Bistro du Vent

[SobaAddict70]

For the most part, Bistro du Vent is not blazing new culinary trails but treading a familiar, deservedly beloved path, and so the appetizers include oysters, a spin on onion soup, a salad with duck confit, country paté and, inevitably, frisée aux lardon.We were especially taken with medallions of pistachio-filled pork sausage on a cushion of lentils.

Chef David Pasternack, also of Esca -- along with Joseph Bastianich and Mario Batali, present a Gallic continuum of sorts this time in the lower reaches of Hell's Kitchen.

Bistro du Vent (Frank Bruni)

Soba

[Daniel]

I went there last week.. The restaurant itself is very cozy.. I really enjoyed the moldings and comfortable tables and chairs.. Very dark and classy looking... The wine selection was rather nice.. I ordered a Saint Emillion, it was very good.. For an appetizer I had various organs cooked on a skewr and served on toast.. Really good stuff. For a main course I ordered a braised beef while my date had a mixed seafood in a white broth.. The braised beef wasnt too bad.. It was slow cooked and had a lot of stewed tomatoe flavor. The seafood was absolutely void of flavor.. The sauce itself absolutely sucked.. I was surprised that this could be served at a place like this.. Instead of making a big deal I told my date that i preferred hers to mine and we switched.. She was looking at my as if I was crazy for liking it.. I didnt really want to cause a scene and i wasnt too hungry anway.. So picked at my food and drank the wine.. All in all the place was pretty good.. Its in a weird spot so if i ever have to be within walking distance i would most likely go back there and not have the seafood dish.. In terms of a destination spot, i would say hells no.. This place is ok at best.

[ewindels]

Essayed Mario and Joe's latest on Friday, Jan. 7 pre-theater. As I was late and my companion even more so, they didn't hold the table for us but accomodated us in the bar, which was fine, tho I wouldn't want to repeat it -- small space, teeny tables, arrivals (most of them pretty hefty) crowding in on you, and incessant gelid blasts from the door. Service was still getting it's act together -- there was noticeable confusion about who at what table got which order. Prices were more or less comparable with Landmarc -- a carafe of wine equalling a third of a bottle was $13, luscious chicken liver mousse with toast was $10, and a lamb shank the size of a radial tire was $20, well braised, meaty, flavorful, a decent helping of potatoes on the side. My companion's pork chop was equally good. If you're in the far west Theater District, this will probably be a dependable and nifty place to eat.

[SobaAddict70]

I couldn't summon much excitement for the country pâté or the red and yellow beets, either. But ample redemption came in the forms of a luscious mousselike chicken liver pâté, a fantastic boudin blanc of chicken and sweetbreads, and a textbook frisée aux lardons that avoided the over-vinegary errors of so many of its peers around town.

The pink peppercorn ice cream with spit-roasted pineapple actually frightened me. The profiteroles were irritating. It's one thing for a restaurant to make them crunchier than usual. It's quite another to end up with veritable fortune cookies.

Bistro du Vent (Frank Bruni)

Soba

[cbking]

The pink peppercorn ice cream with spit-roasted pineapple actually frightened me.

I actually really enjoyed this dessert. I thought the ice cream in particular was an unexpected pleasure.

[Pan]

That doesn't surprise me. It sounds good and is something I'd probably order.

[Curlz]

Has anyone been here lately? I just found out I'm going in a week or so...

[Jason Perlow]

Anyone catch this? Sounds like the basis of a "Kitchen Confidential" episode on FOX!

Bistro du Vent Orgy

[raxelita]

Page Six revealed it on Thursday, in especially nasty detail. Don't have an online sub. to the Post, otherwise I'd link.

[Nathan]

pretty hysterical....I loved the last line about HK being a "New York suburb"....

of course, this sort of thing happens relatively frequently in the NY culinary world (I hear some chef gossip that I won't repeat here)...but they usually know to turn the cameras off...

[Grandgousier]

I'm sure all egulleters will be interested to know that Laurent Gras has been hired by Pasternack and Bastianich to take over the kitchen at the Bistro du Vent.

[Hank]

I'm sure all egulleters will be interested to know that Laurent Gras has been hired by Pasternack and Bastianich to take over the kitchen at the Bistro du Vent.

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That is very good news since I did enjoy manya fine meal that was prepared by Gras. I only hope that they will also do something about the service. It was so bad that we swore never to go back (complained bitterly to management on our way out) but Gras may change our minds.

[hll]

I'm sure all egulleters will be interested to know that Laurent Gras has been hired by Pasternack and Bastianich to take over the kitchen at the Bistro du Vent.

←

Is there a date for Gras to take over?

[Jason Perlow]

The new menu is supposed to take effect November 1, according to his wife:

http://snack.blogs.com/snack/2005/09/hotsnack_wheres.html

[cbergmann]

I am going there for pre-theater on October 4. What does this mean? Will there be one chef or another? Will I have a dinner caught in limbo and be better off dining elsewhere that evening?

[emsny]

Has anybody been since the new menu was put in place?

[adamru]

I ate at bistro du vent late one night last week. I live in the neighborhood but kept passing it by til when I believed the new menu took place on november 1st. I hadn't eaten there before and I likely won't go back. the appetizers were excellent, the butternut squash soup and my girlfriend had the prawns. but the entrees, I think the bacon wrapped rabbit loin was undercooked and overly rich. the sweetbreads were decent but better at casa mono. the restaurant was empty save for one other table that left as we arrived. the waiter talked to the departing couple for many many minutes while we sat waiting to just receive the menus. if I wanted a meal like this with better service, I'd prefer pigalle.

[emsny]

Thanks for the update.

[SobaAddict70]

Instead of the old chicken, which had bits of black truffle under its skin and was served with potatoes on a crowded plate, there is a young chicken, or poussin, the delicate, beautifully cooked parts of which were arranged in a tidy line across the center of an otherwise blank white canvas. After it was placed on the table, a sauce of smoked paprika, lemon leaves and lemon grass was poured over the bird.

Prawns studded with quinoa were undercooked. But a butternut squash soup was lovely, and spaghetti squash was even better, thanks to the addition of toasted pumpkin seeds, pistachios and plenty of butter.

It's a somewhat unappealing setting for extremely appealing food.

I can't imagine that Messrs. Batali and Bastianich are happy about that last sentence.

Bistro du Vent (Frank Bruni)

Soba

[Nathan]

funny, some insist in the Del Posto thread that Bruni's objectivity on Batali is completely gone...I'm beginning to think that Bruni's writing functions as a Rorschach test.

[Sneakeater]

I don't want to turn this into a dumb foodfight, but I don't see how anyone could take a blurb that says, in essence, that the food is so good it overcomes the unattractive room (which he even implies they couldn't help) as being any kind of slam.

Edited December 9, 2005 by Sneakeater (log)

[rich]

I don't want to turn this into a dumb foodfight, but I don't see how anyone could take a blurb that says, in essence, that the food is so good it overcomes the unattractive room (which he even implies they couldn't help) as being any kind of slam.

←

It isn't, but there was no hard rock music to rail against.

Edited December 9, 2005 by rich (log)

[Pan]

[...]

It's a somewhat unappealing setting for extremely appealing food.

I can't imagine that Messrs. Batali and Bastianich are happy about that last sentence.[...]

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Probably not, but it's a whole lot better than if the review said that "It's an extremely appealing setting for somewhat unappealing food"!

[Mister_Cutlets]

How is it possible that a chef of Laurent Gras' caliber is working at a place like Bistro Du Vent? How galling for him -- especially with somebody else reopening Peacock Alley uptown.

Josh

[robert40]

How is it possible that a chef of Laurent Gras' caliber is working at a place like Bistro Du Vent?  How galling for him -- especially with somebody else reopening Peacock Alley uptown.

Josh

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I don't believe Laurent Gras has or needs anything to prove in this point in his career and to speculate why he would chose to work at Bistro Du Vent is just that. Speculation.

There could be any number of reasons both professional and personal why a chef of his caliber may choose a management position in a restaurant that may be perceived a step back in the eyes of the public. Is Gray Kunz less a chef now then he was at Lespinasse?

Could be Chef Gras is waiting for the right opportunity to persent itself or maybe he perfers a low key restaurant at this point to avoid the high pressure and stress involved in running a kitchen like Fifth Floor or Peacock Alley.

I have no doubt Chef Gras is a professional that puts his heart and soul into any task contrary to where the restaurant stands on the popularity or status chart.