is usually mentioned. Rarely, however, with delight or recollected fun. There is a strange sobriety in this fairly new restaurant. Which is unfortunate, since going out to dinner is meant to be lighthearted, particularly when newness and creativity are on display."

He proceeded to trash the decor ("The overall feeling is one of disorientation. You can't relax."), much of the food ("In evidence next to the beans is a pale pink, nearly flavorless mush. Perhaps an astute eater will guess what it is. It's puréed radish, nothing more, nothing less... None of this food [Raw Scallop Salad with Walnuts] is bad, mind you, it is simply an array of acquired tastes, and if you haven't acquired the taste within seconds of your plate's arrival, you may be dissatisfied... This is also the Cuisine of Denial, and Mousse of Three Fish points this up. It is almost ridiculously stiff from the predominance of nutritious, low-calorie egg white. It may be a scientific miracle that it holds together, but with the exception of the salmon in the middle, the fish flavors have been eliminated along with the cholesterol... What would it be like, Barry Wine wondered, to cover a rack of lamb with Chinese mustard? It would give some exquisite, rare little chops the aftertaste of a frank at the ballpark."), and the value, at $130 for two, approximately $300 in 2004 dollars ("You have to love it a lot to make it worth the money.").

He praised the wine list.

I have no recollection from Britchky's other writing that he was unfamiliar with or necessarily hostile towards Nouvelle Cuisine (though he did co-author the Lutèce Cookbook), but that was his take on QG. He gave it one star out of four, and the also-recently opened Chanterelle two stars in the same issue.

Edited to flesh out the menu:

• Confit of duck with flageolets and radish purée
  
• Raw scallop salad with walnuts and seaweed
  
• Mousse of three fish
  
• Salad with sweetbreads in hazelnut oil
  
• "A slightly hard pastry shell with some soupy ham and leek mixture within"
  

• Cassis sorbet refresher
  

• "Bloody duck breast... in a creamless liquid" (ungarnished)
  
• Rack of lamb with Chinese mustard and lattice-work potato filled with par-boiled cherry tomatoes
  
• "Almost-raw kidneys" with five-peppercorn sauce
  
• Ragout of lobster with coriander (ungarnished)
  

• Soufflé for two (e.g., banana, pistachio)
  
• Coffee
  
• Chocolate-dipped strawberries (unripe)
  

• Cuban cigars
  

• Chateau Latour '71 ($80)
  
• Richebourg (DRC) '70 -- $85
  
• Le Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche ('??) -- $75
  
• Clos Vougeot (Lichine) '72 -- $32.50
  
• Sancerre (Neveu) '78 -- $20
  
• Ducru-Beaucaillou '71 -- $42.50
  
• Martin Rey Chardonnay '78 -- $30
  

Edited August 21, 2004 by ahr (log)

[milla]

Thanks for digging that up ahr. 1980? that must have been right when they first opened. I believe they got their first 4 star review in 1984 from the Times.