Chez Bruce

[Andy Lynes]

I know that Bruce has spent a great deal of time in the kitchen at Chez Bruce in recent months. My understanding is that when he is in, he works a rota exactly the same as any member of the brigade. Bruce has expressed an interest in posting on thses boards recently, so perhaps he may respond to this himself.

[Matthew Grant]

I sent 2 'non-foodie' types here on Monday for a Birthday meal. They thought it was fantastic:

"that was without doubt the best piece of beef (my uneducated palette) I have EVER had EVER !

fan bloody tastic..."

Further investigation revealed that the other member of the party had some sort of lamb dish with "fantastic creamy mash" and that the beef came "with a brown sauce"

I think the beef was a Daube but couldn't get to the bottom of lamb dish (Tarragon Jus?)

The meal I had recently at Chez Bruce was superb, in some ways I'm glad I don't live locally because it would probably make me bankrupt living within walking distance of a restaurant that good!

[Andy Lynes]

....better than most places in Clapham.

Do you think they'd like to use that on their business cards?

[Andy Lynes]

Further investigation revealed that the other member of the party had some sort of lamb dish with "fantastic creamy mash" and that the beef came "with a brown sauce"

That's the sort of accurate insight that's just so rare here on eGullet.

[Matthew Grant]

I thought you would all appreciate it!

I did berate them for not returning with more information

At least they didn't think it "average"

[Scottf]

and that the beef came "with a brown sauce"

Nothing wrong with that. I'm always covering my roast beef with HP.

[Andy Lynes]

There's a recipe, and I'm afraid I can't remember which one, in "The Mirabelle Cookbook" by Marco Pierre White which is sauced with HP. It isn't a sauce with some HP in it, it's just HP sauce. One of the reasons I didn't spend £25.00 on the book. It's hardly ground breaking stuff al a "White Heat" is it?

[bateman]

....better than most places in Clapham.

Do you think they'd like to use that on their business cards?

Should change that to THE best place in Clapham. Thyme I thought came pretty close though.

[Steve Plotnicki]

I finally made it out to Chex Bruce last Monday for dinner. There were four of us, winos looking for a place with BYO and their 15 quid per bottle policy suited us just fine. Well I am sorry to report that we were to a person, considerably disappointed with the food. We all wondered what the big deal is about? My meal at La Trompette was much better then what I had at CB. In fact a week later I can't even tell you what I ate. That's how unmemorable the food was. And Bruce was there that night as well. But all was not lost as the wines were super and included a 1990 Grand Siecle Champagne, 1977 Ridge Monte Bello and 1989 Trimbach Clos St. Hune VT Hor Choix. But what am I missing about this place?

[Jonathan Day]

It is difficult to react to a review like this, both given the lack of detail and also since it is clear that your party and CB somehow failed to ‘connect’ this time around.

If the cuisine didn’t excite you, all I can say is that – not on every visit but far more often than not – I have found the experience very enjoyable. Like almost every restaurant, CB has its off days. Reflecting on your comments and on Robert Brown’s thoughtful review of the French Laundry, I wonder whether a restaurant can’t get into a ‘downward spiral’ on particular days, where the dance and flow between kitchen and front of house simply break down and it is hard to pull out of the downward dive. We had a lovely dinner at the Hostellerie Jérome in La Turbie last week; it was fine, right up until the end, when the service completely disintegrated. Review to follow on the French board.

What I’ve enjoyed at CB has been high quality ingredients, cooking that is generally of a high technical standard (fish in particular, but also saucing) and interesting takes on French dishes. Bruce is more of a traditionalist than an innovator, and his cuisine is more bourgeois than haute, simple and good rather than elaborate. But this often suits me. And he is happy to throw in brains, sweetbreads, kidneys and other bits of the animal that too often don’t make it to the table in other restaurants.

The service is usually very good, as well, though I have found it more variable than the food. And they are enthusiastic about wine. Did you discuss your wines with Bruce or with the waiter when you ordered? Did they suggest dishes to complement the wines?

Did you have their cheeseboard? A month or so ago it was a nice balance of French (La Fromagerie) and English (Neal’s Yard) cheeses, all in fine condition and served with erudition and enthusiasm. I know that cheese is, in some sense, not ‘cuisine’, but it does speak to the restaurant’s focus on food (as opposed to atmosphere, etc.) and their attention to detail.

[Steve Plotnicki]

JD - I think the sum total of what you described adds up to it being an off night which is completely possible. But I have to say that I had "menu disappointment" before I put a spot of food in my mouth. I find that menus that don't read well to me usually end up with food that doesn't taste that good. So when I got there, my first disappointment was seeing a menu that could have been served at either The Square or at La Trompette, and secondly, nothing about it signalled that CB was going to have a unique style or take on how to prepare the style of food. So when the food turned up all mediocre, it didn't surprise me all that much. I think it surprised my dining companions more than I as they live in London and are exposed to the CB plaudits more then I am. In fact when I emailed one last night to get his comments about the food I got the following response;

I don't remember much about the food either. Frankly, the food wasn't close to the quality of the wines so we didn't really focus on the food. Look forward to seeing your notes when you write them up. I had a terrine of duck and fois gras that was pretty good and an osso bucco that was pretty, but trimmed (and therefore a small and lean portion, lacking the oleaginous quality of great osso bucco). It was also over-salted and was overshadowed by my wife's osso bucco on Friday night which was spectacular.

To me, among the Nigel Platts Martin establishments, which all serve what I would call a Modern Britishized version of French bourgoise cuisine, I would place CB in last place after La Trompette (which seems to have improved the genre on an overall basis) and The Square which is a place that is fine but one that I would just as soon skip as I don't see what the fuss is about there either.

Of course this doesn't mean I have written the place off and I am certain I will try it again. But then again, I'm also not surprised to find a place of this style that seems to appeal to the London restaurant cogniscanti where I can't seem to figure out what all the fuss is about.

[Vanessa]

Interesting, Steve, your friend's comment about over-salting. I have only been to Chez Bruce twice, some 2-3 years ago, and found the food heavily over-salted. To the extent that I am still not inclined to return there even now.

[Jonathan Day]

I find that menus that don't read well to me usually end up with food that doesn't taste that good. So when I got there, my first disappointment was seeing a menu that could have been served at either The Square or at La Trompette, and secondly, nothing about it signalled that CB was going to have a unique style or take on how to prepare the style of food.

I think we could learn from your analysis of how the menu didn't read well. The CB menu changes daily, but its style is reasonably consistent. I've posted a menu from some weeks ago, earlier in this thread. Could you say a bit more about how you reacted to it or what was missing?

I believe that there is a strong connection (including, perhaps, cross-ownership; I'm not close enough to know) between Chez Bruce and The Square.

I've occasionally (though not lately) experiened oversalting at CB, but no more so than what I notice elsewhere. It's horrible when restaurants dump in salt to correct stocks or sauces that are insufficiently flavoured or reduced. Too many places in France do the same thing. At current price levels the gross margins on bottled water must be a big multiple of anything other category, including wine, so perhaps this is also a way of increasing water consumption.

[Paul Bell]

The margins on bottled water seem to be increasingly rapidly, the last time we went to the Square it was £5 for a bottle, but I set a new record in Vienna on Saturday £8 for a bottle of water, so they must be doing quite nicely on that menu item.

Paul

[Steve Plotnicki]

Yes well the menu you printed wouldn't necessarily wet my whistle either. I have to admit, I have a bias against London restaurants that are "faux French." Not that I think it can't be done well (witness my write-up of La Trompette from last spring,) but I have issues with the genre to begin with. It never seems to deliver on the promise of "almost as good as French but with a British twist to it." I much prefer a straight ahead Modern British approach like they serve at Kensington Place (in the olde days I mean when it was good,) or a stop beating around the bush and just serve French food approach like Gordon Ramsey does. MPW used to do it well during the era when he cooked at The Canteen (and I guess at Harvey's beforehand which was in the CB space.) But I'm puzzled at the popularity of places like CB or Racine when what they serve is neither here nor there (and this supposes my meal at CB was typical and not an off night.) But if you are going to serve French food, why Britishize it unless it is an improvement somehow?

[SamanthaF]

Britishize

Love it

[macrosan]

Interesting point about the menu, which I think works both ways. I went to Capital last Friday, and the menu read beautifully. But the food was awful, and my reaction to the food was made worse by the expectations the menu gave me.

On Steve's other point, that he simply doesn't understand why some people rate Chez Bruce so highly, that reinforces my own view that much of what constitutes a good restaurant is subjective. There seem to be experienced and knowledgeable contrary views on just about every restaurant (certainly here at eGullet). Of course this might be explained by "off nights" but I believe that different people simply enjoy, appreciate and respect different types of cooking, and different styles of restaurant.

[Simon Majumdar]

but I believe that different people simply enjoy, appreciate and respect different types of cooking, and different styles of restaurant.

Quite

it is a very simple notion that different people may like different things and, while we may like to have debate about which we prefer, it never ceases to amaze me how badly people take it when one of their favourite places is criticised.

S

[Matthew Grant]

but I believe that different people simply enjoy, appreciate and respect different types of cooking, and different styles of restaurant.

Quite

it is a very simple notion that different people may like different things and, while we may like to have debate about which we prefer, it never ceases to amaze me how badly people take it when one of their favourite places is criticised.

S

Anybody who doesn't like Chez Bruce is a fool and I hate them!

[Jonathan Day]

I see no need to defend Chez Bruce (or any other restaurant, for that matter). Educated and passionate people will disagree. What floats one eater’s boat will sink another’s. Especially in the absence of shared criteria or standards, there is no point in growing emotional over these judgements.

My point about an off night was serious, but also made in a spirit of rhetorical generosity. I want to understand why someone reacts as they do to Chez Bruce, or Gagnaire, or the French Laundry.

But the assertion that places like Chez Bruce or Racine are ‘Britishizing’ (!!) French recipes brings back an idea that remains core for me: the necessity of a nonclassicist view of the classics. Without this, we fall back either into dogma (‘there is one correct way to prepare Sole Duglière, and it is described on page 2238 of Escoffier’) – or, perhaps worse, total relativism.

Again, if I were to try to defend the British cooks who have been influenced by the French tradition I would say that they are taking ingredients that they can source from local suppliers and sell to local clients, then applying French techniques and aesthetic sensibilities to them. In the same way, a French chef in Britanny will work with different materials than one in the Southeast and will adapt the style to local tastes. This isn’t a case of ‘Britannising’ Southern dishes. It is a dialect rather than a different language.

[Andy Lynes]

...it never ceases to amaze me how badly people take it when one of their favourite places is criticised.

I think it's simply that people feel that what they like and dislike says something about them as people and may therefore feel any criticism of a restaurant they are particularly fond of is not only a criticism of that place but also their taste. (There's a better way of saying that, but I can't think of it at the moment).

[StephenT]

Britishize

Love it

Should be "BritishiSe" though, surely?

[Steve Plotnicki]

JD - Your point about British chefs using local ingredients and applying French technique is a good one. And it also explains why Londoners, whose palates might be more acclimated to that taste profile, might enjoy a place like CB better then a New Yorker would. In fact one of the things I like to eat the least in NYC is French bistro cuisine as I always find that it tastes of NYC and I want it to taste like it tastes in France.

[Jonathan Day]

Steve, how would you compare the tastes of New York City with those of France -- given, of course, similar ingredients and preparations?

I can think of a few tastes and aromas that tell me "you are in France". One is the sharper intensity of garlic (most notable in the raw plant, but also in cooked dishes). Another is that chickens have what I can only describe as a deeper taste (more bass notes), either because they are given different feed or not soaked in ice water. The third is that real French bread often has a tang that is hard to find elsewhere.

I have not eaten bistro cuisine in NYC but I have in Chicago and a few other US cities. The main difference I've noticed is a tendency toward sweetness in sauces.

[macrosan]

I think it's simply that people feel that what they like and dislike says something about them as people and may therefore feel any criticism of a restaurant they are particularly fond of is not only a criticism of that place but also their taste. (There's a better way of saying that, but I can't think of it at the moment).

Oh no, Andy, I quite liked the way you said it (and I agree with you, too)

Edit Afterthought: .... which probably means we're both wrong