Aix

[jaybee]

Word has it that a French chef/restauranteur is opening a restaurant called Aix on the southeast corner of 88th and Broadway (formerly the home of "Boulevard" restaurant). He is currently chef at a hotel restaurant in NYC. Anyone know anything more? His name begins with a "V" (Vignatt or some such).

[Billy D]

Didier Virot, formerly Chef de Cuisine at restaurant Jean Georges and then Exec. Chef at his own place Virot which closed post Sept. 11 and is reopening as Britney's place. I worked with Didier and I think he is incredibly talented. Virot was very good but the location was terrible and the concept was a bit too pretentious. I think that aix should be more casual and Didier's food is always tops. I wish him the best of luck and I look forward to eating his fare once again.

[msp]

Yup, I went last night. The only reservation we could get was at 8.30 because this place has had so much good buzz.

We waited in the lobby for too long because our table wasn't ready, and the front of the house didn't think to suggest we have a seat at the bar. We figured they were about to seat us, and stood there. They were all so confident looking, so polished and hip...

Finally, we were taken to our table, and on the way, I noticed several empty, dirty tables. Hmmm.

The list of drinks is fun, the wines by the glass interesting. The wine list is not especially well-balanced-- definately leans toward pricey slections, and clearly favors less well-known choices.

The menu. The menu looked good....I mean, it was nicely designed-- as is the restaurant. Lots of subtle animalistic curves and angles and patterns. Shapes reminiscent of the old Merlot restaurant, although the colors were more retro fifties, with tangerine, greens, yellows.

The menu items seemed a little far reaching...a pounded piece of fresh foie gras crusted with pistachio. Sounded weird, so we decided to try it. Why pound a lovely piece of foie gras? I still don't know. Nor do I understand why one would crust it in pistachio, then drown it in pistachio oil. It was overwhelming-- all that oil on the slab o' foie.

Parisienne gnocchi were gummy, and the black truffles could be seen more than tasted. And what gave this dish a hint of pickle flavor? Huh.

Listen, the place is only about 5 weeks old, and had far too much press too soon. So they're making mistakes and having growing pains, and should be tried and reported on again in a few months. And here's why: we did have a brandade that was head over heels sumptious. All that fennel, that rich sauce, the subtle flavor of the fish...finely balanced and artfully executed with a crowning touch of baby turnips. This dish showed me there's real potential lurking in the kitchen.

One other dish to comment on: An asparagus salad was decent, not overly dressed, with a dice of beets and what at first glance appeared to be a hunk of soft cheese. On closer inspection, it was a well-coddled egg...with a firm yolk (NO!) and rubbery white. Ooops.

Our sweet oh-so-handsome waiter, the waitresses with plunging necklines, the living room style lighting...this is an achingly hip spot that may just need to catch up with itself.

So give them some time, and someone else give it a shot and let us know in a month or two. I don't have much interest in returning, but I do think it's too soon to really tell.

[baruch]

have eaten twice @ aix; once @the bar, & once on the 3rd fl dining area. restaurant beautifully designed, very "francophilian" via windows overlooking bwy + lovely hues,, & the chef/owner's background. bar area well planned & inviting. hopefully, the menu will be enlarged slightly, but is a minor quibble. unfortunately, the wine list is, as typical, outrageously inflated, but until diners boycott restaurant wine prices will this ever be rectified - maybe we need a national "dine out, but do-not-order wine in a restaurant" day??

wonderful dinner from a limited menu, which i personally favor. only quibble is that food is somewhat messed with too much vs. a more straightforward approach. service quite good, but has room to improve. don't think there is a bad seat in the entire restaurant. personally, did not think plastic badoit or vittel bottles "fit" into the decor - glass bottles certainly classier & cannot be that hard to find. overall, since the restaurant is relatively new, its opening appears to be successful & "hopefully" things will only improve.

[Hank]

We went to Aix the other evening with two other couples and we were uniformly very disappointed. Almost everything we were served was judged "bland". The salt and pepper shakers were kept quite busy. Not a good sign. My appetizer of canelloni stuffed with crab meat in a red pepper sauce read wonderfully but had absolutely no taste whatsoever. My main course was a combination loin of lamb and shank. The loin portion was quite tender but the shank meat was very dry and inedible. The consensus among the six of us was that none of us were anxious nor had a reason to return. Twelve orders and not a single wow. We were also mistaken in thinking that with a name like Aix (as in Aix en Provence) the menu would have Provencal dishes on it. Not a single one to our knowledge. Physically, the restaurant is very well conceived (three floors), seating was very comfortable and service most professional, but the bottom line for me was that the preparations of the food lagged far behind the beautiful presentations. For $175.00 a couple I expect at least somewhat memorable food.

[MartyL]

Funny thing happened to me the other day at Aix.

I was walking in the neighborhood on Saturday afternoon and stopped in to ask the hostess whether they by any chance had any openings that evening for a table for 2. I realize that with a hot new restaurant, same-day reservations on a Saturday night are a long-shot, but her response was still amusing. She said:

"I'm sorry, we're not taking any more reservations for tonight. We actually are overbooked on the assumption that we'll get some no-shows."

Even if its true, isn't that an odd thing for a hostess to say?

Anyway, sounds like we didn't miss much. Had a lovely dinner at Fairway instead along with a nice bottle of Dujac Morey St. Denis.

[Jinmyo]

Grimes review in NY Times.

[jaybee]

Grimes seems to like Aix more than the EGers who've eaten there. I had written them off for a while, but maybe if one orders well, a good meal is possibe. And it is just around the corner.

[Jinmyo]

jaybee, Food Arts had a very nice article on the place a while ago. Cuisine sounded good, interiors quite nice.

I dunno.

[Wilfrid]

Virot got mixed reactions when it was open too. I had one good dinner there. I am assuming Aix is considerably more casual.

[Steve Klc]

I remain glad that Grimes is reviewing again. I missed his voice, and his technique--not least of which is because he gets the importance of a pastry chef--he started mentioning pastry chefs by name more often than his predecessors--and as you see in this review, he captured (and conveyed) so much interest in a small amount of text, with bonus points for cute turns of phrase like the "Chloroseptic-green" scoop of sorbet, "packs the power of an entire box of Good & Plenty" and "it's a pastry chef's version of tough love."

Tell me if you don't read this review and know exactly whether you're going to stick around for dessert?

I think Bux's observations--that he is unsure Grimes actually enjoys eating and that he wishes Grimes conveyed more of that enjoyment in his reviews--might be open for debate--but you have to admire the process and the ability of this guy.

[Wilfrid]

I tried Aix at last. My goodness, is this place designed? The corporate color scheme - red and chocolate brown - is everywhere, from the walls to the servers' uniforms. Bright, busy, and a little noisy, there are dining room s downstairs and upstairs, and a lively bar where enormous portions of good-looking bar food (burgers, soups, salads) were being consumed.

Service was pleasant but not smooth. The waitstaff (all women; the busboys all men) seemed hurried. I was also very tempted to ask my server how much the women working there hated their uniforms. In the obligatory chocolate brown, the dresses managed to be very short, very low cut, but completely unflattering, especially when paired with heavy brown shoes. Trust me, Nicole Kidman would have short, chunky legs in one of these dresses. I eventually realized that they were supposed to be a take on the kind of costume worn by a young waitress or housemaid in a French provincial hotel. But what might look charming on a teenager in Tarbes looks silly on an adult woman in New York.

Carte prices were heartening - appetizers around $8 to $12 and entrees in the low twenties - much less expensive than, oh, Sammy's Roumanian for example. I ate the tasting menu; $78 for four courses and dessert, $114 with paired wines.

The amuse was a small cup of pistou, and I managed to burn my mouth drinking it. The first course proper was a write-off; long, thin slices of raw tuna and marinated cucumber, but so doused with black pepper that I could taste nothing else.

Then things looked up. The fresh foie gras crusted with ground pistachios was a great idea, well executed. I like my foie gras slightlky underdone, but I am usually put off by eating it very rare, when it has the texture of runny jelly. Here, Virot cooks it very rare, but restores texture and crunchiness with the coating. And the pistachio flavor remains subtle. Very good, and matched by a soft potato cake, also with a crunchy crust (not pistachios, i think), the soft mash being gently accented by an infusion of quince.

Next was a sort of re-think of lobster a l'Americaine. I thought it was the sort of dish Floyd Cardoz might serve, The sauce had a hint of Indian spicing (cumin, but something else as well), and instead of the traditional rice accompaniment, a crisp basmati rice cake. Lobster was tender. It was okay. The meat course, squab. So-so. A little underseasoned, I thought.

A pair of contrasting desserts, neither of which I liked. An old-fashioned tarte tatin was very flat in flavor. Next to it, a chilled stack of cucumber, apple and mint had an odd texture. Didn't work for me.

The wine pairing was a curious affair. The menu listed a Vouvray with the tuna. Noting that I had been drinking champagne in the bar, my server offered me a glass of Charles Heidsieck instead. Great. There was a generous glass of sweet Jurancon with the foie gras, then half pours of white Burgundy with the lobster and Chateauneuf-du-Pape with the fish and fowl. But no wine pairing with the dessert. I thought that was odd, and said so, and I was comped my choice from the dessert wine list. Now, I would have said $36 for four half pours would have been poor value, but what with the champagne and comped Moscati, I ended up very happy.

A bit noisy for me, but I'd use this place if I lived nearby. I am not sure I tell people to cross town to go there.

Edit: Re-read Grimes after writing my comments. Cayenne pepper on the tuna? I thought it was black, but we agree it was too much. We disagreed about the foie gras dish, I see.

Edited January 6, 2003 by Wilfrid (log)

[Wilfrid]

Okay, forget about my tastebuds. The pastry chef succeeded in completely confusing me. The dish must have been this (from Grimes):

"A so-called Provence salad, a layering of candied green tomatoes, thin-sliced fennel, and melon topped with a Chloraseptic-green scoop of mint sorbet. The dish is intriguing. It really does grow on you, gradually; it's a pastry chef's version of tough love."

Oh yes. I thought those apples were a bit funny. Anyway, it was dead green, and quite horrible.

[Simon Majumdar]

I found myself being stuck in NY for longer than expected and so, after an entirely unmemorable lunch at Diwan, I agreed meeting a good chum at Aix for an early supper

I arrived early and sat at the bar to wait. The Martini supplied was pretty shoddy. There is a big difference between washing the ice with vermouth and raw gin. Still London: Lots, London Lite ( i.e. NY ) 0. Quite horrid

The service however was excellent and when my chum arrived, we were given a decent seat inwhat was a quite pleasant room ( in the downstairs bit )

The menu was fairly standard mid level NY and my guest chose a tomato tart with me having fois. The tarte was by her description "basic" to me it tasted like Domino's sauce on Pilsbury puff pastry.

My foie was better but @ $17 for a postage stamp size of the stuff, I had every right to feel gypped. We ordered wine by the glass with this. A Jurancon was not bad at all and a glass of Picpoul was very good as well

Mains were not great at all. I had Squab with a mash of Jerusalem Artichoke. It was one of the ugliest plates I have ever seen, like it was thrown together by accident. The ingredients were not wonderful either and the chestnuts in the sauce were a total misfire

My guest had a pork loin cooked to the point of dryness. I am the pork eating god, but two mouthfuls of this and I could have no more

We split a dessert and props ( a boxing term for not slagging off ) are due to Jahangir Mehta, the pastry chef for producing a lovely souffle of chestnuts and almonds

We drank a bottle of Barruad Puilly with the meal. It was not badly priced @ $45.

They aced the mint tea test and the napkin test

After two meals at storefront places that were decent to great food at excellent value, this was the kind of mid level BLAH!! that makes the Upper West the wasteland it deservedly has the reputation of being.

One to avoid

4/10

S

Edited February 12, 2003 by Simon Majumdar (log)

[Pan]

After two meals at storefront places that were decent to great food at excellent value, this was the kind of mid level BLAH!! that makes the Upper West the wasteland it  deservedly has the reputation of being.

One to avoid

4/10

S

Thanks for the warning, Simon.

What two storefront places did you like?

(P.S. What does 4/10 mean?)

[Simon Majumdar]

The two "store fronts" were ( and I may be using this term incorrectly but I mean low end places, )were The Kabab Cafe and Tangra Masala

4/10 = there are not enough hot needles on earth to get me to go back unless I was invited by an easy lay with an enormous chest who was paying for me and wearing a T shirt saying " I intend to have sex with Simon within 4 hours"

S

Edited February 12, 2003 by Simon Majumdar (log)

[MHesse]

During my dinner at Aix on Saturday, there was only one variety of bread roll, so no choice there. It was a good roll though. And I was offered another.

I agree the foie gras app was quite small for $17. Bigger than most postage stamps, but not much bigger than 2" by 1.5" and thin. It did come with a few asparagi. Perhaps the vey large plates Aix uses for everything made it look even smaller. I've been similarly disappointed with app or entree portion sizes at many other places.

The wait staff attire didn't bother me at all. As far as I'm concerned, the staff's presence tableside when required is what is key, rather than their appearance. It's not as if the costumes are so displeasing as to ruin one's appetite. And our waitress was very attentive and helpful.

--mh