Fleur De Sel

[Wilfrid]

Another quick boost for this excellent little place in the Flatiron district.  Small, pretty dining room in which Cyril Renaud serves French food which is elegant, but more robust and adventurous, than he used to cook at La Caravelle.

We didn't have time for the long, tempting Winter Degustation menu.  Need to go back for that.  I didn't get anywhere near my partner's seared foie gras, served on an unusual puree of dried fruits perfumed with rosewater, or her pigeon.  She, however, managed to get her fork into both my cold suckling pig terrine (the soft flesh only, suspended in a light jelly) and the sweetbread component of my veal plate.  I love this dish:  soft chunk of veal tenderloin, big piece of seared sweetbread, black truffle sauce, a few baby vegetables.

The food bill for two was just over $100 (the foie gras pushed it up) - that was without dessert.  There are moderately priced wines on the list (around $40), or you can get into expensive burgundies.  I do like the 1996 Volnay 1er Cru, 'Les Taillepieds'.

I haven't seen this place mentioned by anyone on egullet other than me: surely someone else has tried it?

[Steve Klc]

Wilfrid--the desserts have much to recommend.  Did you feel the meal was fairly priced?  In your opinion, was the experience worth 2 or 3 stars--I believe Grimes gave it 2 last year, along with what seems like a hundred other restaurants.

Do you recall the price of the degustation?

[Wilfrid]

I am going to have to start taking notes.  I did at least remember the wine this time.

Okay, the degustation was $75.  I think there were six or seven courses - certainly looked like a lot of food.

I usually eat dessert or cheese, and I am sure the desserts have been good.  The maitre d' was heartbroken when we stopped after our entree, and promised me a dessert tasting next time.  We were under baby sitter time pressure, which was one reason we didn't do the tasting menu.

The star thing?  Reminds me that I haven't been able to find a list which shows the Times star ratings - is there one?  But I did take a look at some restaurants I have been to over the last few months for purposes of comparison.

Bid and Blue Hill both have two stars.  Fleur de Sel is certainly of comparable quality in terms of what ends up on the plate.  It is less plush than Bid, but more cosy and stylish - and a lot smaller - than Blue Hill.  Veritas and Pico, I see, have three stars.  In the latter case, I am quite bewildered by the rating.  The former makes a good comparison, because it's five minutes walk from Fleur de Sel and is also a fairly small restaurant.  The Veritas dining room is much the more elegant of the two.  Service is slightly more polished at all levels at Veritas, although it's very friendly at both.  The Veritas wine list is out on its own.  

Food.  Renaud strikes me as a master of classical techniques.  Moving down in terms of scale from the big La Caravelle operation to his own kitchen and small dining room means you get a highly professional and experienced chef focussing on a fairly short menu of his own design and giving each plate a lot of attention.  Result: in six or seven visits, I don't think I've had a disappointing dish.  His savoury sauces are deeply flavoured.  The timing of his meat cooking is excllent - to be honest, I like his meat so much that I have rarely eaten fish.  It is easy to under- or over-cook veal sweetbreads, but I find his version perfect.  He also composes dishes which, while based on classical French cooking, have imaginative elaborations or unusual, but not wildly radical, garnishes.

I first ate at Veritas very soon after it opened, and have been back four or five times.  I know less about Scott Bryan's background as a chef.  The Veritas menu is fairly short too.  I wish I could compare examples side by side, but my impression is that the dishes are slightly simpler than at Fleur de Sel - and indeed, their role as context and background for great wine justifies that.  I have had some very good meals there, and some meals which have mis-fired.  I have had almost raw, runny foie gras.  I have had some quite bland meat dishes which were eaten and forgotten in five minutes.  Understand - I am not saying this is a bad restaurant.  just slightly uneven.

In summary, I am not too surprised that Veritas has one more star than Fleur de Sel - it presents itself as a much grander sort of place - but I think the distinction, on the basis of the food at least, is arguable.  If I had to choose between the two as a restaurant to visit every week, I would choose Renaud's place without hesitation.

[Wilfrid]

In fact, I readily found the Veritas dinner menu online.  Its here:

http://www.veritas-nyc.com/menu.htm#dinner

and the same site also has Bryan's bio.  He's certainly cooked in some good places.

Can't find a Fleur de Sel web-site.  I think the entrees on the Veritas menu bear out my point to some extent (the appetizers less so).  Meat or fish with interesting but fairly straightforward vegetable accompaniments.  Of course, there's scope for a wonderful sweetbread/squab cook-off between Renaud and Bryan.  I would like to be a judge.  "Whose cuisine reigns supereme????" :wow:

Okay, enough of that.

[tommy]

Can't find a Fleur de Sel web-site.  

you need to ask a professional web surfer.

Da website.  click here.

[Steve Klc]

Thanks for the wonderful explication Wilfrid.  The degustation sounds like a steal.

You used to be able to go to the Times website and sort by star ranking to get a list of all so-starred restaurants.  I haven't done it in awhile and will go there now to see if they've changed how or whether you can access this information.

Be careful, though, to note the date of last review.  Many are of the opinion that Mr. Grimes grades on a, shall we say, less-charitable bell curve than his predecessor--a 2 star under Grimes would be a 3 star under Riechl, etc.

[Wilfrid]

Well done, Tommy, although people will now be able to compare the menus and notice what thin ice I am skating on when I suggest Veritas's is simpler.  never mind.  Interesting to note that Renaud and Bryan both went through Bouley's kitchen.  The paintings on the Fleur de Sel web-site are by Renaud himself.  Listen, I said he's a good chef.

[Wilfrid]

Since I just accidnetally posted the same message twice, i thought I would edit this one and give you a poem:

They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,

Love and desire and hate.

I think they have no portion in us,

After we pass the gate.

They are not long, the days of wine and roses.

Out of a misty dream,

Our path emerges for a while,

Then closes, in a dream.

Ernest Dowson, and long out of copyright I believe.

[Steve Klc]

Wilfrid--maybe we need to call Steven Shaw in on this--or Tommy, the super web surfer--but the Times appears to have changed the way you can search for restaurants--no longer giving you the star parameters to search by.  It used to be so obvious--I wonder if providing such easy access to multi-starred properties hindered advertising revenue for the site? Possibly something more nefarious afoot?

Is it my just my sense, or are many reviews now behind the wall of a premium archive?  Weren't longer excerpts from reviews made available in front of the wall previously?

Or is this old news and we're just out of touch?

[Wilfrid]

I concur with all your observations, Steve, and I too have the impression these are recent changes.  I had been entertaining the possibility that I was just incapable of working the site properly, but apparently it's not just me.

[Fat Guy]

The place where you should be going to search for NYT restaurant stuff is:

http://www.nytoday.com

If you click on Restaurants under the Quick Picks menu and then you choose the Advanced Search, you can still search by star ratings and other database fields. They seem to have tweaked it so that two stars gets you two, three, and four rather than just two. That's dubious.

Some reviews include full text; others don't. They've revised the level of detail a number of times. It's fairly inconsistent. I'd have to guess there are some funding and staffing problems at NYToday. There is also some sort of overarching relationship with the bound, printed restaurant guide published by the company.

I do think they're trying to give their readers what they think their readers want.

There hasn't been much change recently. During the last redesign they tried to make NYToday look a bit more like the NYTimes main site, but didn't change much of the underlying content. It's all, at best, an inconsistent effort.

[yvonne johnson]

Through serendipitous stumbling eight eGulletarians (Stefanyb and Aaron, Tommy and Mrs Tommy, Wilfrid and his Beloved, and Lurker and I) found Fleur de Sel, 5 East 20th Street (b/w Broadway & 5th Ave), 212/460-9100 last night. I am not exaggerating when I say that the meal was one of the most agreeable I’ve had in years. Agreeable sounds a little bland, maybe, but after the seven-course Spring degustation, that was the word that fit my experience best. I didn’t feel bloated as you often do in this city. At the end of the meal I simply felt well fed in a settling way.

For most of the menu there was a choice between two dishes. I've put the dish I didn't have in brackets.

1. Suckling pig and foie gras terrine with aged balsamic This had a range of very soft (aspic, and foie gras) and meaty (distinct stands of pig) textures. I liked this very much. My husband and Wilfrid thought it needed further seasoning. Points given to restaurant for having salt on the table. I think the dish could’ve been enhanced by something crunchy, say, cornichons—but this is a tiny thing.

[OR Goat cheese ravioli with beat mustard reduction and sevruga caviar.]

2. Diver sea scallops, parsnip foam and chestnut and white truffle ravioli. This was my favorite dish on the menu. I know there is a debate raging on another thread about whether cooking is an art, well, in my book this combination is art. Large, top-notch scallops from Maine surrounded by parsnip soup (yes, a little foamy), and the surprise ravioli at the bottom.

[OR sesame seed crusted salmon, mushroom licorice emulsion, and white asparagus.]

3. Pompano, aromatic glaze, French radish and Portobello mushroom. Pompano is a fish I love, and mushroom isn’t something I’d think of an accompaniment for it, but the skinless fish and mushroom melded together very naturally.

[OR Potato crusted black bass, broccoli puree, Malbec wine, and maple sugar reduction]

4. Maine lobster with Scottish lobster emulsion, harrisa and asparagus. For me, this was the weakest dish. It felt a bit tired, and the lobster meat was a little chewy. That said, it was still quite good.

[OR Sullivan country seared foie gras, dried fruit puree with rose water]

5. Rack of lamb with juniper and orange and vegetables. Two medium large chops, lamb-y, juicy with crispy fat at the edges. A little portion of carrots (that tasted of carrots for once), celery and tiny potatoes helped mop up the reduction as did the hearty brown bread (points too for leaving the bread throughout for mopping).

[OR tenderloin of veal, spinach and black truffle sauce]

6. Raspberry feuillete with, on this night, dulce de leche maybe (?). This was a miniature dish with fruit on bottom, thinnest of pastry in middle and spoon of the dulce de leche on top. Absolutely delicious.

7. Chocolate tart soufflé with vanilla ice cream. I could only manage half of this. I like chocolate, but am not a fan of chocolate desserts, and I’ll leave others to judge this warm tart with oozing chocolate.

The tasting menu was $75 per person and I thought it was well worth it. With wine, including a several bottles of a nice Gewürztraminer and reds, it came to around $130 per person.

As you can see from the website http://www.fleurdeselrestaurant.com/, it is a small restaurant, with minimal decoration, and, though all wooden, very comfortable chairs. Cyril Renault, the chef, said hello at the end as we were leaving and he seems like a diffident, friendly fellow. Service was efficient and professional. (None of that over-friendly nonsense.) I will definitely return and that will be sooner rather than later.

I see Wilfrid isn’t active today, but thanks for suggesting Flute (where we met for drinks) as well as Fleur de Sel in the first place.

[tommy]

i was quite impressed with the food, service, and restaurant overall.  a much more civilized affair than our last, which turned into a pub crawl.  

the conversation and company were wonderful, although the long table made for 2 separate conversations for the most part.  but, when dessert wrapped up, i was shocked to see that it was already 11 pm.  time flew.  time flies when you're eating 7 courses.  

[Aaron T]

I heartily agree with Yvonne & Mr. Tommy.  The food was delicious and was consistently good for all seven courses.  I managed to pick the other choice from Yvonne most of the time and they were excellent as well, especially the seared foie gras in course 4.  I haven't had so much good food or so much good food talk in quite some time.

[stefanyb]

After Yvonne's excellent post there is not much left to say, but of course that doesn't mean that I don't want to stick my two cents in.

The fact that we all had the Spring degustation menu was what galvanized the event.  It focused the conversation on the food and that conversation enhanced the whole experience.  Of course it didn't hurt that the company as well as the food was superb!  Also the level of food knowledge was amazing.

Food highlights for me:

tiny chestnut and truffle oil ravioli hiding under the scallop

dulce de leche on the first dessert

the middle terrine layer of fois gras

potato crust on the bass made of tiny crunchy potatoes

the liquidy chocolate center of the chocolate tart

All in all it was a very special evening.

The maitre d' was very impressed by how our group formed and so am I.  Yeah us!

[Wilfrid]

It was a great evening, and no-one who was there will be too surprised that I was laid low by a bronchial infection afterwards.  Just hope I didn't give it to anyone.

I second the comment on the seared foie gras.  They were generous slices, and the thing Renaud does to spike it up with rosewater is unique and delicious.  I also thought the pompano was streets ahead of the seab bass with potato crust, and I loved the veal which was smothered with chunks of black truffle.

It's a pity the sweetbread wasn't on the menu.  I am increasingly convinced Renaud is a master at timing the cooking of delicate meats.  His sweetbread, like the foie gras on this menu, manages to be almost caramelising on the outside, while just the correct side of rare in the center.  A lot of chefs get this wrong.

Charming restaurant, although I think I found the former maitre d' somewhat jollier.

[cabrales]

I had lunch at Fleur de Sel today. A good prix fixe meal (likely available only for lunch), at the very good price of $20 for three courses. (Edit disclosure: Price corrected from original indication of $30 to the actual of $20).

-- Suckling pig and foie gras terrine with aged balsamic

-- Potato crusted sea bass, Malbec wine and mapel sugar reduction

-- Rasberry feuilletee

       Glass of Domaine du Bois Guillaume, White Burgundy 1998 ($12)

       Glass of Hurst Pinot ($11)

The terrine of foie gras and suckling pig was good, with the foie relatively suppressed and with an appropriate utilization of surrounding gelee. The suckling pig included was in segments and strands, which contrasted nicely with the smoothness of the foie. The balsamic was nicely utilized, and the tiny radishes with long stems were appropriate accompaniments.

The bass was well-prepared as well. On top of the flesh of the bass were potato puree portions whose top had been formed into the shape of scales of a fish and had been browned slightly. This provided a slight bit of crunchiness. The pea puree included evoked the spring and summer seasons. The red wine reduction was strong, and rendered the pea puree necessary ato the dish.

The rasberry feuillete consisted of whole rasberries sandwiched between two thin sheets of pastry. On top was a quenelle of caramel-flavored ice cream or rich sorbet, with large sprinkles of fleur de sel (or at least sea salt).  I have tended to like caramel/salt combinations, but here the salt could have been better integrated into the caramel tastes. However, the dessert remained good overall.

The wine list was not particularly long, but contained some interesting (at least to me) items (e.g., Blanc de Lynch-Bagues 1997 at $84; Pascal Jolivet Sancerre 2000 at $41; O Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet "Les Pucelles" 1999 at $125).  The service provided by the maitre d' was very nice, including with respect to the wine recommendation.

The restaurant was fragrant with slight traces from white geraniums, included in one of the three very large sprawling (in a good way, in context) floral arrangements placed inside the relatively small restaurant. Each arrangement was large, both in vertical and horizontal dimensions. Some had twisted or elegant branches as main components of the arrangement.  

[Wilfrid]

It's always a relief when someone seems to have had a good meal at a restaurant one has recommended.  I have eaten all those dishes Cabrales - in the case of the dessert, several times - and I'm glad you found them acceptable.  

[PaulaJ]

We've booked for this restaurant. Has anyone dined there?

[cabrales]

PaulaJ -- Here's a thread on the restaurant:

http://forums.egullet.org/ibf/index.php?s=...hl=fleur+de+sel

[PaulaJ]

Thanks for the reference. I read the thread and continue

to look forward to dining there. It sounds interesting.

[PaulaJ]

Small,pretty, flower bedecked room........excellent service.......

interesting menu.

Prix fixe is $62 and offers a choice in most categories. The seared

sea scallop which sits on a tomato confit and is surrounded by

a frothy fresh pea sauce and fresh peas was particularly excellent.

The potato encrusted black sea bass w. 2 sauces was also enjoyed.

The only course which disappointed was the entree--quail in foie gras sauce & lamb w. veggies. Desserts had a strong caramel component

[?consistent w. Brittany] as well as the fleur de sel accent.

[Degustation]

This was part three of my dining weekend – see this link to access descriptions of the other meals. (Dim Sum GoGo, Gramercy Tavern, Bouley)

http://forums.egullet.org/ibf/index.php?s=...t=ST&f=4&t=8050

Having had the clockwork like service at Gramercy the previous evening, the service at Fleur de Sel seemed rather amateurish and at times too amusing for words. It was Sunday evening, and when I arrived, only three other tables of two were occupied. This soon changed to eight tables of two at the height of the evening – two thirds full.

The hostess seated me and another young woman who was my server, presented me with the menu. However, she clutched the wine list and asked if I was going to be drinking any wine, in a tone that insinuated the assumption that I wouldn’t be. I coolly informed her that I would have to select my meal first and then decide on having wine, and it would be best if she left the wine list. I find it annoying when they assume a single female diner may not order as much as other diners. An inauspicious start.

Actually the hostess seemed to be more helpful as she took my order and suggested that I could have wine tastings with my meal, if I didn’t want to overindulge. More on the service later on.

I selected the Spring tasting menu, and since most of the items have already been described in this thread, I will only elaborate as necessary. I included the other choice in brackets if it was different from the menu that the others had sampled. The wine was taken as tasting portions.

1) Suckling pig and foie gras terrine with aged balsamic.

As described by Yvonne and Cabrales, the meat pulled from a roasted pig was combined with the gelee and foie gras to form the terrine. Quite a good juxtaposition of shapes, textures, and flavours.

Bourgogne, Domaine du Bois, Guillaume Burgundy 1998

[Ceviche of Cape Neddicks oysters, tomato lime tea, spring peas]

2) Diver Maine sea scallop, parsnip foam, white truffle chestnut ravioli

A large scallop, seared with a nice crust, placed on top of four ravioli soaking in the buttery foam with bits of parsnips and scallops. A nice blend of flavours – I really liked how each ingredient offered its own individual sweetness to the dish. I agree with Yvonne, the best dish of the lot.

Mossbridge Chardonnay

[or Goat cheese ravioli, artichoke, green basil, beet reduction, American sevruga caviar]

3) Potato crusted black jumbo bass, broccoli puree, Malbec Wine, Maple sugar reduction

This was well described by Cabrales, except this dish had a very concentrated broccoli puree instead of a pea puree. This was prepared by cooking just the broccoli flowerets, squeezing out all the water and finally processing them in a blender.

[or Sesame seed encrusted salmon, mushroom licorice emulsion, white asparagus, tarragon]

4) Steamed Maine lobster, Scotch lobster harrisa emulsion, green asparagus

The lobster claw and part of the tail was arranged on top of the asparagus pieces, surrounded by a deep pumpkin-coloured, frothy sauce. The lobster meat was well-prepared –tender yet crisply firm to the bite.

Muscat d’Alsace Turkheim 1999

[or Duck foie gras, dried fruit puree and rose water, red wine sauce]

Before the dish arrived, the hostess was about to pour me a glass of the pinot noir that was supposed to go with the next course. When I indicated that I haven’t yet had the lobster, she became flustered and said the kitchen had told her that I was on the fifth dish. She returned with a bottle of the Muscat d’Alsace, and announced that she would let me sample this first because it was “kind of funky” (I swear - her exact words) and some people didn’t like it. So as you may have already surmised, she hadn’t bothered letting me sample the other glasses she had previously poured – but this “funky” one – well, had a special honour. The wine was fine by the way.

5) Roasted quail, foie gras sauce, spinach, wild mushrooms

The quail was presented with a lovely piece of fois gras, both resting on a bed of spinach with morels and porcini mushrooms, surrounded with a rich foamy brown sauce (foamy sauces were the dominating factor that weekend). The overall dish was not memorable but the foie gras was beautifully caramelized.

This dish and the one that preceded it were not the most visually appealing. They were both rather monochromatic – the first being rather orangey and this one an earthy brown. It certainly wasn’t a case of eating with my eyes. Each dish also had one dominating taste and lacked any real interesting layering of flavours.

Pinot Noir, Armand Hurst Vieilles Vignes Alsace 1999

[or Tenderloin of veal, porcini, black truffle sauce]

6) Pineapple Sorbet (compliments of chef)

A large quenelle of sorbet that was sweet and tart.

7) Raspberry feuillete, white chocolate ganache

Already well-described by Cabrales. Of all three desserts this evening, this was the best in regards to creativity, presentation and balance of flavours and textures.

8) Gaufrette au chocolat (compliments of chef)

This was composed of two chocolate covered gaufrette-like cookies (similar in appearance to a large Dutch stroopwafel cookie) sandwiched together with a smooth dense chocolate toffee and light chocolate mousse in the middle. This was garnished with a quenelle of chocolate ice cream, offset with a sprinkling of salt. I found this dessert to be overly sweet and not that appealing.

When the gaufrette was presented, I wasn’t sure whether this was instead of the chocolate soufflé, or if it was an extra dessert, since the runner didn’t seem to speak French or English well enough to answer my question. I finally flagged down the server and she looked startled at my question. She demanded (and I quote), “Well, what did he say?” (referring to the runner) I replied that he didn’t say much of anything when he plopped it down in front of me. The server then became flustered, and said in a panicky squeak, that the kitchen doesn’t usually make such mistakes and she would find out. She came scurrying back and said it was an extra dessert and they would be willing to make any other dessert I wanted to try. Though I mischievously toyed with this idea, I declined, as the other desserts didn’t seem that appetizing anyways.

9) Chocolate tart soufflé, vanilla ice cream

This was a round chocolate tart sprinkled with powdered sugar, served with a large quenelle of vanilla ice cream. This was not a true soufflé, but more of a flaky tart pastry filled with rich thick, warm chocolate. I was quite startled when I bit into a chunk of dark chocolate with one of the spoonfuls – I could be wrong but I don’t think this was intentional since it seemed to be incongruous with the composition. I would be curious to know if anyone else had this same experience with the dish. The ice cream was quite pleasant with flecks of vanilla.

It was unfortunate but I didn’t find any of the chocolate desserts to be comparable in quality to the raspberry feuillete.

$137 (includes tasting menu, four tasting sizes of the wines, espresso, taxes, and tip)

Overall experience was fair as there were as many high notes as there were low ones. Since it was a Sunday on a long weekend, I can understand if not everything was quite up to par. If everything evened out, I can see the potential of this being a very pleasant dining experience.

[LaNiña]

Lunch today at Fleur de Sel was underwhelming. First off, it took forever to get water, despite asking several times, bread didn't come until the food arrived, and we had to ask twice for more butter. They were nice enough to substitute a fish on the $20.02 menu for my friend - he keeps somewhat kosher, and neither monkfish nor skate is kosher, I learned today - they made a regular portion dish of the cold poached trout appetizer off the regular menu for him, a nice accomodation. But service in general was lousy - haphazard, no coordination, impossible to get attention.

I started with chilled gulf shrimp in a chamomile vinaigrette with market tomatoes. Shrimp was too fishy and overcooked and rubbery. The tomatoes were lousy - and I don't mean as compared to Tim Stark's tomatoes - I mean just plain lousy. I kept thinking to tell them yo, walk 3 blocks and buy some decent tomatoes...

My main course was veal tenderloin with sweetbread ravioli, wilted spinach, in a madeira sauce. The veal was overcooked, but I liked the ravioli and the sauce was right on the money.

Sorbets for dessert were okay (mango, passionfruit, rasberry), nothing special, and can't compare to the sorbets at AZ, which I still think are the best I've had in recent memory.

Nice glass of white wine - Corbieres, Domaine Laillenc Sante Marie 'Pas des Loves" 2001. Fullbodied, nice sweetish long finish, really liked it.

I'm told that I need to go at dinner - but why?

[tommy]

mrs. tommy had lunch there yesterday. she said it was very good, although the service was off, way off. the dishes she and her group had were different than the above.

seems like service at lunch might be a problem. i wonder if anyone else has noticed this?