Le Jardin, Edgewater: Worst experience ever

[jg70124]

Hello folks. I'm a new eG Forums member, and sadly, my first post is about an awful experience.

We have lived in Bergen County for 5 years, after 10 years in New Orleans. We've heard lots of good things about Le Jardin, a fine-dining continental restaurant in Edgewater with stunning views of the Hudson and of Manhattan, so tonight we went there for the first time. We arrived early, about 6:30, and the hostess was able to sit us outside on the patio, near the bar. But the view was nice, so we didn't mind the bar.

My wife ordered the Lobster salad appetizer as her main course, and it was excellent. 1/2 a lobster, shelled, over greens, with just a drop of a creamy truffle oil dressing. I had the braised lamb shank in a red-wine reduction, with new potatos a selection of steamed vegetables. The shank was nice, very soft, although the reduction was a little rich for my taste. The vegetables were just right - not over done, good mouth feel.

About halfway through our meal, two guys at the bar got in an argument. After a couple of minutes of shouting and shoving, the waiters separated the men, and it seemed as if things were cooling down.

But then about 6-10 guys, some in suits and some in kitchen whites, ran out of the dining room and started beating on the larger of the two men. They ripped off his shirt and threw him to the ground (about a foot from our table). One of the kitchen guys kicked him in the head - hard, like you would kick a football - and then he did it again. We could clearly hear his boot hitting the guy's head. There was no blood, but the guy was obviously stunned.

My wife burst into tears, and I got freaked out. We left without paying, although I did tip our waiter.

We have been dining out for 25 years, at fine restaurants and dives, in good neighborhoods and bad. But never have I ever experienced anything so grotesque as what I saw tonight.

We will never go back, and I urge the readers of this board to avoid Le Jardin.

Edited August 27, 2005 by jg70124 (log)

[Spinner]

Woah. This is quite the loaded post..

(not loaded as in full of it but just..wow..)

Edited August 27, 2005 by Spinner (log)

[M.X.Hassett]

I have eaten there many times in the past. The regulers at the bar get a little rowdy sometimes but this I hhave never heard of. Sorry to hear that the staff beat up a customer, I do not think I will return there to eat, unless they resolve this isssue. I have seen people get 86'd but this is a bit extreme, I have heard of this happening in the back parking lots of nightclubs and bars, but in the FoH of an upscale res't this is just wrong. Welcome to EG.

Edited August 27, 2005 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[JoRic]

Wow, this is truly awful, but not only did your dinner get ruined, it seems to me that you witnessed a crime. Have you considered contacting the police?

[jg70124]

Re: police - not sure what I would say. I couldn't describe any of the bad actors, and I can't really say for sure how the thing started.

Re: welcome - thanks! I've been lurking around (and loving it) for months - ever since a friend who works at Mo Pho in Fort Lee told me Jason had been through there.

Edited August 27, 2005 by jg70124 (log)

[waves2ya]

Huh.

Yet, the food sounded good; I mean if you'd gotten food poisoning, the lamb was gamy and the bad actors/fight (maybe they robbed ya too); we are talking worse ever here...

Ain't the land of Sopranos for nothing.

Welcome to eG. The beginning of your post made my mouth water, so fill us in as you eat around. And be ready to rumble...

[Rebecca263]

Yeah! The food sounds great, we'll be visiting there sometime in the near future to see for ourselves. We like braised lamb, but we don't make it at home. Since you're mentioning what you say happened and then saying you didn't report it at the time, it must have been just bad enough to get you to leave without paying and bad mouth the place, but not bad enough to call the police about? It seems strange to me, that you'd go to all the trouble to write about this incident here, but not to call the police at the time it happened, or even now.

[tommy]

and I urge the readers of this board to avoid Le Jardin.

←

why? good food. good view. and entertainment ta'boot. sounds like my kind of place.

i've always wondered about this place. glad to hear the food is good. anyone know if they have a website?

Edited August 27, 2005 by tommy (log)

[M.X.Hassett]

Tommy none that I can find(site). I am starting to agree though, why not eat there good food great cocktails from what I remember. They might be able to drum up more business if the had the"floor show" everynight, and they could add it to the sopranos bus tour Bourdain went on in NR Jersey ep. Might pre-eat there before hitting Pegu club wed.

Edited August 27, 2005 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[tommy]

www.lejardinnj.com

the place looks pretty good. looking forward to trying it before the summer ends.

[M.X.Hassett]

Thanks for the site T. Menu looks pretty much the same since I last ate there maybe 6 months ago. I am going to start a new thread in general food topis on the bigger ? of this issue, open it up for wider discussion.

[M.X.Hassett]

Just spoke to the manager over there, he seemed very forthecoming and said that they just escorted the guy out because he was making a scene drunk etc.. He said there was no boot kicking to the head. From my experience there this makes sense. I will be eating there wed.

edit: strange you witnessed this but could not describe anyone

Edited August 27, 2005 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[jg70124]

Just spoke to the manager over there, he seemed very forthecoming and said that they just escorted the guy out because he was making a scene drunk etc.. He said there was no boot kicking to the head. From my experience there this makes sense. I will be eating there wed.

←

Of course he would say that. But I was sitting just a couple feet away, and what I wrote is what I saw. I would not make up something so grotesque.

As I wrote earlier, I did not call the police because I could not identify who the people were, and because I was not directly involved, and because my primary concern was to get my wife out of there as quickly as possible. And because it would be my word against the word of the restaurant, whose staffers were the ones doing the kicking.

Instead, I got myself home, cooled down a bit, and wrote about the experience here. Based on the response I've gotten here and in private messages, maybe that was the wrong thing to do.

[tommy]

Just spoke to the manager over there, he seemed very forthecoming and said that they just escorted the guy out because he was making a scene drunk etc.

←

now that i think about it i *was* there the other night.

[M.X.Hassett]

Just spoke to the manager over there, he seemed very forthecoming and said that they just escorted the guy out because he was making a scene drunk etc.

←

now that i think about it i *was* there the other night.

←

Laughin my f'ing ass off, tommy. Wait maybe that was me over there

[jg70124]

Ok, I just called the Edgewater police, and spoke to a Sargeant. He said they got "a lot of calls", that people reported the restaurant staff really "tuned that guy up", that people saw staffers kicking the guy in the head and that they almost threw him through a window.

But unless the victim reports it, there's nothing they can do.

There are plenty of ways to defuse a bad situation without brutally attacking someone in full view of your other patrons.

[M.X.Hassett]

Just talked to Edgewater PD they confirm the incident. This definetly should not have happened FoH. I will though be there wed, This thread made me remember how good there foi is yum...fatty liver Tommy I think egdewater PD might be looking for you

Edited August 27, 2005 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[tommy]

Just talked to Edgewater PD they confirm the incident.

←

did they mention the clog to the head?

[M.X.Hassett]

They said the have had multiple calls on the incident and that the staff went overboard in "taking care" of the guy, they did not mention any details considering I was not there and not a credible witness, just a concerned customer.

:raz: how is your head feeling tommy

edit: I can not spell

Edited August 27, 2005 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[Anonymouze]

Darn it, I still can't find my 8" stiletto heels with the leather ankle straps I think one is still stuck in someone's tush over at Le Jardin in Edgewater from our little bar burlesque the other evening.

J/K

I might feel uncomfortable enough to want to leave fast but I would go to management or staff in a safer location of the place and at least pay my bill. *Shrug*

[jg70124]

I might feel uncomfortable enough to want to leave fast but I would go to management or staff in a safer location of the place and at least pay my bill.  *Shrug*

←

Actually, I tried. The Maitre d' couldn't find my ticket - and since my wife was crying in his main dining room, and I was clearly upset, he just gave me back my card.

[Kim WB]

hey, soprano and Tommy jokes aside, ( funny ones, I might add! ) I'm siding w/ JG on this one...that's scary stuff, a kick to the head is real violent...I'd get out of there ASAP, and why pay for a ruined dinner?? I'd give a second thought to calling the police and getting closely involved in an incident that was hard to describe clearly..and this fact checking on his story is kinda weird..nothing seemed trollish or incindiary in his posts, IMHO.There was a time whan all of us NJ board folks believed what someone said, without calling police and restaurants to verify. MX..are you our official fact checker now?? Just becasue in rereading my post re the Lawrenceville Inn, I think it was pea shoots instead of snow peas w/the tuna app...

Edited August 28, 2005 by Kim WB (log)

[M.X.Hassett]

Kim just called L.Inn you did have have Pea shoots, and the Lawrenceville PD, they will be on the look out for you now. (just a joke). I only called the management because I go to Le.J, and just could not see this happening there, and the PD call was more to fact check on management, I had not seen J/K post yet, 10 min apart.

[Rosie]

I'm closing this discussion. If you wish to post about the food at Le Jardin go here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=49958