The gourmet food in New York is fantastic and very expensive. But the test shows one thing in particular: it helps when the famous star chef sometimes stands at the stove himself. About light and shadow on the Upper East Side.
Anyone familiar with my columns knows: I’d rather write about really good food than make a nasty slur. Today I can combine both. So let’s take a trip to the heart of the Big Apple, that is the expensive, high and rich East.
Because if you really want to understand New York, you should go there By Bernardin go away. This is where it is, the diner of those who live for speed, opulence and decadence, stockbrokers, hedge fund managers, real estate sharks, private get-riches, Lamborghinis and G-Classes queuing in front of the house- food is evidence of this. But it is not a soulless shop, this Le Bernardin, not at all.
It is loud here, loud and hectic, people talk and laugh and there are constant comings and goings, so that the famous German gourmet gets a little beat. But then the food is served. And your pulse will immediately give way to a great feeling of happiness.
Éric Ripert is a talented host.
(Photo: IMAGO/ABACAPRESS)
The chef here is called Éric Ripert and it is no surprise that the French are still the best cooks in the Big Apple. Éric has been at the stove here for almost 40 years The restaurant was a Parisian institution, but the owners moved it to New York in 1986 – since then it has been the only house -a restaurant in town that has consistently held four stars. rating from the New York Times.
Perhaps this is also because he has been following the golden rule of hospitality since 1991: whoever his guest is he gets it. He has this one restaurant and it is reported in New York that this is the only place in the world that does $30 million in annual sales alone. But anyone who has ever been here knows: it is hard money and honest money.
joy of the sea
Salmon with caviar – simple and perfect at Le Bernardin.
(Photo: Scarlet Korge)
Personally, I don’t know anyone in the world who currently handles fish and seafood like the kitchen team at Le Bernardin. Because the quality of the product is fixed by the perfection of the preparation. The four-course menu or the eight-course menu consists only of prime seafood products, which are divided into the categories Almost Raw (almost raw), Barely Touched (just gently touched ) and lightly cooked (boiled or gently grilled). The names alone show how well Ripert manages to let the elegant products retain their character, without whitewashing them or allowing them to swim against a wall of fragrance.
This works brilliantly with the raw lionfish, which Ripert slices thinly and doesn’t kill it to death like ceviche, but just brushes it with brown butter, some lovely little croutons and capers on the side – mon dieu , dream Red snapper, Montauk shrimp, striped bass and the simple but perfectly cooked salmon with Ossietra caviar – it’s not the Champions League, it’s the World Cup. If you come here and you don’t like fish as your main course, there are other options available: chicken, filet mignon or an excellent truffle pasta with mushrooms, which in the end does not taste like truffle oil, but rather thick and delicious, just as if the guest were sitting in the middle of the forest.
An evening like a feast
And in addition, there is a team that is as hardworking as it is on equal terms, friendly and experienced, because it can only be selected if the chef is in the kitchen almost every day, look for the best people and give a team feeling. .
The head sommelier is also a magician – a German at that: Aldo Sohm is from Tyrol and was recently named the best sommelier in the world. The Austrian has been here for 17 years, a humble and at the same time welcoming man who listens carefully and then finds the perfect wine – not only for the menu, but also for the suitable guest. In our case, he served Oregon Chardonnay from Evening Land Vineyards, a medium but powerful white wine that worked with the raw fish without oxidizing, but was strong enough to hold its own with base and pasta .
It is a feast, like an evening at Le Bernardin. And no matter how loud it is in the hall, in the end the guest will be completely calm and: completely happy.
Travel in a time machine
Ten blocks further north, on the Upper East Side, everything is a little more respectable and even richer, if that’s even possible. French also cook here: Daniel Boulud, who grew up as a boy on a farm near Lyon and is now, at 69, a million-dollar entrepreneur – and versatile. He owns 15 restaurants, maybe 16 already, a handful in New York, one in Miami, Palm Beach, Canada, Singapore, the Bahamas and Dubai. Boulud still lives two floors above his main company, the Daniel – but he is not here often anymore.
Daniel Boulud in front of one of his restaurants in Singapore.
(Photo: IMAGO/Newscom/Singapore Press Holdings)
And that becomes clear with every course: Everything seems to have been thought out years ago and pre-cooked by the boss – and now he has to the young people in the kitchen to follow the master’s philosophy, even if they could do much more – certainly, the host hopes so at least. Because the whole album is like a trip in a time machine – Back in the eighties – a series of unexpected and sometimes even strange combinations.
There is Norwegian lobster with dabbed sauce and foams, but the tapioca chips on top have become soggy, an almost unnecessary mistake that rarely happens at this stage. The plate with the salmon fillet looks almost ridiculous in appearance. A piece of fillet with crust is like that fried by a primary school student to give his parents an unpleasant surprise, the accompanying gnocchi is pure tasteless dough and is presented in a grid of green mousse that is long also small to give any aroma. Everything is so old-fashioned it’s a shame.
Boredom expensive
The farce is a farce – dry chicken in Daniel.
(Photo: Scarlet Korge)
The tuna is fried properly, but the sprouted broccoli that comes with it is fried in a crust that you only find in star restaurants these days. Everything tastes as if no one was standing at the pass to keep an eye on the plates going into the hall. There is a lack of tension, clarity, subtlety – and it’s not just the dry chicken farce that turns into a farce.
But the worst thing: the team in the hall, who go through the evening cheerfully and far too famously, as if they have to apologize for the fact that the leader is no longer there. No head, no guile, no face.
That’s a tough judgement, but paying $334 for such a quack in nine courses is even tougher. Tempted by a big name, which unfortunately can only be found on Instagram and on television and no longer in the kitchen.
2024-08-08 16:14:00
#Oetker #eat #dreams #nightmares #Big #Apple
