Bistro du Vent

[Eatmywords]

It is a shame that things didn't work out better because the quality of food was above and beyond anything else available in the neighborhood.  Not everyone can walk in off the street without a reservation and enjoy the cooking of such a supremely talented chef.  Even as a former employee it's hard for me to diagnose why Bistro never made it.  In the long run I think it was a combination of elements.  Location.  Sure there are lots of people, but the majority don't appreciate great food and the neighborhood doesn't draw NY'ers as a dining destination.  The obvious counterpoint, however, is Esca which is perpetually packed and only one block away.  Space.  The space, no matter how you approach it, was awkward (from both the standpoint of the kitchen and the bar/dining room).  It simply wasn't well designed.  The decor was also lacking.  PR/Marketing.  Funny that everyone knows BDV for the alleged orgy (sorry folks, it never happened) but almost no one knew that, at least for the last six or seven months, Laurent Gras was behind the stoves.  Um, Laurent Gras in a Times Sq. bistrot?  People should have been lining up out the door for that opportunity.  Why didn't more people know about that? 

All in all I just think it was an ill-conceived venture which is what sets it apart from the rest of the Batali/Bastianich restaurants.  Every other restaurant they operate seems to be well planned, well designed, well funded and well promoted (certain issues regarding Del Posto not withstanding).  This was just the black sheep.  Or, maybe what they say about cursed restaurant locations is true.

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Hold up Murk, are you saying the entire orgy story was fabricated? - Without a peep from the Batali people in protest? What's the incentive to make up a story like that? If so, why not say it happened at Del Posto or Babbo? I have to think there's a grain of truth somewhere. Can you elaborate?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=1...-name_page.html

[murkcury]

There were apparently staff members involved in certain illicit after-hour shenanigans, but said shenanigans did not include sex on the bar. The concerned employees were dismissed for their improprieties.

Sorry to rain reality on the fantasy parade.

Again, it's a shame that Bistro will be remembered for this and not Laurent's approachable food.

[Daniel]

Sorry to rain reality on the fantasy parade.

Again, it's a shame that Bistro will be remembered for this and not Laurent's approachable food.

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Although the food might have been approachable, I dont think the restaurant was.. If it was in any other neighborhood ,it would have been great.

[murkcury]

It's a terrible location. When I'm thinking of going out to eat I don't usually say, 'let's head to Port Authority.'

[Nathan]

I was told by someone in the industry and in a position to know that there was indeed a sexual three-way caught on tape in a storage room of some sort.

but anyway....

[Shmily]

Hi...Ate at BDV only once and wasn't thrilled..ate at Esca a number of times and feel it has slid a bit from the early more wonderful days...anyone have other suggestions in the Theater District...especially for GOOD fish...thanks...appreciate it...

[Sneakeater]

It's a terrible location.  When I'm thinking of going out to eat I don't usually say, 'let's head to Port Authority.'

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So you think the one block from Esca to Bistro du Vent made such a difference? (It might have: 43rd St. is a lot different from 42nd St.)

But then how do you explain the longstanding success of Chez Josephine, basically right across the street?

[raji]

I'm going to have to agree that it's a tough location. (I think I was the first in this thread to say that it was "cursed"). 9th Avenue from 43rd up, and you know you are in a stretch of Theatre District restaurants, some great ones mixed with mostly tourist traps and then of course Restaurant Row.

That corner, continuing west you have a huge parking lot which faces the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel, and caticorner, you have the ass end of the Port Authority and a very large homeless shelter.

I think Chef Josephine is mostly occupied by people going to the theatres next door.

I don't think it's imposible but you'd need a lot of signage and neon or SOMETHING to get people over to that corner....

[rozrapp]

It's a terrible location.  When I'm thinking of going out to eat I don't usually say, 'let's head to Port Authority.'

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So you think the one block from Esca to Bistro du Vent made such a difference? (It might have: 43rd St. is a lot different from 42nd St.)

But then how do you explain the longstanding success of Chez Josephine, basically right across the street?

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Or the West Bank Cafe right next door to the Bistro du Vent location.

[Daniel]

I dont think it was the location as much as it was how it was billed.. I think the locals thought it was for theater crowds and the theater crowds might have thought the place was too trendy or going to be too crowded.. Or perhaps unaware all together of its existance..

Edited June 23, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[Sneakeater]

It's a terrible location.  When I'm thinking of going out to eat I don't usually say, 'let's head to Port Authority.'

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So you think the one block from Esca to Bistro du Vent made such a difference? (It might have: 43rd St. is a lot different from 42nd St.)

But then how do you explain the longstanding success of Chez Josephine, basically right across the street?

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Or the West Bank Cafe right next door to the Bistro du Vent location.

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Which, as I say above in my review of Bistro du Vent, isn't even very good.

[murkcury]

As bad as the location is you can't blame it entirely for the failure of BDV for the simple reason that there are several restaurants within one or two blocks that have had long-term success in that neighborhood. True, a couple of them are not culinary destinations (theater, theater and more theater crowds) but a place like Esca seems to be a destination restaurant. BDV's lack of success was based on a confluence of factors, one of which was location.

[rozrapp]

It's a terrible location.  When I'm thinking of going out to eat I don't usually say, 'let's head to Port Authority.'

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So you think the one block from Esca to Bistro du Vent made such a difference? (It might have: 43rd St. is a lot different from 42nd St.)

But then how do you explain the longstanding success of Chez Josephine, basically right across the street?

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Or the West Bank Cafe right next door to the Bistro du Vent location.

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Which, as I say above in my review of Bistro du Vent, isn't even very good.

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Sneakeater, Have you been to the West Bank Cafe recently? I had always passed it up because I had never heard anything about the food that would entice me to try it. That is, until I read (late last year, I think) that a new chef had been installed, and a new menu had been created with Bill Telepan acting as a consultant. Mmmm... So, when a convenient occasion arose a few months ago -- tickets to a Roundabout production at their American Airlines Theatre, which is on 42nd St., between B'way & 8th Ave. -- we had a post-performance dinner at West Bank. Despite what I had read, I reigned in my expectations. Happily, the food had just enough creativity to make it interesting, the plating was very attractive and, most important of all, everything we had was delicious.

[Sneakeater]

No. I can say pretty certainly that I haven't been there since Bistro du Vent opened. Now I have to try it again. Thanks.

[Sneakeater]

Imagine that there were restaurants next door to each other, at the corner of 42nd and 9th, with menu input from Laurent Gras and Bill Telepan! We really are living in some kind of golden age, in a way.

[raji]

For the first time I ate at the space formerly known as waiters-gone-wild, Bistro du Vent. I don't know that this part of the Ollie's Noodle House franchise, which I think are perhaps more Cantonese? But I think it's a similar phenomenon as the many independently owned Ray's pizzerias.

This place, however, seems to offer more authentic and riding on the coattails of the recent Western fascination with mouth-numbing Sichuan cooking.

http://www.ollies42.com/

The only reason we even tried it in the first place was because it was a Sunday night and everything else was closed, so we gave it a shot for delivery, and it was actually fantastic. Came really quick too. THEN everytime I passed it it seemed to be at least 50% full with Chinese customers. Often closer to 70%...

The waiters were all well-spoken, ABC guys... the managers were very nice, it's a decently-size room as some of you know. Eating in our ordering didn't do them justice, (and I was sick), menu has many similarities with Grand Sichuan, but definitely not your standard Fukenese carbon copy...

Will investigate further...