An excellent New York Times article on Keith McNally and the history of his restaurants:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/17/style/keith-mcnally-instagram-restaurants.html?
Del Mar Bully’s North Has Closed Its Doors
Exactly 50 years ago, a couple of avid horseracing fans who worked in the racetrack business formed a partnership and opened one of the most iconic restaurants in San Diego. Lester Holt and George Bullington opened the doors to Bully’s in La Jolla and it quickly became famous for its juicy Prime Rib steaks, red leather booths, and the famous Leroy Neiman paintings that adorned the walls.
In 1969, Bullington and Holt opened their second Bully’s Restaurant, called Bully’s North located only a mile from the Del Mar Racetrack. Over the years, Bully’s North became iconic as a favorite place for the thousands who flocked to watch horse races at the Del Mar Racetrack during the summer race season. Bulley’s North was a family establishment with a long list of regulars who boast that they have been dining at the restaurant for more than 30 years. Famous people like Betty Grable, Desi Arnez and Lucille Ball were patrons at Bully’s.
Sadly, Del Mar is saying goodbye to Bully’s North. I have lost a place of my collegiate memories when I lived in Del Mar on Calais Drive. The Del Mar Historical Society is reportedly digitizing some of the art that used to hang in Bully’s. http://www.delmarhistoricalsociety.org/index.html
The owner of Bully’s is currently in escrow selling the property, comprised of four lots, to Beverly Hills-based Hillstone Restaurant Group. Construction in Del Mar has begun.
Bully’s East remains open.
https://bullyseastsd.com/san-diego-mission-valley-bullys-east-about
San Francisco Bistro Closes-Jeanne d’Arc
Thank you, Jeanne d’Arc, for being the “Frenchiest French bistro in San Francisco,” as described in 2018by The Chronicle’s Jonathan Kauffman. Owners Micheline and Claude Lambert announced the restaurant’s end in the French language followed by English on Bastille Day. It was a fitting, but sad end for the 48-year-old former boarding house that turned into a mural-filled, throwback restaurant staffed by owners, chefs and artists who worked together as a family. “One last good word for San Francisco who opened its Golden Gate doors for us in …1966,” The Lamberts wrote in their Facebook page goodbye. “We wish the best to the people that we had the opportunity to meet.”
San Francisco-List of Closed Top 100 Restaurants
In March, our Top 100 list was precisely that: One hundred wonderful and extraordinary restaurants, ones I thought represented the best of the Bay Area’s high-energy dining scene, its ethical yearnings and cultural nuances.
But then … the pandemic. And every restaurant on our original list was affected, faced with making some unbelievable changes. Most have been able to find ways to adapt and survive. Others, though, have chosen to close their doors, either temporarily or forever.
They were places where we spent hours lingering over ephemeral souffles and haute cuisine that somehow reminded us of home; where we listened to oral histories and the close murmurs of strangers sitting at elbows’ length from us. Each is a node of memories that we hold in communion with friends and loved ones.
At Benu, I recall the scratchiness of the vinyl records that provided dining room music; my colleague, meanwhile, still talks about how one course seemed like the most delicious carrot she’s ever eaten in her life.
This, then, is more an appreciation than a guide, a shout-out to 10 great area restaurants, some that have made the choice to close, and others that have been forced by factors such as fire. Let’s recognize and celebrate what they brought into our lives — and in some cases, might again.
Reasons We Have Loved NYC-500 Goodbyes
Curbed
An honor roll — from the earliest founded to the most recently opened — of the many lost businesses that were, at least in their own corners of the city, essential.
https://www.curbed.com/article/nyc-businesses-closed-2020-pandemic.html
Notes on Parisian Bouillons
Brasserie vs. Bouillon
The traditional brasserie is one of the most convivial, brightly lit and bustling, with clients from all horizons, amidst a ballet of waiters in long black aprons and a menu of traditional dishes. The fare is simple—from œufs mayonnaise, soupe à l’oignon, choucroute garnie and steak frites, to oysters shucked at the raw bars that occupy the corners of their terraces. The beverage of reference is beer, even if good wines are also served. The most legendary Parisian brasseries date back to the beginning of the 20th century, and are often charged with history and beautiful baroque decors.
The brasserie’s less opulent cousin, the bouillon, first appeared around 1860 and was essentially working class, with a simpler cuisine based on—as the name implies—bouillons or broths enriched with bits of meat and vegetables. They evolved from what was believed to be the very first restaurant opened in Paris in 1765 by a soup vendor named Boulanger.
Bouillon Julien
A beautiful art deco bouillon in Paris. Cheap, lovely and good.
From the Website:
Despite having operated as a brasserie for many years, Julien was created as a ‘bouillon’ in 1906. In 2018, it has reverted to being a ‘bouillon’ once more.
A ‘bouillon’ is a restaurant first created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries serving traditional French cuisine, in particular a ‘bouillon’ (broth). The particuliarity of the ‘bouillon’ was to serve good quality food at affordable prices. In 1900, nearly two hundred and fifty bouillons could be found in Paris. Today, Julien is one of only a small handful of authentic restaurants of this kind that remain in the French capital. Bouillon Julien is one of the most beautiful restaurants in Paris, if not the world. It remains one of the best preserved examples of the Art Nouveau style. Over the years, it has been the favoured haunt of many well-known cultural figures. Edith Piaf and her lover, Marcel Cerdan, the champion boxer, would frequently dine at ‘table n. 24’.
The building was constructed in 1906 by the French architect Edouard Fournier and was decorated by a number of exceptional artisans working in the Art Nouveau style. Armand Segaud created the peacock panels, while the mahogany bar is attributed to famed ‘Ecole de Nancy’ woodworker Louis Majorelle.
https://www.bouillon-julien.com/beau
Bouillon Chartier
https://www.bouillon-chartier.com/grands-boulevards/
Le Bar de Bouillon
Bouillon Pigalle
https://www.bouillonpigalle.com
Bouillon Racine
The beginning of the twentieth century saw the birth of Bouillon Racine as we currently know it. It was in the atmosphere of Art Nouveau where Parisian workers and then the upper-class city folk first met. The first Bouillons appeared in 1855 thanks to a clever butcher, Pierre Louis Duval. He proposed a single dish of meat and a bouillon (soup/stock) to the workers of the Halles. In 1900, nearly 250 Bouillons could be found in Paris. They became the first chain of restaurants for the working class. Meanwhile, the charm of Art Nouveau spread through Europe, in architecture, furniture and decoration. The Universal Exhibition in Paris accelerated its influence. Restaurants followed the trend. In 1904, a new bouillon with a luxurious Art Nouveau decoration was born. It was a Bouillon Chartier.
https://bouillonracine.fr/en/our-history/
Additional Resources
https://devourparisfoodtours.com/blog/bouillons-paris/
Without Bread There Is No Life
Bakerys are closing in French villages. The baguette is at risk! Some villagers are left with the tragedy of buying bread from vending machines.
Great Parisian Neo-Bistros-Chef Farmers
Great neo-bistros in Paris:
Septime
http://www.septime-charonne.fr/en/
Le Chateaubriand
https://www.lechateaubriand.net
Mokonuts
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/dining/mokonuts-paris-omar-koreitem-moko-hirayama.html
New York Times article on chefs who are farmers:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/t-magazine/james-henry-shaun-kelly-le-doyenne.html
The Best Bistros in Paris (Articles)
From Hemingway, A Moveable Fest, on a bad cafe:
The leaves lay sodden in the rain and the wind drove the rain against the big green autobus at the terminal and the Café des Amateurs was crowded and the windows misted over from the heat and the smoke inside. It was a sad, evilly run café where the drunkards of the quarter crowded together and I kept away from it because of the smell of dirty bodies and the sour smell of drunkenness.
From Hemingway, A Moveable Fest, on a good cafe:
It was a pleasant café, warm and clean and friendly, and I hung up my old waterproof on the coat rack to dry and put my worn and weathered felt hat on the rack above the bench and ordered a café au lait. The waiter brought it and I took out a notebook from the pocket of the coat and a pencil and started to write.
A collection of articles on good bistros in Paris:
The best bistros in Paris in 2019, according to Vogue:
https://www.vogue.fr/lifestyle-en/article/the-best-neighborhood-bistros-in-paris
The New York Times on six affordable Parisian restaurants in 2019:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/travel/affordable-dining-in-paris.html
The top 100 bistros in Paris:
https://www.paris.fr/pages/paris-bistronomie-les-100-meilleures-adresses-de-la-capitale-4752/
The best classic bistros in Paris:
https://bonjourparis.com/food-and-drink/the-best-classic-bistrots-of-paris/
Below is an old article on the Parisian bistros in 2010 yet it could serve as a useful starting place for research. I hope in the passage of time that none of them have de-evolved into a Cafe des Amateurs. Perhaps some have improved with time.
https://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/The-23-Best-Bistros-in-Paris/
Where Will We Go Without Cafe Loup?
With concern and sadness I read today in the New Yorker that Cafe Loup has closed. The doors are locked, the cafe is dark, taxes seem to be unpaid. Christopher Hitchens writes:
At different times, I have wandered in for mid-morning coffee and newspaper while the bar is being set up and the deliveries are taking place, and been the only customer while not being made to feel it. I have had long lunches in the near-deserted bar area, being allowed a big round table for only a few guests. I have dined by candlelight (I took a good friend there the night he’d had all his teeth extracted, because the light was so comfortingly low and sparing) and stayed at the bar until the small hours debating with newly-met fact-checkers from glossy or obscure magazines, or grizzled MittelEuropa exiles.
I too have had an early lunch there, the cafe empty and made to feel as if I was a regular just opening up for the day. I have loved the Sunday jazz sessions, the late nights, the black and white photographs on the wall, the quiet spaces where I could read, write and observe.
The Buddhist principle of impermanence manifests once again but that does not mean we cannot feel melancholy in the face of the loss. This is another loss for old New York, will we see another Citicorp branch bank, Starbucks or Duane Reed pharmacy, or Generic Brand, in its venerable space?
Here is the link to the New Yorker article:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/tables-for-two/where-will-we-go-without-cafe-loup
Le Midi-The Last Bistro
Le Midi
11 East 13th Street
New York, NY 10003
212-255-8787
This is Paris. And I’m an American who lives here. My name Jerry Mulligan. And I’m an ex-GI. In 1945, when the Army told me to find my own job, I stayed on and I’ll tell you why. I’m a painter. All my life, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. And for a painter, the Mecca of the world for study, for inspiration, and for living is here on this star called Paris. Just look at it.
Jerry Mulligan, An American in Paris
I am on a photo shoot in Union Square. It is my last free day in New York City and I am looking for street photographs. I am looking for truth and art and New York’s soul. My emotions are curiously flat. I walk around chess players, old black guys selling cold water seller, Hari Krishna dancers, drug sellers, drummers, subway riders, preacher’s selling fear and Christianity, sidewalk artists, fruit market sellers, book sellers, and police sirens, traffic and construction noise, bums sleeping in the shade, a beat boxing contest on the stage (a shy and awkward Japanese girl beats the pros), tourists and iPhones everywhere. A sudden thunderstorm, hard rain and lightening, the crowd runs to the Union Square gazebo over the subway entrance. Steaming, wet, crowded, shielding our cameras and backpacks. A large, black homeless woman wearing a white bowler hat starts yelling and pushing a white woman, throws a chair and a few punches, becoming very upset and violent. The woman was standing on her mattress. The woman yells for the police; two policewomen arrive, and handcuff the black woman who continues to yell at the woman and the police. A crowd gathers, taking videos. The rain slows, the sun comes out, oil rainbows on the street evanescent, a few more photographs and then I walk down to 13th Street dodging the puddles to Le Midi for an early dinner before I continue to Smalls for the first jazz set.
Sometimes you just like a bistro when you first walk into the door. And I liked Le Midi. The light, the energy, the space, the greeting-all align to create positive vibrations. The maitre d’ was French, pony tailed, stylish but natural. I was treated like a long lost friend and escorted to a good table with a view of the large, high and attractive bar with locals drinking white wine, women with shopping bags, talking of the news of the day. A large vase of flowers sits on the left hand side of the bar. They are showing a movie above the bar; English subtitles but I am not sure what the movie is. I enjoy watching the action without the sound.
There is a large blackboard with the daily specials as there should be in a bistro: Bouillabaisse de Marseille, Boef Bourguigon, Cassoulet de Carcassone, and Magret de Canard and Coq au Vin. The classics, comfortable, known, the essence, the eidos, the cliche of the bistro.
Beneath the blackboard is a collection of black and white photographs: street scenes, portraits of lost persons, old race cars, children running with baguetttes down a Parisian alley.
French accordion music; I feel like I am inside of a Gustave Caillebotte painting. I feel languid after the rain, off the streets, dry in a comfortable bistro, having my second glass of wine, reviewing my photographs.
Service is efficient, attentive, friendly, casual, like a good bistro should be. The bread is unusual: a hot roll rather than a baguette but the quality is higher than I often see. To restate: a bistro should never serve tasteless bread but I see it all the time in this town.
My French onion soup is light; it has faint wine notes, the bread and cheese are light. There is no heaviness nor inedible wads of polymer cheese. There is a proper ration of bread, cheese and onions. It has balance. Much better than the soup at Benoit.
The sea bass was balanced and served on a bed of spinach, tomato and asparagus hearts. It is hard to make plain white fish interesting but Le Midi managed to do it.
The characters in the movie are Jerry Mulligan and Lise. Googling reveals that it is the French version of An American in Paris. And I realize that I have never seen the movie and I am inspired to do so.
Lise: Maybe not always. Paris has ways of making people forget.
Jerry: Paris? No, not this city. It’s too real and too beautiful. It never lets you forget anything. It reaches in and opens you wide, and you stay that way. I know. I came to Paris to study and to paint because Utrillo did, and Lautrec did, and Roualt did. I loved what they created, and I thought something would happen to me, too. Well, it happened all right. Now what have I got left? Paris. Maybe that’s enough for some but it isn’t for me anymore because the more beautiful everything is, the more it will hurt without you.
Desert was a creme caramel. It was light and well articulated.
And the time will come when you will miss having New York City right outside your door when you can walk down the street and see the light shafts coming down the long avenues and the lines of the great buildings and the lights beginning to come up and walk to a cafe and a jazz club and the river flowing and glistening and the ferries and sailboats and the arc of the bridges and their vertical uplift and strength and the infinite potential of the unpredictable that lies around every corner and in every time in every shop and in every cafe and the street scenes and the human comedy and tragedy everywhere you look and the neighborhoods each with its special quality, the joy of the neighborhoods and sometimes I sit in a cafe and just watch the film unwind from its eternal movie reel.
Ratings:
Staff-9 Friendly, professional, and with good timing.
Archetype-7 Too big, bright and polished to meet the Archetype but the care and attention of the staff to the service and the food and the comfortable, friendly vibrations give it an authentic bistro feel.
Food-8 Very well performed classics with a few innovations.
Energy-9 Very pleasant Union Square area cafe; golden, light and summery. Felt like a neighborhood crowd. The sort of place you feel good to be there. Chanson music, movies show on the wall above the bar. Low noise, good for conversation.
Resources
Benoit New York, Nepal, Eggleston and Vision
Benoit New York
60 West 55th Street (Between 5th and 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10019
Time has passed since our dinner at Benoit. I have trekked through the remote district of Mustang in northern Nepal, explored Buddhist caves that have been inhabited for over 3,000 years, and explored ancient landscapes that remind me of Death Valley and the Grand Canyon, but with Annapurna and Dhaulagiri overlooking the great Kali Gandaki Nadi river valley from 8,000 meters high. I have explored the temples of Delhi, been blessed at Bhoudanath in Kathmandu and photographed its lost alleys.
Since our dinner at Benoit, I have lost the vision in my left eye due to a detached retina which occurred in Mustang and had it repaired at an eye hospital in Delhi. I have spent the last ten days in my hotel room here doing little but reading, writing and listening while I lie face down to recover.
Alain Ducasse
Alain Ducasse is a master chef with impeccable credentials. His career began at Le Louis XV in Monaco where he earned three Michelin stars. In 2011 Prince Albert II of Monaco entrusted his wedding dinner to Ducasse. In 2005, Ducasse became the first chef to have three restaurants awarded with three Michelin stars at the same time.
Ducasse is also an entrepreneur. His “house” has Eight Professions: restaurant, hospitality, manufacturing, consulting, education, publishing, culture (cafes in museums, including Chateau de Versailles) and reception (events). He also co-founded the French Culinary School.
But what of the food? His food must be essential, responsible, humanist, and influential. From the website:
Each plate has its story and it is the produce, before the chef, who takes center stage. Anchored in the terroir, Alain Ducasse’s cuisine vibrates to the rhythm of its time, bringing together tradition and modernity, high expectations and respect for the product.
Ducasse has 45 restaurants around the world and a single restaurant in New York: Benoit.
The Chef of Benoit- Laëtitia Rouabah
Chef Laëtitia has supported the opening of Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester in London and been the Sous Chef at Le Jules Verne, Ducasse’s restaurant at the top the Eiffel Tower. At Benoit, her mission is to stay true to French bistro fare, and to bring a contemporary flair to the new menu, using market ingredients and expert technique to create flavors that range from the familiar to the unexpected.
Design
Benoit was designed by Dekar Design. The idea was to create Benoit as a classic French restaurant with a more inviting, residential feel and a modern new look.
Benoit is a restaurant and not a bistro. Authentic bistros are not designed and their decor arises over time organically. They reflect their history and the individual interests of their owners and patrons.
Time accretes design in bistros.
The bar is sophisticated with a fireplace, gilded golden mirrors, globe lights, red club chairs and beautiful mosaic floors. The tones glow soft and yellow. It is attractive and comfortable.
The main dining room has many hanging globe lights that suggest Japanese lanterns. There are large mirrors that create reflections of infinite lanterns. There is a vintage French poster on one wall: Cycles Cottereau. The tables and chairs are simple. The overall feel is air, light and sophisticated without being closed and stuffy.
The Food
We saw the William Eggleston photography show at the Met before we had dinner at Benoit. The photographs appear simple, almost casual and amateurish, but with attention their nuance and complexity slowly reveal themselves. Eggleston said that he is at war with the obvious: he composes form, light, shadow, texture and pattern in distinctive ways. Color is used dramatically. There is contrast between darkness and light, primary and secondary colors, emptiness and fullness, the obvious and the mystery. There is intelligence, clarity and subtlety behind his photographs. This is art.
Every day we strive to find that perfect balance between the excellence of French cuisine and the small Parisian bistro without losing the inherent generosity and the establishment’s deep-rooted history.
Chef Laëtitia Rouabah
You may choose three appetizers for $15. We chose the spicy shrimp ceviche, octopus and crispy cereals with the smoked pepper and raw vegetables.
Banal, boring, bland. The flavors were dull and confused. There was no clarity of concept or taste or texture. There was no art in the presentation. Some chefs experiment with appetizers and create bold, inventive and interesting dishes. Why not take a chance? After all, it’s only an appetizer!
We questioned whether we had received the correct appetizer: we could not find any octopus in one of the dishes. The waiters were not sure either and it took several of them to discover that indeed it was the octopus because they found a single piece of spongy rubber at the bottom of the pile. The raw vegetables could not be identified; they were dull, stale, dead.
Even the French onion soup was a disappointment. The cheese had a curious plastic consistency and taste. I did not finish it and left a pile of melted synthetic polymer in the bottom of the bowl. I love French onion soup and after dining at almost forty bistros in New York over the past three years I do not ever recall not finishing the soup.
I encourage the Benoit team to have the onion soup at Odeon or Cafe Luxembourg to learn what quality soup should taste like. Perhaps they could obtain a recipe?
The roasted cod (with mango and passion fruit), at $36, was cold and the mango and passion fruit were dull. A mysterious sauce was dripped around the plate like a Pollock painting but served no purpose.
The steamed striped bass, at $42, was served with spelt & seaweed, black olive and lemon condiment. It was the monthly special.
At this price point, the dish should have been spectacular. It should have been on par with Le Bernadin. I began to wish we were there rather than here.
The elements of the dish did not coalesce into an interesting whole. Everything felt soft. There was no structure to any of the elements. They were old and tired. The elements did not work together and the composition failed.
The only items of quality were the bread and the pomes frites which were competently executed.
Where is the boldness, the invention, the surprise, the excitement that we have the right to expect from a Ducasse restaurant?
There is nothing of the intelligence, clarity and subtlety of William Eggleston in the food at Benoit. The effect was more like photographic paper left out in the sun-dull, brown, imageless.
Benoit is not serving art, it is serving poorly executed craft. It is a French-corporate restaurant pretending to be an authentic bistro. Perhaps this confusion over its identity is the source of the confusion in its food.
I am writing this review on a British Airways flight in business class on my way to Nepal to trek in the Mustang district. The food in business class reminded me of the food at Benoit. The description in the menu sounds creative and interesting, but you always get over cooked fish or chicken, and stale, lifeless vegetables in a mystery sauce. Blandness and boredom prevails. But the airlines have an excuse; Mr. Ducasse has none. He has set the standard extraordinarily high and he has failed to meet his own standard.
Ducasse has built an important and successful culinary empire. He is a master chef. But he is neglecting his food; he is producing cafeteria food in an elegant environment served by indifferent and vaguely arrogant and superior waiters.
Corporate cooking by committee for the extraction of maximum profit seems to be Benoit’s goal.
Perhaps Ducasse should eat at Benoit and see for himself? He has integrity and I know he will be disappointed. I would love to come back if he would bring his food to high standards.
Great food vibrates with energy. It is fresh and alive. The flavors, textures and colors dance. Each bite stimulates and thrills. There is clarity and composition and creativity. There is attention to detail, their is caring about the quality of the end product.
We eat great food slowly because there is so much to experience. We remember our experience and talk about it the next day.
Thinking back about the dinner my only memory is expensive boredom and disappointment. There was no indicia of greatness here.
I do not recommend Benoit, particularly at this price point. If you want a fine dining experience go to Le Bernadin instead. Or, if you want an authentic bistro experience go to Odeon, Cafe Luxembourg or Luciene in the East Village.
Reviews
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/dining/benoit-review.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/reviews/09rest.html
Le Baratin and Village Vanguard
Le Baratin
26 Greenwich Avenue
New York, New York 10011
212-933-1080
i am on the way to the village vanguard to see the andrew cyrille quartet with bill frisell on guitar, bass, drums and electronics the f train at york is mobbed with rush hour commuters i take a few images of compressed faces and hands with my long lens there may be an image or two with quality i wait for 15 minutes and a mta employee walks down the line the crowds praying into their iphones and yells that the f train to manhattan is cancelled shit so i race up the stairs across the park brown trees dead grass payne’s grey skies cold winds to the ace and my card has insufficient fare and the ticket machine is stuck in spanish mode but i navigate the menus anyway and take the train to w 4th street station and walk up 6th avenue and miss greenwich avenue which is a diagonal at 9th street so i backtrack and finally make it to le baratin but unhappy i lost my time to shoot in the village the bar is full the dining space is empty and bob marley is playing exodus it is a modest bistro old weathered tables the varnish is rubbed down to the wood and the thonet chairs are loose and comfortable with time the original floors have never been finished and the brick walls lend a masonic feeling to the space the walls are covered with kitsch and ephemera french soccer jerseys i cant wait for the world cup to start this summer and i am now an iceland fan because ajax did not make the cup old black and white photos of tennis players street scenes and unknown celebrities le chat noir posters and the eiffel tower outlined on the chalk board consider seeing paris from both the outside and the inside of the tower as barthes wrote and tomorrow i will see the ed van der elsken show love on the left bank at greenberg gallery and this bistro is just the type of place were elsken his muse and friends would have smoked and eaten and danced and drunk the night away while van der elsken quietly made his immortal photos the specials are butternut squash soup and filet mignon i order the soup and the roast chicken the french waiter brings me a nice glass of cotes du rhone and the world begins to arrange itself around me chaos dissipates and consider my day spend working on death time and memory a touch crossfit class writing a letter and looking through photobooks by moriyama and klein to give me inspiration for my photoshoot that night walking through the village after the jazz performance the french waitress wears all black and has a tattoo on her right forearm which looks like an indian mandala and the soup is served very hot but it is thin and lifeless the baguette lacks structure and is without taste and the crust is like plastic and it was probably mechanically kneaded and frozen and insults the great tradition of artisanal bread baking in france the waitress sees me reviewing my photo taken in the york subway station on my fuji and she starts a conversation about image making street photography and a failure she brings the roast chicken it is workmanlike but enjoyable but accompanied with boring mixed carrots and squash stirred in a wok which i hate and i remember the best roast chicken i have had in new york is at the new union square cafe that i had a week ago on the way to the jazz standard i have another glass of the excellent wine and rush to the vanguard one of the most famous jazz clubs in the world since 1935 and leadbelly and john coltrane and miles davis and sonny rollins have all played here and the poets have read there and lenny bruce and the other comics have performed and the nightpeople have danced and loved and lived at the vanguard it is small and crowded and you cant see the stage or the musicians but it is history and the quartet was light airy delicate and soft they leave space between the phrases for the dream and i write this at odeon the next day it is all memory this morning i woke a little late worked on death time and memory survived a heroic crossfit workout and decided to have lunch at odeon today i will not rush i will not push the river i will let the day unfold as it will i will vanquish my relentless ego obsession and the time will come when i will remember and miss the days with longing and regret when i can take a long lunch at odeon and write my moveable feast and enjoy my life in new york city
Ratings
Staff: 8 (Casual and attentive and engaging, French is their first language)
Archetype: 7 (Black and white photographs, Thonet chairs, worn tables and floors, red and white napkins, local crowd)
Food: 6 (Bistro standards, soup average, bread fails)
Energy: 6 (Reservations about the Bob Marley at first but then the music changed to euro-jazz standards, comfortable in an old shoe kind of way)
Resources
https://ny.eater.com/2015/5/19/8623461/le-baratin-french-bistro-restaurant-review
Le Singe Vert, Bouillabaisse and the Fluid Future
Le Singe Vert
160 7th Avenue
New York, New York 10011
212-366-4100
The Future Is Fluid
What if we were able to remember the future and anticipate the past? How would that understanding of time affect our sense of free will, destiny, perception, and memory? What if the future isn’t fixed but fluid? Step into a world where past, present, and future exist all at once.
The Rubin Museum
I am at the Future Is Fluid show at the Rubin Art Museum. The show considers the nature of time from multiple perspectives: the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, cosmological and artistic. Perhaps the future is not fixed, perhaps it is not determined by our present and past actions but is fluid? Does this notion negate the principle of karma which is axiomatic to the Buddhist tradition?
Time forks perpetually toward innumerable futures.
The Garden of Forking Paths, Borges
Padmasambhava (the Second Buddha who was born from a lotus flower) brought Buddhism to Tibet. From the Rubin Museum’s website:
His legends carry universal relevance about triumph over obstacles, the power of human emotions, transformation, impermanence, achieving liberation from life and death, and notions of time—all of which transcend specific cultures and eras.
Padmasambhava could transcend time: he could see into the past and the future just as easily as he could see the present. Padmasambhava concealed his teachings, known as the treasure teachings, throughout Tibet to be discovered by foretold disciples at auspicious times in the future. These treasures included ritual objects, statutes, paintings and teachings written in a secret script that can only be read by the one intended by Padmasambhava to receive them in the future. The Rubin presented many thanka paintings of Padmasambhava with his treasure teachings.
The kora around Mt. Kailash in Tibet is one of the most important pilgrimages in the Buddhist and Hindu worlds. For Hindus, Mt. Kailash is the abode of Shiva. For Buddhists, it is the center of the universe. A kora is a revolution around a sacred site and a meditative practice. The artist presented a split screen video of Mt Kailash. Each screen showed the mountain during a different season and the pilgrims who were circumambulating on their hands and knees. These videos invited us to contemplate the significance of place in spiritual practice, and how pilgrimage cultivates intimacy with place, and the journey into self-discovery, and unity with the divine.
Le Singe Vert
But the real thing — the rust-brown, tomato- and fennel-based, saffron-infused bouillon, enriched by dollops of a fiercely garlicky mayonnaise called rouille, followed by a plate of fish that have been cooked in the bouillon — is well worth the hunt.
R.W. Apple-Far Flung and Well Fed
After the Future is Fluid show, I head to Le Sing Vert for an early dinner. This is a classy and elegant bistro. There are fresh pink carnations on starched white table cloths, the wine glasses sparkle and are arranged in a precise row, the wood bar is lit with soft red and mauve lights, the floors are black and white checkerboards and the music is electronic chill-out (not chanson but it works). It is a lovely place to be after the cold and grey afternoon in New York with the wind blowing the tree branches without leaves. The bar is divided from the dining room by large glass panels and wood frames. This cuts down on the bar noise and makes dinner conversation or writing your version of A Moveable Feast more intimate. Le Singe has been open since 1977 but it feels fresh and exciting rather than worn down and tired. It is a place to slow down, to enjoy the bistro life, to think about the future and the past, and to write.
The crowd is diverse: stylish ladies who lunch, older matrons, art sophistos and a couple from London. They are attractive, refined and sophisticated. No tourists are in evidence. Perhaps its location on the edge of Chelsea contributes to the creative crowd.
The menu has most of the traditional bistro dishes. Creativity is shown in the appetizers. There is a sushi tuna, a foie gras terrine with fig marmalade, and Moroccan lamb meatballs with mint yogurt. I note that hand cut pommes frites with truffles are offered as a side.
The bouillabaisse was on special; it seemed to be a perfect dish for a cold and grey afternoon.
Bouillabaisse is a classic dish from Marseille. It uses many different varieties of fish. Traditionally, it was made with the fish the fishermen had not sold that morning. It was a cheap way to feed a family with leftover fish that no one wanted to buy. There are many varieties of bouillabaisse and there is passionate disagreement in France over which style is the best.
In Marseille, bouillabaisse is not just a fish soup. It is a way of life. The best bouillabaisse in the world is considered to be made by Guillaume Sorrieu in his restaurant, L’Épuisette, in Marseille. I have not been to Marseille but it may be a spiritual pilgrimage worthy of a kora.
Every spoonful evokes the fresh sea breezes, the clean, salt-seasoned air and the brilliant light that so captivated Cézanne when he came to the neighboring village of L’Estaque to paint.
New York Times
The best bouillabaisse I have experienced in New York City is at La Mirabelle on West 86th Street. My review of La Mirabelle and a complete discussion on bouillabaisse is here:
http://www.newyorkbistros.net/?p=323
And how did the bouillabaisse at Le Singe Vert compare? It was a fish soup (and a well done one at that) but it would not compare to a classic bouillabaisse as defined by the Bouillabaisse Charter of Marseille. There was no scorpion fish or lobster or a reasonable substitute for either one. There was a flavorless slap of a generic white fish on top of a circular arrangement of mussels and shrimp. Saffron was evident in the broth but the fennel was not. Onions and tomatoes in the broth were missing as well. The broth was rust brown as it is supposed to be. The rouille (the garlic mayonnaise) was also missing.
Last night we had dinner at Lucien in the East Village. This is one of the best bistros in New York. It wins on authenticity, service, and consistency of excellent food. I chose their bouillabaisse. It was excellent. The broth was a dark brown and the saffron and fennel were in perfect proportion of herbs. The soup was crowned with a lobster which is a reasonable substitute for a scorpion or rock fish. The rouille was served with toasted bread and was properly prepared.
In my view La Mirabelle is the best bouillabaisse that I have had in New York, Lucien is second and Le Singe Vert is third.
I did not have dessert but it offers the standards: creme brulee, profiteroles, apple tart and sorbet.
The Future is Fluid but I know that, in my future, I will return to Le Singe Vert to try some of their other main courses as well as the desert and I will enjoy it greatly.
Ratings
Staff: 8 (Authentically French, casual, efficient, good timing)
Archetype: 7 (There are many signifiers of the Archetype (red awning, French posters, simple design) but it has been updated to a unique New York-Chelsea-Parisian vibe. )
Food: 7 (Well prepared traditional bistro food; good bouillabaisse (fish stew)
Energy: 9 (Noise low, sophisticated crowd, elegant and pleasant atmosphere, chill-out music that works)
Resources
Reviews
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/le-singe-vert/
Rubin Museum-The Future Is Fluid
http://rubinmuseum.org/theme/the-future
History of Bouillabaisse
https://www.starchefs.com/bouillabaisse/html/english/article.shtml
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/07/dining/a-prime-kettle-of-fish.html
La Mirabelle
http://www.newyorkbistros.net/?p=323
Bouillabaisse Recipes
https://www.starchefs.com/bouillabaisse/html/english/recipe_01.shtml
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/07/dining/a-prime-kettle-of-fish.html
https://www.starchefs.com/bouillabaisse/html/english/recipe_04.shtml
L’Express and the Bouchon
L’Express
249 Park Avenue South (at 20th Street)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 254-5858
L’Express is a Lyonnaise Bouchon, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, serving up classic bistro dishes such as mussels, steak and escargot.
From the L’Express Website
What is a Lyonnaise Bouchon?
L’Express bills itself as a Lyonnaise Bouchon. Let’s examine this unusual claim in the bistro world and see if it holds up. The threshold question is: what is a Lyonnaise Bouchon?
Lyon claims to be the gastronomic capital of France. Although I image that Parisians would dispute this claim, nevertheless, Lyon has many strengths that weigh in its favor. The opinion of a personage no less than Stendhal, for example.
Stendhal, passing through Lyon in 1837, described Lyonnaise cuisine:
I know one thing that is done very well in Lyon. One eats admirably well there, and in my opinion, better than in Paris. Vegetables especially are divinely prepared. In London, I learned that there are twenty-two species of potatoes, in Lyon, I saw twenty-two different ways to prepare them, and at least twelve of these are unknown in Paris.
Lyon sits at the crossroads of several regional culinary traditions of excellence. Its poultry comes from Bresse, cattle from the Charolais and game from the Dombes region. It has fine local produce and wine.
Lyon is also the home of Chef Paul Bocuse, who is the most celebrated chef of the post-war era. Paul Bocuse died on January 20, 2018. From the New York Times obituary:
Certainly he did more than any other chef in the world that I can think of to bring the chefs in the dining room and to make the profession respectable and to make us who we are now,” Mr. Pépin said in 2011, when Mr. Bocuse was named “chef of the century” by the Culinary Institute of America. “Now the chefs are stars and it’s because of Paul Bocuse.
Among his many contributions, Paul Bucose created nouvelle cuisine. Nouvelle cuisine, which we consider the unremarkable and rather obvious today, emphasized fresh and local ingredients, lighter sauces, unusual flavor combinations and innovative recipes. It was a revolution against the old fashioned Escoffier-style cooking with its heavy sauces that hid the ingredients and emphasis on executing traditional recipes.
Before Escoffier’s time, the Grande Cuisine was laden with excess — overly complicated recipes, ponderously extravagant dinners, sauces and garnishes that disguised main ingredients nearly beyond recognition. In accordance with his admonition, “above all, keep it simple,” Escoffier developed a new gastronomic philosophy, a sense of finely honed and highly refined simplicity in dining, ideals that have been espoused by the finest chefs of the twentieth century.
Nouvelle cuisine became a global trend that reverberated around the world, and was even heard by Alice Waters who started Chez Panisse in Berkeley.
From the Chez Panisse Website:
Alice and Chez Panisse are convinced that the best-tasting food is organically and locally grown and harvested in ways that are ecologically sound by people who are taking care of the land for future generations. The quest for such ingredients has always determined the restaurant’s cuisine. Since 1971, Chez Panisse has invited diners to partake of the immediacy and excitement of vegetables just out of the garden, fruit right off the branch, and fish straight out of the sea.
Bouchons have existed for centuries and are an essential part of Lyon’s identity and cultural heritage. There is no equivalent to a bouchon found anywhere else in the world. A bouchon is a modest bistro located in Lyon with limited regional dishes. Wine is served in pitchers and they are known for having a warm and comfortable atmosphere.
Bouchons arose in taverns and inns where silk merchants stopped in the 17th and 18th centuries to have a meal, clean their horses, and stay overnight. The word “bouchon” refers to the handful of straw used for rubbing down their horses; taverns hung bundles of straw over their doors to advertise their business much like a trade guild in the same way that bakeries would hang out pretzels.
Les Bouchons Lyonnais is a trade association in Lyon that publishes standards that buchons must meet to obtain a certificate of authenticity. Its website has a list of certified, authentic buchons. The association created the certification to guarantee the respect for Lyon’s culinary tradition, the quality of local products, and a warm and friendly ambiance in a historic setting. The website is listed in the Resources and is the definitive resource on Lyon buchons.
From the Les Bouchons Lyonnais Website:
The genuine Lyon bouchon is also recognizable by its setting and atmosphere. It is a warm and friendly place, with tables close together, customers coming for a bite to eat or standing at the counter, the sound and delicious smell of food. It always features a bar, made of wood, zinc or Formica. The red and white checked tablecloth is also typical of the bouchon’s décor, as are the menu on a slate, pot lyonnais (wine carafe), copper pans, old posters, Guignol puppets etc. Every bouchon however has its own décor, a reflection of the owner. Marble or wooden tables? It’s up to the owner! All these elements help create the bouchon atmosphere. The family spirit makes people feel at home in a bouchon.
Bouchons use fresh produce which comes from the local markets. Starters often include Lyonnais saveloy (cooked cured sausage). For the main course, quenelles are a standard. These are dumplings consisting of fresh breadcrumbs, veal fat, and poultry, fish or meat, minced and arranged in the form of a sausage. The tablier de sapeur (fireman’s apron) is another common dish which is made from flat tripe.
L’Express
L’Express is a modest bistro, with simple tables and chairs, a few old French posters on the walls, and a well-worn and comfortable ambiance. However, there is nothing to suggest that it is a bouchon. Where are the Gnafron puppets (the slightly drunken shoemaker) or the guild sign of straw? Where are the red and white checker tablecloths, the pots and pans hanging over the grill, the chalk board menu, the local and seasonal produce from Union Square Market? Where is the friendly, warm and welcoming atmosphere created by its on-site owner? Where is the Lyonnaise cuisine? The menu has the bistro standards: grilled salmon, mussels, steak au poivre, steak frites, half chicken, etc. but where are the quenelles, the truffled hen, the sausages, the pots of wine?
On an early Saturday afternoon there were families with children, bar flies watching sports, the brunch crowd, and solitary diners relaxing over their coffee and a newspaper. It was busy but not frantic. The service was prompt and efficient but impersonal. The food was surprisingly good, considering that L’Express has one of the lowest price points of any bistro in New York. My onion soup was better than most (but nowhere near the Odeon’s), and my croque monsieur (“crunch sir”) was rich and slightly salty, although the pommes frites were soggy and stale. The salad was fresh but dull. The coffee was good-a French roast that was not heavy and bitter like I so often see.
L’Express is an average bistro but if you are looking for a bistro that is always open with adequate food and a reasonable price point, L’Express is a good choice. If you are looking for an authentic buchon, you will be disappointed. I will happily return the next time I am on lower Park Avenue.
Ratings:
Service: 6 (Busy but efficient; not personal)
Archetype: 7 (Decor is squarely in the bistro tradition. If you are looking for an authentic Lyonnaise buchon, look elsewhere)
Food: 6 (Good overall, especially for the price point)
Energy: 6 (Tends toward being busy and crowded but the noise level is reasonable. I have not been there late at night but I imagine the bar crowd at 3:00 a.m. would be obnoxious)
Resources
The Bouchons of Lyon
http://lesbouchonslyonnais.org/
https://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/The-Bouchons-of-Lyon
http://www.moretimetotravel.com/what-is-a-lyonnaise-bouchon/
New York Times Article on Paul Bocuse
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/20/obituaries/paul-bocuse-dead.html
Reviews
https://www.theinfatuation.com/new-york/reviews/lexpress
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/lexpress/
http://www.clubplanet.com/Articles/9490/Late-Nite-Bites-LExpress-NYC
Auguste Escoffier
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Escoffier
http://www.escoffier-society.com/biography.php
Lyonnaise Cuisine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyonnaise_cuisine
Sel et Poivre-The Kronos Quartet and the Madam
Sel et Poivre
853 Lexington Ave
New York, New York 10065
(212) 517-5780
http://www.seletpoivrenyc.com/
Hold on
Stave in the ground
Are you being treated right
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
This world will make you think.
Mahalia Jackson
Carnegie Hall celebrates the 1960’s (a reflection of the fractured zeitgeist). I am going to see the Kronos Quartet. Their performance is brilliant. They play:
Pendulum Music by Steve Reich
The Star Spangled Banner Jimmy Hendrix Version
The House of the Rising Sun
Porgy and Bess Summertime
Glorious Mahalia
Sel et Poivre means salt and pepper. It is an UES institution since 1989. It is modest from the street; there is a dark awning and you can see twinkle lights inside the bistro. The crowd is decidedly older and it feels more like a private club than a public restaurant. They are dressed up for their weekly night out on the town. Even though they have little time left in life, they take their time over cocktails and talk between the tables. A matriarch with a cane enters slowly and deliberately; she is escorted to her table by the owner with great care. She has a large ivory broach fixed on her black jacket. She is alone. She has white hair which is flipped up stylishly at the ends. She has the nose of a vulture. She checks her watch. She orders a double cocktail. I wonder who is late or does she has the courage to dine alone on a Friday night? Men with suits and hats and cloth handkerchiefs in their breast pockets enter: they have 1940’s class and style. They walk slowly and stiffly to their tables happy to be seated safely.
This is not a theater or a tourist crowd. It is neighborhood crowd.
There is a small bar to the right as you enter the bistro. The cocktail crowd is drinking and talking, shifting continuously in the crowded space. A large vase of flowers separates the bar area from the dining area. The owner seats me promptly at a nice table along the wall. There are white table cloths, candles, and Thonet chairs. I love the double curves on the back of the chairs. The Thonet chair is the most elegant, simple and beautiful chair ever invented.
There are old black and white photographs of Parisian street scenes on the walls of Parisian as there should be and, across from my table, is an Eiffel Tower made from a wire frame.
The waiters are multi-cultural: French, Asian and Latin. This is unusual in a bistro. They work the entire room but the system works. They wear traditional white aprons, white shirts and black vests. They are not personable but they are efficient and attentive.
There are many seafood specials on the menu. There is a duck cassoulet.
I order cream of mushroom soup and swordfish (which I can never resist). The soup is a deep muddy brown and rich with pepper accents. The notes are long and low and earthy.
The matriarch has finished her cocktail. She checks her watch and orders another. It is not the husband but her granddaughter who arrives. She has a long face like her grandmother. She is wearing a sleeveless black dress on a cold January night in New York. She puts on a grey jacket but she still seems dressed for summer.
The swordfish arrives. The sides are green beans and rice. Dispose of the sides: bland, overcooked and pointless. Why serve hospital food at a bistro? The swordfish has a light white wine and butter sauce and is well-prepared. The pommes frites are excellent: salted, firm and not greasy. The bread is standard issue. It should be disposed of with the sides.
For dessert I have the chocolate terrine strawberry coulis. It is rich and dark and luscious.
The madams at the table behind me inquire and I advise that I am on my way to Carnegie Hall. They advise that they eat here every week and that almost everyone lives in the neighborhood and knows one another. They live around the corner and have been coming here for twenty years. This is their weekly night out on the town. They love being seen and catching up on the neighborhood goings on.
I consider that I will be climbing Aconcagua in a month. I will struggle with the altitude, the cold, the wind, the fear and the hard physical work in carrying the loads of the mountain. I consider if I will summit. I consider why I put myself through so much stress, risk and suffering. I try to stop time and remain at this warm and friendly bistro and have another glass of wine and dessert.
Am I the doer of my actions or is something else the doer of my actions? It does not feel as if I am making the decisions to climb mountains. Something else seems to be driving me: it is more subtle than I can perceive and more powerful than I can control. I cannot understand the energies. Consider the Bhagavad Gita on this point:
They alone see truly who see that all actions are performed by prakriti, while the Self remains unmoved. When they see the variety of creation rooted in that unity and growing out of it, they attain fulfillment in Brahman.
Eknath Easwaran
Ratings
Staff: 6 (Casual and attentive but not personal or engaging)
Archetype: 7 (Indicia of the Archetype: black and white photographs, Thonet chairs, formal waiters, neighborhood crowd)
Food: 6 (Bistro standards, uneven, extensive seafood specials)
Energy: 7 (Fun to hang out with the older UES crowd; friendly and conversational people; interested in why I am eating at their neighborhood club.)
Resources
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mariani/sel-poivre-celebrates-25-_b_5050799.html
http://johnmariani.com/archive/2010/101226/index.html
https://foodforott.com/2017/02/08/sel-et-poivre-revisited-the-game-festival/
Cafe Loup-The Wolf, the Winter and the Girl
Cafe Loup
105 West 13th Street
New York, New York
212-255-4746
You see the back of an old man with white hair sitting alone at a table facing three tall windows and soft smokey light streams into the cafe across the old man and the table with a single black ash tray. Above the old man’s head is the reflection of an Exit sign. (Or perhaps a No Exit sign) A single glass of beer sits next to the left hand of the old man and the beer is illuminated by the light streaming through the windows. You see the backs of three empty black chairs.
You see a very young Leonard Bernstein at the beach bare chested and wearing swimming trunks. You see street children, and lovers smoking and talking with intertwined arms in a cafe. (Love in the Left Bank).
It is a pleasant cafe, warm and clean and friendly and I placed my camera on the table and next to the camera my writing paper and pen. I walked around the cafe looking at the black and white photographs on the walls and the columns that run down the center of the cafe. It was good to be warm and inside the cafe after walking up Sixth Avenue on the cold, windswept streets of New York City in January.
( I write this from memory as I sit at Cafe Havana in Mendoza. I order a ham and cheese tostada and a glass of orange juice and listen to a band play folk ballads on the plaza next to the cafe. I place my camera and my notebook and pen on the cafe table and look at the street photographs that I had taken in the morning.)
The waitress wore traditional black and white and had a gap between her two front teeth. She spoke a mixture of French and English and offered to make fresh coffee for me. I took out my notebook and began to write. After a while, I took out my camera and looked at my photographs. The coffee was very strong and hot and I added sugar and it made me feel warm and happy and I began to write about death, time and memory and my photographs once again.
The jazz trio began their set. The piano player was white and young and wore all black, the bass player was Japanese, and the guitar player was tall and thin and had strings of grey hair brushed across his head. On the top of the piano was a green Martini glass that held a few dollar bills. It was the same shape as the piano lid supported by the lid prop.
The salmon steak was overcooked, and the pommes frites were dull, soft and slightly greasy. It was wonderful that day to be in the cafe and to write and to listen to jazz and to admire the black and white photographs and to be inside while the wind swept the streets cold and the faint sun faded into the night.
A girl came and sat at a table in front of the jazz trio. She was very pretty and I became distracted and I could no longer write in my notebook. She kept looking at the door and looking at her watch and I knew that she was waiting for someone and that it was a man. She watched the band and drank her glass of white wine quickly. I wanted to take a photograph of her so that I could remember and possess her forever but I could not. Earnest Hemingway said:
I’ve seen you, beauty, and you belong to me now, whoever you are waiting for and if I never see you again, I thought. You belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil.
I wanted to posses her with my camera and I could not. Hemingway possessed her with his words. The memories created by his words are stronger than the memories created by my photographs.
(Some of these words were written at the then-present at Cafe Loup. Some were written in the then-future at Cafe Havana in Mendoza. Some were written by Hemingway in the distant past and some are fantasy and are outside of time. In photography, I take a picture in the past (we can never take a picture of the present) the image recedes into the ever distant past and I look at the image in the future which becomes the past. This is the essence of death, time and memory. This is Camera Lucida.)
Cafe Loup is big and warm and the light soft and the staff is friendly. There are black and white photographs on the white walls. The chairs have woven cane backs and the chairs and tables are wood. In the back of the bistro is a piano for the jazz groups and you can sit in the large and comfortable red banquets next to the band. The photographs are like a Chelsea art gallery. When you enter the cafe, on your right is a long wooded bar where locals sit for the afternoon and drink glasses of red table win and discuss art and politics. The food is not distinguished. It is tired and the flavors and textures are unclear and confused. It is over-cooked. The French onion soup is thin and the pommes frites are soft. But the food is good enough. The staff, the light, the photographs uplift Cafe Loup to be one of my favorite bistros in New York City.
Ratings
Staff-9 (Friendly, French and casual; attentive and good timing)
Archetype-9 (Wooden tables and chairs, globe lights, long wood bar, local clientele, and the menu reflects the Archetype. It is too large to be a classic bistro )
Food-6 (Average food and the bread failed but somehow you don’t really care)
Energy-9 (You want to spend the afternoon here and write the great American novel-A Moveable Feast set in New York. Great photography, Sunday jazz, beautiful space, and quiet and cool vibe make it great.)
Resources
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/booming/at-cafe-loup-a-place-to-talk-or-just-listen-in.html
Chez Moi and Le Boudoir-A Walk in the Winter Night
Chez Moi and Le Boudoir
135 Atlantic Ave.,
Brooklyn Heights, New York 11201
347-227-8337
http://www.theseminolenationmuseum.org/
I-love-you has no usages. Like a child’s word, it enters into no social constraint; it can be a sublime, solemn, trivial word, it can be an erotic, pornographic word. It is a socially irresponsible word.
I-love-you is without nuance. It suppresses explanations, adjustments, degrees, scruples. In a way-exorbitant paradox of language-to say I-love-you is to proceed as if there were no theater of speech, and this word is always true (has no other referent than its utterance: it is a per- formative).
Roland Barthes
I take the subway to the Bergen stop and walk to Atlantic Avenue. It is dark and cold and remnants of yesterday’s snow were in the tree wells and in the shadows. After working hard all day on my book-Death, Time and Memory-I want to walk to dinner in the dark and the cold.
It is dark, intimate, comfortable, small tables in corners. A place for quiet conversations, affairs, and intrigue. “ I love you” is whispered in her ear leaning over close. The dark eyes. Jazz, quiet just above the threshold of perception. Brown wood tables and candles soft lights flickering softly. Memory and mystery. It reminds me of cafes in Amsterdam.
I saw then what I should have seen long before: namely that our friendship had ripened to a point when we had already become in a way part-owners of each other.
Lawrence Durrell, Justine
Seating and ordering were quietly and efficiently accomplished. Menu of bistro standards. Five kinds of mussels and a list of creative cocktails are notable. Quality bread, nutty, chewy. I order the special fish soup and the cod of the day.
The wines by the glass are limited but the prices are reasonable and the quality fairly high. I enjoyed a Merlot.
There is a friendly wood bar when you enter and it was full of locals: short hair, beards and tattoos, Japanese denim upfolded above the shoes, praying into iPhones, drinking wine. Thonet bar stools. Globe lights soft yellow glow globes of light. Amber and wood and candles.
A table of three girls to my left demolish large pots of mussels with enthusiasm and drink champagne tossing their hair back orchestrated in unison. The talk and do not text.
The fish soup is prepared with a tomato broth, suggestion of saffron, crab and crouton. Light, subtle flavors, clarity, perfect on a cold winter night in Brooklyn. The crouton was a bit soft and soggy but it did not defeat the dish.
The cod was presented with a stew of dumplings and a white wine sauce with Mediterranean herbs. It gave character to a typically dull white fish, the dumplings were a creative element rarely seen. A compelling dish.
Dessert was chocolate mousse presented with strawberry slices and fresh cream. Delightful finish.
Chez Moi opened in 2012. It is easy to miss the quiet and simple front of the bistro, a white frame door with traditional white lace in the window. The goal of the owners-Tarek Debira and Patricia Ageheim- is “to provide the neighborhood with a homie French bistro with classics and seasonal dishes, great cocktails and organic wines.”
They succeeded. It was a delightful dinner.
Le Boudoir is a Prohibition-inspired speakeasy that opened beneath the Chez Moi bistro. Apparently the entrance is on the left side of the bistro and you walk down a flight of stairs to the speakeasy. The New York Times says:
The owners, the husband-and-wife pair Tarek Debira and Patricia Ageheim, modeled the subterranean chambers after Marie Antoinette’s boudoir in Versailles. It drips with gold leaf frames, red velvet couches and other louche touches.he glass tabletops are held by nude nymph statuettes. Odalisque paintings hang on the wall. The space itself is reached through a bookshelf stocked with scarlet-spined books.
I missed this but will give it a try the next time I visit Chez Mois!
Ratings
Staff: 7 (French speaking, efficient, reserved)
Archetype: 6 (There are few signifiers of the Archetype, the food is traditional, the space is Brooklyn: brick walls, old wood, industrial ceiling)
Food: 7 (Traditional bistro food)
Energy: 8 (Noise low, lights low, energy low. If you want a bistro for quiet conversation, romance, privacy, this is your spot. Say “I love you.”)
Resources
Reviews of Chez Moi
http://gothamist.com/2014/09/02/chez_moi_rules.php#photo-1
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/09/22/travel/20130922-SURFACING-4.html
Le Boudoir
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/fashion/boudoir-brooklyn-heights.html?mtrref=www.google.com
Brasserie Ruhlman-The Essential Molecule of a New People
Brasserie Ruhlman
45 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10111
(212) 974-2020
https://www.brasserieruhlmann.com/
Standing in the station, with Paris in back of them, it seemed as if they were vicariously leaning a little over the ocean, already undergoing a sea-change, a shifting about of atoms to form the essential molecule of new people.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
It is the Christmas Holidays. I am paralyzed in the panicky crush of tourists, kids, iPhone selfie takers, cabs, sirens, barricades, cops, garish store displays, on Fifth Avenue just south of Atlas, holding up the world. It is cold, I don’t care about store windows or lights or ice skaters or shopping or Christmas I just want out. My wife finally relented in trying to find Christmas spirit, and we escaped to Brasserie Ruhlman where I had wisely made reservations anticipating the situation.
We entered through the back of the restaurant by the beautiful black marble bar into warmth, quiet and opulence.
What Is a Brasserie?
“Brasserie” means “brewery.” It is derived from the Middle French word “brasser” which means “to brew.” In the 1877 Edition of the Dictionary of the French Language, “brasserie” was defined as “a place where beer is sold by the measure and where there are only benches and wooden tables.”
When France lost the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, Alsatian businessmen flooded Paris and opened restaurants which served sauerkraut and beer. Patricia Wells said that brasseries have “lots of beer, Alsatian white wines such as Riesling and Gewurztraminer and usually choucroute, that hearty blend of sauerkraut and assorted sausages.”
Beer became a beverage for the working classes. Brasseries quickly attracted writers and artists. Some of the early brasseries were wild. The beer was served by pretty barmaids who would sometimes take customers into the back rooms.
Brasseries tend to be larger than bistros and are more energetic, lively and loud. Many of the modern brasseries are elegant, bright and are decorated with Belle Epoque design. Brasseries usually serve food all day long whereas bistros usually just serve food at mealtimes.
Brasserie Lipp is a great example of a Parisian brasserie. It was opened in 1880 by Leonard Lipp and his wife at 151 Boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its original name was “Brasserie des bords du Rhin” as a tribute to Alsace. During World War I the name was changed to Brasserie Lipp. In 1920 the business was taken over by Marcelin Cazes who established house rules that jackets must be worn and pipes must not be smoked. In 1935 he established a literary prize that was awarded annually to a talented young writer. In 2015, the prize celebrated its 80th anniversary.
In 1935, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the great French writer who wrote such classics as The Little Prince, Night Flight and Flight To Arras, celebrated his return to France from the War at the Brasserie Lipp:
And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
Other great writers such as Malraux, Gide, Proust, and Camus were regulars at the Brasserie Lipp. It was popular with the Lost Generation writers such as Hemingway, Stein, Joyce, Miller, Eliot and Fitzgerald.
From its Website:
Four letters (LIPP) which epitomize gastronomy and history. Four letters which stand proud in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Crossing the threshold of this illustrious establishment is akin to entering a shrine to Parisian life and discovering its many treasures. Every object has a story and has witnessed a succession of French political and literary giants, as well as international celebrities in the arts.
Brasserie Lipp is listed on the register of French historic monuments because of its mahogany facade, Art Nouveau decor, ceramic tile murals by Léon Fargue and ceilings painted by Charly Garrey.
The difference between a brasserie and a bistro? The New York Times says:
Twenty years ago, the difference between a brasserie and a bistro could be reduced to the difference between the heart and the mind — or so it appeared to a young woman with poetic tendencies and expatriate ambitions. The beef bourguignon and homey roast chicken at the bistro were there to reassure and console, whereas the raw oysters heaped on ice and the slabs of pate at the brasserie catered to a more aggressive palate.
Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann
Perhaps the most renowned designer of his day, Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann is considered the primary exponent of high French taste after World War I. His early designs reflected the Art Nouveau influence. His construction techniques place his work on a par with the finest eighteenth-century furniture. His concepts and craftsmanship epitomize the glamour of the French Art Deco era of the 1920s and continue to leave a lasting legacy.
Brasserie Ruhlmann
Brasserie Ruhlmann was designed to pay homage to Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann and the Parisian brasserie.
Over the entry way of Brasserie Ruhlmann is a gold Art Deco engraving of a reclining male figure pouring water from a jug. There are large Art Deco lighting fixtures throughout the restaurant. The restaurant feels clubby. The wood is deep, rich, red mahogany, the lighting is soft and yellow, the tablecloths are white and starchy, the benches and chairs are red velvet, the floor is blue, white and brown geometric mosaic. The space projects opulence, exclusiveness, and formal reserve. It is calm and quiet which is a welcome contrast to the crush and the masses of tourists outside at Rockefeller Center.
Chef Laurent Tourondel
The executive chef of Brasserie Ruhlmann is Laurent Tourondel. He is a highly accomplished chef.
Chef Laurent Tourondel graduated from the four year cooking program at Saint Vincent Ecole de Cuisine in Montlucon, France where he earned a “d’Aptitude Professionnelle de Cuisinier.” He worked under such notable chefs as: Bruno Tison at Restaurant Beau Geste in Manhattan; Jacques Maximin at Restaurant Ledoyen in France; and Chef de Partie at Restaurant Mercury at the Hotel InterContinental in Moscow. He also worked at the three-star Michelin Relais & Chateau Troisgros.
He opened BLT Steak, BLT Fish, BLT Prime, BLT Burger, BLT Market, LT Burger in the Harbor, LT Burger in Bryant Park, LT Signature and most recently Arlington Club. In October 2007, Bon Appétit magazine named Tourondel Restaurateur of the Year.
Food and Experience
The menu includes caviar and vodka, a raw bar, a sushi selection and most of the bistro standards. It is pricey; most of the entrees are in the middle $30s. Oddly, the Dover Sole Meunière (with spinach, pommes fondantes, soy citrus, brown butter) was $52 but the lowly Branzino (with mashed potatoes) was $36.
We led the dinner with pommes frites and French onion soup.
The wine list is vast and expensive. We selected modest wines by the glass-expensive but of quality. The list is a bit confusing-they serve wines in 5 and 10 ounce carafes. It is easy to order a nice wine for what you think is a modest price but only to receive 5 ounces, but to get a real glass of wine, you could be up to $30-$50 dollars or so!
I had the Scottish Salmon Chermoula (couscous tabbouleh, harissa, yogurt sauce). My wife had the Seared Sea Scallops (rosemary apple & cauliflower purée, hazelnut, sage, brown butter).
The food was competently executed but it did not sing. Considering the reputation of its head chef, the food should have been of higher level. More attractive plating, more creativity, more clarity between flavors, better articulation of the overall dishes was expected.
The service was prompt, efficient, pleasant. It was slightly stuffy and formal but with modest attempts of communication they became human.
Ratings
Service: 7 (Formal and professional)
Archetype: 8 (High scores for brasserie, this is not a bistro )
Food: 6 ( Professionally prepared, competent but lacked soul. Where is Chef Laurent Tourondel?)
Energy: 7 (A quiet, warm, clubby, opulent retreat from the masses at Rockefeller Center)
Reviews
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/Brasserie-Ruhlmann/
http://www.gayot.com/restaurants/brasserie-ruhlmann-new-york-ny-10111_1ny060612.html
http://nymag.com/restaurants/reviews/18846/
Brasseries
http://www.brasserielipp.fr/lieux.php
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/14/magazine/come-to-the-brasserie.html?pagewanted=all
https://eatyourworld.com/blog/six_historic_parisian_brasseries_that_arent_tourist_traps
http://www.fermettemarbeuf.com/
Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/487424
Laurent Tourondel
La Mirabelle-The Parisian Woman and a Parisian Bistro
La Mirabelle Restaurant
102 West 86th Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam)
New York, NY 10024
(212) 496-0458
http://lamirabellenyc.com/?section=home
The Parisian Woman and a Parisian Bistro
We are on the way to Broadway to see The Parisian Woman starring Uma Thurman. Very much like House of Cards, turns out the screenplay was by the same writers.
La Mirabelle is on the Upper West Side. It is located on 86th street near Columbus Avenue.
We subway from Dumbo, emerge from the tunnel and walk through the traffic and car lights and wind. It is snowing, cold and dark.
We arrive early and are greeted warmly by the stylish host; we appreciate this considering the weather. We receive a table near a window in the front. We consider the decoration of the bistro, no, not decoration, more like image-objects that have grown organically over the decades, recording the bistro’s history.
From the street the bistro is modest: wood and lace curtains. Something about the lace evokes a grandmother’s home kitchen and comfort food prepared with love. The bistro has two levels (there is a wood stairway to the right the leads to an upper level) there are old wood crossbeams the make the space feel rustic, as if you were in the French countryside, rather than on West 86th street.
There are vernacular oil paintings of flowers and countrysides, beaches and seas, black and white photos signed by celebrities, flowers on the hostess stand.
This is a neighborhood restaurant. Around 6:30 diners began to arrive. Most were in their 60s to their 80’s and all seemed to know the staff and each other, as if they had dined there for decades. Many of them were French. Some wore black berets-black coats and white hair. You imagine them talking about the invasion of Paris during WWII. You imagine they feel they are in their old neighborhood in Paris.
The music was Parisian chanson: Charles Trenet, Guy Béart, Jacques Brel, Jean Ferrat, Georges Brassens and Édith Piaf. You imagine they can sing these clothes.
The staff treated us as if we were long lost family. They claim to know everyone who comes in and if they do not, they will before the meal is over. The service is by whoever is free, whatever is needed is provided. I think the grandmother brought us our soup, she spoke only a few words of English.
This is traditional bistro food, the kind of straightforward, fresh and simple food that the owners served their families back in France.
We were offered a long list of specials: clam chowder, oysters, mussels, arugula salad, snapper, beef wellington and a bouillabaisse.
For starters we tried the onion soup and the special endive salad. The salad sparkled, very fresh, accents of grapefruit, slivers of goat cheese and croutons. The onion soup was good-it was not up to the best (which is Odeon’s) but it was a respectable offering. The broth was a little light for our taste but well within the tradition.
Our mains were the salmon with leak sauce, with mashed potatoes and squash, and the bouillabaisse. The salmon dish was cooked with care, it had quality, but the bouillabaisse was extraordinary. It stole the show; it is one of the best dishes I have had at any bistro in New York over the past three years. It was an event.
The broth was subtle, you could taste the saffron and the fennel. There was a large lobster, mussels, and an abundance of white fish. The potatoes were perfectly cooked. The dish had complexity, clarity and balance. It was an ideal antidote to a cold, windy, snowy night.
Let’s explore the art of bouillabaisse. What is it and what makes a good one, well good?
Bouillabaisse is a classic French dish from the port town Marseille. It uses many different varieties of fish. Traditionally it was made with whatever the fishermen hadn’t sold that morning. It was a soup made from leftover fish! There are many varieties of bouillabaisse and there is passionate disagreement over who makes the best bouillabaisse. In Marseille, bouillabaisse is not just a fish soup. It is a way of life.
Guillaume Sorrieu’s bouillabaisse, from L’Épuisette, in Marseille, is considered the best in the world.
How to describe the real thing?
But the real thing — the rust-brown, tomato- and fennel-based, saffron-infused bouillon, enriched by dollops of a fiercely garlicky mayonnaise called rouille, followed by a plate of fish that have been cooked in the bouillon — is well worth the hunt.
But exactly what fish can be used? You will not be astonished to hear that learned authorities disagree. Even the authoritative Bouillabaisse Charter of Marseille, signed by 11 restaurateurs in 1979, does little to clear up the confusion. The Charter specifies that at least four fish from a list of eight must be used if the bouillabaisse is to be considered authentic.
A Marseille bouillabaisse must consist of at least four types of fish from the following list:
Scorpion fish
White scorpion fish
Red mullet
Skate
Conger eel
John Dory
Optional
Cigale de Mer (Mediterranean crustacean resembling a lobster)
Spiny lobster
Other ingredients that may go in the bouillabaisse:
Salt
Pepper
Saffron
Olive oil
Garlic
Onions
Fennel
Parsley
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Dessert was chocolate mousse. (The creme caramel and the chocolate raspberry cake were tempting). It was intense, rich but not cheapened by too much sugar. We closed with espresso and began the journey to the theater.
Ratings
Staff: 8 (Authentically French, casual)
Archetype: 8 (There are many signifiers of the Archetype-vernacular paintings and photographs, the white lace around the window, the country farmhouse feeling, the simplicity and quality of the food)
Food: 9 (Well prepared traditional bistro food; great bouillabaisse, well worth the trip)
Energy: 9 (Noise low, neighborhood crowd, older, quiet, pleasant atmosphere, surprisingly good music)
Reviews
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/la-mirabelle/
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/10/arts/restaurants-229173.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.thehudsonbroadway.com/whatson/the-parisian-woman/
Bouillabaisse
https://www.starchefs.com/bouillabaisse/html/english/article.shtml
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/07/dining/a-prime-kettle-of-fish.html
Bouillabaisse Recipes
https://www.starchefs.com/bouillabaisse/html/english/recipe_01.shtml
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/07/dining/a-prime-kettle-of-fish.html
https://www.starchefs.com/bouillabaisse/html/english/recipe_04.shtml
La Ripaille- There is Never Any Ending to Paris
La Ripaille
605 Hudson St.
New York, NY 10014
(212) 255-4406
There is never any ending to Paris and the memory of each person who has lived in it differs from that of any other. We always returned to it no matter who we were or how it was changed or with what difficulties, or ease, it could be reached. Paris was always worth it and you received return for whatever you brought to it. But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy.
Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
La Ripaille is a 16th-century French word that means a feast or revelry. La Ripaille is one of the oldest restaurants in the West Village. Its regulars have been eating at the bistro for 25 years. In the spirit of the authentic bistro, the owner, Alain Laurent, manages the day-to-day operations of the restaurant. He visits the markets to find the freshest produce and creates dishes based upon seasonality, locality and quality. He curates the wine list and is even known to cook when the chef needs a break! Mr. Laurent comes from a restaurant family: both his brother and sister own restaurants in New York and his nephew owns one in France.
I was alone, cold and poor in Paris. I would walk, explore bookstores and map shops and bakeries. I would take black and white photographs of the Seine and the bridges and the barges with my small camera. In a modest bistro I would sip a single glass of wine all day and read Joyce and write poems that I later tossed one by one into the fire in the foyer of the hostel next to the frozen fountains of the Luxembourg Gardens. I was happy living in Paris. La Ripaille reminds me of my Hemingway days: very poor and very happy.
We arrived for early dinner and we were greeted and seated by Mr. Laurent himself. He described the daily specials to us, and brought us our dishes. He was charming and energetic.
My wife had been shopping in the holiday markets all day and was happy to be seated in a quiet, warm bistro and to be served a glass of wine after the crowds, the cold and crush of Christmas in New York.
The menu has the standards and the prices are reasonable. Most of the mains are from $21 to $25.
La Ripaille is modest from the street. There is a small bar to the left. The heavy red curtains make the bistro feel theatrical. A silent grandfather clock made in 1846 is set to the opening time of the restaurant. On the red brick walls next to the clock hang old iron forks and spoons. There are French posters, rows of glasses hanging over the bar, wood chairs and tables, candles and flowers. There is a terrace for the summer and a fireplace in the back for the winter. There are many signifiers of the bistro Archetype.
This poster over my table: Fap’Anis. Celui des Connaisseurs. This poster was a 1920s French advertisement for a pastis aperitif called Fap Anis. The creation of pastis (an anise flavored spirit) was in response to the banning of absinthe in France in 1915.
The flapper enjoying a panoramic vista of the French Riviera was Gaby Deslys. She was from Marseille and was a dancer, singer, and actress. During the 1910s she had worldwide fame and performed in Paris, London and New York. She made $4,000 a week in the United States alone. During the 1910s she performed several times on Broadway. Her dancing was so popular that The Gaby Glide was named for her. Renowned for her beauty, she was courted by wealthy gentlemen including King Manuel II of Portugal. Gaby loved pearls and claimed that she owned a collection equal to her own weight.
Marseille, the home of pastis, and where Fap Anis was produced, made Gaby a natural fit for this advertisement.
We ordered pommes frites, mussels and a filet of bass sauteed in Champagne and rosemary. Each dish was simply prepared and presented. The flavors and textures were clearly articulated and flavorful. The fish was perfectly cooked. Even the bread was enjoyable. Our wines by the glass were modest but so was the pricing.
The only false note in the evening was the tarte tatin. In my review of Cherche Midi I wrote extensively on the tarte tatin. Here is the link:
http://www.newyorkbistros.net/?p=154
Julia Child describes a tarte tatin as:
It is caramelized sliced apples, oven-baked in a skillet with the pastry on top; when done, it is turned upside-down so the crust is on the bottom and the apple slices – wonderfully brown, buttery, and glazed with caramel – remain in a design on top.
This tarte tatin failed. The crust was soggy, the apples were overcooked, and the whole affair lacked flavor and structure.
At La Ripaille we found good food, prepared with care and pride, the owner working the front, and a delightful experience in this classic bistro in the West Village. Love on the Left Bank, A Moveable Feast, Tropic of Cancer.
Ratings
Archetype-9
Most of the signifiers of the bistro Archetype, even the rarity of the owner working the front of the bistro. Grandfather clocks, 1920’s French posters, and small bar)
Food-8
Well executed; bistro standards with few innovations. The tarte tatin failed.
Staff-8
Service that only the owner can provide: friendly, professional, authentic.
Energy-8
Small, cozy, historical, West Village bistro. A neighborhood place. Quiet and romantic, you feel good to be here.
Resources
Reviews
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/la-ripaille/
http://www.gayot.com/restaurants/la-ripaille-new-york-ny-10014_1ny99177.html
http://events.nytimes.com/mem/nycreview.html?res=9C03E5D81639F932A35754C0A965948260
Tarte Tatin
http://www.tartetatin.org/home/history-of-the-tarte-tatin
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/oct/20/how-to-cook-perfect-tarte-tatin
Bistro Cassis-Leonard’s Birthday Celebration
Bistro Cassis
225 Columbus Ave
New York, New York 10023
(212) 579-3966
http://www.bistrocassisny.com/
Leonard’s Birthday Celebration
It was a beautiful clear blue fall day in New York City when one feels blessed and grateful to live here and walk through Central Park, eat at a local bistro and then onward to Lincoln Center for Bernstein’s Centennial Celebration. I was to hear: Joey Roukens-Boundless (Three movements-manically, glacially, propulsively); Bernstein-Serenade; and Bernstein-Symphony 1 (Jeremiah).
I have long been an admirer of Bernstein: I first became interested, not though music, but through his Harvard Lectures called the Unanswered Question. These lectures analyzed musical theory through linguistics (Chomsky: structuralism) in a way that only Bernstein could: with brilliance, charm, intensity, passion, risk and command of many languages and disciplines.
I liked this Bistro. Because bistros are conforming to the Archetype there tends to be a flattening of quality; most are average. It is rare to find a really bad one and a bit less rare to find a really good one. Cassis ranks at the higher end of the distribution!
I ordered one of their special daily wines-a natural 100% Bordeaux. It was outstanding.
Cassis has many signifiers of the Archetype: red awning on the street, waiters dressed in all black with white aprons, white marble topped tables with Thonet chairs, chalk board menu, small, comfortable bar in front, red banquet benches, soft globe lights, engraved glass divider and French posters (Vin Mariani (“Popular French Table Wine”) and Toni Kola (Vin Apertif).
The bread was good. It had that nutty flavor and aleatory structure that quality bread exhibits. I am almost always disappointed by bistro bread. Why don’t most bistros take pride in their heritage? Raise the prices if you must, but give us quality bread! Not only was the bread good it was accompanied with both butter and pate. I have not seen this before.
Even though I was here for a New York Philharmonic performance, it was not a pre-theater crowd. It was an upper West Side crowd out for dinner during the week at the local bistro. Possibly because Cassis is too far away from Lincoln Center (between 70th and 71st) or has not yet been discovered.
They had several specials: split pea soup, skate, lobster ravioli with vodka infused sauce, and a filet mignon. I opted for the split pea soup (have not seen that before in the bistro world) and the skate.
The service was very prompt and professional if a bit distant.
The pea soup was excellent-served very hot; light and subtle flavoring. This is not the pea soup we grew up with-a viscous, green mass with slices of hotdogs.
The skate was a filling dish-a large piece of fish with carrots, and roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts. The sauce was lemon, white wine and capers. The fish was cooked perfectly.
Ratings
Staff: 7 (Authentically French, professional; slightly impersonal)
Archetype: 8 (Hews closely to the Archetype)
Food: 8 (Well prepared traditional bistro food; creative specials; great wine)
Energy: 9 (Noise low, Upper West Side crowd, pleasant and comfortable)
Resources
New York Philharmonic Bernstein Festival
The Unanswered Question
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unanswered_Question_(lecture_series)
The Definitive Bernstein Biography is by Humphrey Burton
Olivier Bistro-Gowanus Open Studios 2017
Olivier Bistro
469 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11215
718-768-6600
Gowanus Open Studios 2017
It is the weekend of Gowanus Open Studios: the weather was a perfect fall day and it gave me an opportunity to explore a new neighborhood. I took some photographs of the canal, warehouses, auto repair shops, and industrial sites, and was generally pleased with the results. This is a great black and white neighborhood.
After a day of photography, exploring artists studios and looking at lots of art, it was time for dinner at Olivier Bistro.
You have a sense that the neighborhood is beginning to gentrify. Luxury condo developments are under construction, there is a Whole Foods (of course) overlooking the canal. Across the street from Olivier Bistro is Manny’s Rim and Tire Shop, condo construction and a Starbucks. There are lots of small art galleries in the neighborhood but you know what is coming. I experienced the exodus from Soho (now de-evolved into an outdoor mall, but I still love the architecture) and the East Village. I mention this because it is a huge issue in the neighborhood.
The decor of Olivier Bistro is clean and minimal. There are a few black and white photos on the walls and wood mirrors. All of the chairs are Thonet. There is an attractive bar to the right when you enter. On the streets are boxes with grape vines growing. French flags fly on the street.
Service was friendly and efficient. It was attentive but not obtrusive. The bread was some of the best I have seen in the bistro world in a long time. The crust and the crumb were good. It was served with olive oil and a dash of balsamic vinegar. The music was classic rock-Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Tom Petty, the Stones, etc. An odd choice, but perhaps not for a bistro located in Gowanus. Somehow it worked; it fit a more contemporary vibe.
In the table next to me two older ladies with white hair had two cocktails, and then demolished a bottle of white wine, onion soup and a huge beef marrow talking nonstop all the way. The crowd feels very local; I cannot image any tourists here.
The wine was organic and good-better than most wines by the glass, even Odeon’s. The wine list is limited but of high quality.
There are some interesting appetizers on the menu: shishito (blistered green peppers, sea salt and lemon), poulpe a la plancha (octopus, red pepper sauce, fingerlings and confit tomatoes), and choux frit (fried cauliflower, lemon aioli). They range in price from $9 to $14.
The entrees are mostly the classic bistro dishes: hanger steak, poulet au citron, poisson of the day, cassoulet de canard, and moules frites. Prices range from $17 to $26. Prices here are gentle compared to those on Manhattan!
Deserts feature a nice selection of cheese, which I see less frequently than you might imagine.
I had the halibut with almond sauce, cherry tomatoes, squash slivers, and almond shavings. It was excellent: even though the sauce was complicated and there were lots of elements to the dish, the flavors and textures were distinct and well-defined. Sometimes these types of dishes get very muddy but that was not the case here. I had the Morbier cheese for dessert. It was served with grapes, nuts and sliced tomato.
The owner is Olivier Verdier who moved here from France eight years ago and worked for thirteen years in restaurants in France. He opened the bistro with Guillaume Thivet who was a former chef at Bouley.
I liked this bistrot. The food was of much higher quality and creativity than the norm, there was actually good bread and the owners care about their restaurant.
Ratings
Staff: 7 (Casual, friendly and attentive)
Archetype: 6 (Not really concerned with signifying the Archetype)
Food: 9 (Very good traditional bistro food; some creative offerings)
Energy: 8 (Noise low, Gowanus/Park Slope crowd; rather small space but comfortable)
Resources
Reviews
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/eating-g-line-fourth-ave-stop-brooklyn-article-1.1721778
Gowanus Open Studios 2017
ICE and Godard: Tout va bien!
Tout Va Bien
311 W 51st Street ( between 8th and 9th Avenue)
New York, New York 10019
(212) 265-0190
ICE and Godard: Tout va bien!
It was one of those perfect luminous fall days in New York City. Blue skies and yellow leaves beginning to turn. I lie in the grass on the Lincoln Center lawn and watch the clouds form and float. I think I should slow down and do this more often. How relaxed and open and accepting can I be? Get present now: the world is the Zendo. I enjoy my day off from Crossfit enormously: rest and rebuilding is essential. I am driven by the relentless art gods, consumed with the book. I feel like Don Quixote. Who am I to write about the great and complex questions of death, memory and time? Is this a quixotic quest? Am I just tilting at windmills, or can I trust my work and intelligence and be confident that something valuable will emerge at the end of this?
I am on my way to an International Contemporary Ensemble performance. Sabrina Schroeder at Bruno Walter Auditorium: Stircrazy for saxophone and electronically activated bass drums. Bonegames: darkhorse. Transducers, fibrillation and pulsation. Sound beds, low slowly evolving, high frequency hits; horizontal and vertical. I am inspired. It is an open rehearsal with interaction between the audience and composer, and composer and musicians. The composer is concerned with musical time, duration and improvisation. New musical forms. I ask a question of the composer concerning acoustic space and it is well received.
From Lincoln Center I walk to Hell’s Kitchen to visit Tout Va Bien. I take photographs along the way but all of them are bad. I delete them later.
Tout Va Bien was established in 1949 and is the oldest bistro in the Theater District. The bistro is in Hells Kitchen so, fortunately, it does not feel like the Theater District. It was founded by Jean-Pierre Touchard. It has been managed by the Touchard family for more than three generations. It is well known for its coq au vin and filet mignon. In fact, I received a post card from the bistro which celebrated its 65th anniversary: new menu, new chef and new air conditioning!
Signifiers of the Bistro Archetype: the red awing on the street, Ricard banner flags hung on the railing, a small replica of the Eiffel Tower wrapped in blue and red twinkle lights on the outside patio; the specials on the chalk board (frog legs, filet mignon, veal blanket, crap cake and asparagus), French flags and posters on the walls, French country plates on the walls, old wood tables and chairs, sometimes Thonet, a red banquet bench, a small bar as you enter, and menus with the French font. Because the bistro is so old, there is lots of accumulated stuff everywhere; it does feel like your grandparents living room and kitchen!
The energy was somewhat spoiled by a huge TV monitor at the end of the bistro tuned to a hockey game and another small monitor next to the bar. I don’t like televisions in bistros; it makes me think I am in a cheap bar in Detroit where everyone is drinking Budweiser and eating wings.
The menu has all of the favorites and the prices are modest. The Coq Au Vin is $21.50, the hanger steak is $23, the Filet De Sole Meuniere is $22.95 and the Salade Niçoise is $16. The specials that evening were filet mignon, veal blanket, frog legs, and crab cakes.
The staff was very casual; my waitress seemed to be a member of the family and the host came over to inquire about my dinner. He was elderly, dressed in a formal dark suit and had a greying pony tail.
I have coq a vin and the chocolate mousse. It is my cheat day and I earned it after eight out of nine days on at Crossfit. The bread was not worth eating (why does any bistro serve bad bread?) but it did come with a side of carrots, celery and radishes. A nice touch. My wine was ordinary.
What makes a great coq a vin? Here is a definition of the dish from the NYT:
A coq au vin is a classic French stew in which chicken is braised slowly in red wine and a little brandy to yield a supremely rich sauce filled with tender meat, crisp bits of bacon, mushrooms and burnished pearl onions. Traditional recipes call for a whole cut-up chicken, but using all dark meat gives you a particularly succulent dish without the risk of overcooked white meat.
The dish I received was not a traditional coq au vin. My dish had two large potatoes on each side of the dish and carrot slices. The sauce was very dark and somewhat thick; there was no evidence of the pearl onions. Since the sauce was so heavy, it overpowered the lardons and any nuance of the flavors. Even so, the dish was quite flavorful and enjoyable.
The mousse was the high point. It came with whipped cream, mint and strawberries. I closed with an espresso.
They table next to me had been drinking sangria. The waitress had placed an enormous punch bowl full of the stuff on their table. I remarked to the waitress that was a tempting way to serve sangria! There was a slight delay with running my card through their system and the waitress very kindly gave me a free glass while I waited. It was much better than I expected and I drank more of it than I intended to!
The name of the restaurant forces us to talk about Godard. Tout Va Bien is Godard’s most Marxist film. It is about class relations and economics. The film concerns two main characters. Jane Fonda is an American journalist living in France and is a correspondent to an American news company. She is reporting on French culture and politics. She is married to a Yves Montand-a filmmaker who was once a New Wave director but who has moved on to make commercials. The film revolves around a strike in a French sausage factor; Fonda and the filmmaker are trapped in the manager’s office by the striking workers. The most famous scene in the movie is the long tracking scene in a supermarket. The camera moves down a long series of checkout counters, all with long lines of people obediently standing in line with big carts of food, a slow parade of excessive consumption. Then the rebelling workers come to liberate the grocery store. They shout: “Free! It’s all free!” The camera starts tracking back to the left and the scene turns to chaos when the shoppers run to fill their carts and charge out of the store.
Jane Fonda can make no sense out of what she experiences: “I am an American correspondent in France who no longer corresponds to anything.” What does it mean?
All Godard films require study: read the reviews below!
Ratings
Staff: 6 (Family, French, casual; extra points for the free glass of sangria)
Archetype: 7 (There are many signifiers of the Archetype that have accumulated over 65 years)
Food: 6 (Basic bistro food; no frills; modest prices)
Energy: 5 (Noise low, television monitors annoying, tables close together)
Resources
International Contemporary Ensemble
Coq-au-vin Recipes
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018529-coq-au-vin
http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/top-5-best-coq-au-vin-recipes
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/02/how-to-makethe-best-coq-au-vin-chicken-braised-in-red-wine.html
Tout Va Bien-Godard
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/356-tout-va-bien-revisited
Bacchus Bistro and Wine Bar-A Bistro Without a Code
Bacchus Bistro and Wine Bar
411 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11217
718-852-1572
http://www.bacchusbistro.com/home-1.html
I can’t rely on my memories.
Rachel, Bladerunner
On my way to the opening of Bladerunner 2049 at BAM, I stop at Bacchus for dinner.
Bacchus is located in the Boerum neighborhood in Brooklyn. Boerum is in the northwestern portion of Brooklyn. Boerum Hill was named for the colonial farm of the Boerum family, which occupied most of the area during early Dutch settlement. Originally it was a working class area, then became a high crime zone and then became gentrified.
Bacchus is on the same block as the Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal Church and the Templo Cristiano De Brooklyn (Brooklyn Christian Temple Inc.). There are trendy businesses such as Ruchkida Nozhki Nail Lounge, Farrow and Bali (paint and paper), Opalia (flowers) and Arco (a Luxury Salon Boutique). Nearby is the Atelier Cologne (The Cologne Absolue-True Innovation). They are trying very hard to be distinctive and sophisticated but seem rather silly instead. They are models of gentrification. I wonder what the Pentecostals think when they walk by on their way to church. Perhaps they do not see them at all.
Bacchus is roughhewn and unfinished. The walls are old and distressed by time. Scraped paint provides the color. The tables are beat up and the chairs are straw wicker. On one wall is a mysterious tin plate with blocks of old brown wood nailed to the plate for no apparent purpose. I could find no sign of a traditional bistro. No photographs of Paris, no Metro signs, no Thonet chairs, no white lace curtains in the window. This is a bistro without a code as Roland Barthes might say.
Service is French-casual. It works well enough.The menu is limited but has most of the standards. Bacchus is the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, ritual madness, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy in ancient myth. Correspondingly, there is a good selection of organic wines which is unusual for a modest bistro such as this. This is the bistro’s strength.
I ordered the French onion soup and the salmon with vegetables. The bread arrived: stale and tasteless. I am sure when it was fresh it was equally tasteless. No reason to eat the stuff. I think that bistros should serve nothing at all rather than embarrassing themselves and the French tradition by putting this pathetic attempt at bread making on the table in traditional zinc buckets.
The onion soup was surprisingly good after the slow start with the bread. The broth was black and it was not over cheesed or full of soppy bread that it typical. Flavors were subtle and nicely balanced.
The music began with a large jazz combo; pleasant and right for a bistro. It then swerved into a fusion version of In A Gadda Da Vida. A very tired 1968 psychedelic rock classic. (In a gadda da vida, honey/ Don’t you know that I’m lovin’ you/ In a gadda da vida, baby/ Don’t you know that I’ll always be true). I hoped to never hear that again after high school nor to be tortured by the extended drum solo. This song dredged up old memories that I would rather forget.
The crowd was local. Moms with children, a couple on a date, a bewildered older couple, a single guy drinking wine at the bar talking up the uninterested waitress.
Bacchus has a backyard with a tree and party lights strung from its branches to the building. Metal chairs and tables are scattered around and bottles are set up on an old table that is leaning on the uneven patio. A wedding party flows in from the street. A hyper-kinetic bride screeches and hugs. Large white teeth are displayed. The groom stands on the edge: lost, uncertain, superfluous.
The salmon and vegetables (squash and broccoli) were acceptable but boring. The vegetables were not overcooked and the salmon was pink and flavorful. You will not find creativity here nor will you find charm. But you will find food that is good enough, excellent natural wine, and a casual neighborhood vibe.
Ratings:
Staff-5 (Casual and vaguely efficient)
Archetype-1 (A bistro without a code. Not signifiers of the Archetype. )
Food-6 (Good, limited and uncreative; the bread failed. The wine was good and reasonably priced. )
Energy-5 (Casual, comfortable, local)
Resources
Roland Barthes
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/roland-barthes-myths-we-dont-outgrow
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/jan/13/death-of-the-author
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Barthes
Bladerunner
Match 65-Between the Dog and the Wolf
Match 65
29 East 65th Street (Between Madison and Park)
New York, New York 10065
212-737-4400
Joel Meyerowitz: Between the Dog and the Wolf
It is opening night for Joel Meyerowitz at Howard Greenberg Gallery. He showed two collections of images: “Between the Dog and the Wolf” in the main gallery and “Morandi, Cezanne and Me” in a side gallery.
The opening was jammed and it was good to see Meyerowitz in good health wearing all black with a matching black Leica casually flung over one shoulder.
Between the Dog and the Wolf is a translation of a common French expression which refers to twilight. In his artists statement Meyerowitz said: “It seemed to me that the French liken the twilight to the notion of the tame and the savage, the known and the unknown, where that special moment of the fading of the light offers us an entrance into the place where our senses might fail us slightly, making us vulnerable to the vagaries of our imagination.”
In the second series, Morandi, Cézanne and Me, Meyerowitz was granted permission to photograph the studios of both Morandi and Cezanne. Meyerowitz was entranced by the grey walls in Cézanne’s studio, and he photographed just about every object there – from vases, pitchers, and carafes to a skull and Cézanne’s hat. In Morandi’s studio Meyerowitz was allowed access to all of the objects that Morand used to create his perfect still life paintings. He was allowed to sit at Morandi’s table where he photographed shells, pigment-filled bottles, funnels, and watering cans against the same paper that Morandi had left on the wall. The paper is now yellow with age and created a rich backdrop for the photographs.
Match 65 Bistro
Beneath the red awning and string lights on 65th street are bistro chairs full of diners enjoying the perfect fall evening. It is a joy and a sweet sadness, fall in New York, because everyone who lives in the city knows that is coming. The cold and the grey and the wet and the slush and the dark. So we enjoy the preciousness of every moment.
The bar is to the right when you enter and is staffed by a charming young French woman. You can dine in tables in the bar area but I opted for table in the dining room in the back. There are large mirrors that reflect an infinity of diners and soft light globes in an infinite regression. Old black and white photos line the walls. In the back is a large sign with red type that announces Match 65-brasserie, cafe, comptoir-vins du pays, apertifs, bieres de luxe, plats du jour and digestifs.
Service was quick and efficient but hurried due to the large number of diners but small staff. The cafe was comfortably full-not so crowded as to be unpleasant but full enough to suggest popularity and success.
Most of the bistro classics are on the menu: moules frites mariniers, pan roasted salmon, tuna provencal, steak frites, and branzino. There is also an offering of enticing salads, hors d’ oeuvres, and garnitures.
I was surprised by the price points. The roasted salmon was $35 (Odeon is $31), the steak frites was $43 (Odeon is $40),the macaroni and cheese was $22 (Odeon is $13), the French onion soup was $15 (Odeon is $14), and pommes frites were $12 (Odeon is $11).
My experience at Match 65 was good but it is no Odeon.
I ordered the chicken paillard (with cherry tomatoes, baby cucumber, asparagus baby beets, mesclun greens, and feta cheese). I also had the pommes frites to give them a try.
The chicken was very thin but the temperature of the chicken could have been warmer and its consistency and flavor reminded me a bit of cardboard. The salad was excellent: fresh and well balanced. The pommes frites and the bread were average.
Paris Match
Paris Match is a French weekly news magazine. A judge has banned Paris Match from re-publishing graphic CCTV images of the Bastille Day attack in Nice in 2016. Paris Match was planning to publish images showing the moment when a truck plunged into crowds of people celebrating France’s national holiday, killing 86 and injuring hundreds. In an article defending the decision, Paris Match’s managing editor wrote that the magazine “wanted to pay tribute to the victims… in a duty of memory, so that society does not forget.”
Paris Match has faced legal action and censure several times before over the publication of private and sensitive images and interviews, including what it claimed was the last interview with Princess Diana before she was killed in a 1997 car crash in the French capital.
I inquired about the unusual name of the bisto and I was told that they originally named it “Paris Match” after the magazine. However, the magazine protested (trademark infringement I suspect) and so they changed the name to Match 65.
Review
Service: 8. Professional but hurried. Good timing. Authentically French staff from the host to the servers.
Archetype: 8. All of the signifiers of the Archetype are represented.
Food: 5. Average bistro food. High price points. Interesting specials of the day which would be worth trying.
Energy: 7. Good bar and sidewalk scene. Busy but not obnoxious. Authentic bistro decor and vibe.
Resources
Paris Match Magazine
Howard Greenberg Gallery
http://www.howardgreenberg.com/
Joel Meyerowitz
Bar Tabac-The Parisien Tobacco Shop
Bar Tabac
128 Smith Street at Dean Street
Brooklyn, NY, 11201
(718) 923-0918
The French Tabac
A tabac is a shop licensed to sell tobacco products in France. Tabacs are identified by a red diamond-shaped sign. They sell newspapers, telephone cards, lottery ticket and postage stamps. The tabac may also be the tobacco counter in some bars. You see tabacs in many old Godard and French New Wave movies.
The Brooklyn Bar Tabac
Bar Tabac is on Smith Street in the Cobble Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn. Smith Street has many shops and restaurants that are small, local and creative.
Bar Tabac has many signifiers of the bistro. The French flag, the red awning, the small wood tables and red wicker chairs on the sidewalk, the chalk board with the “plat du jour”, the soft globe lights and regulars sitting on Thonet bar stools at the old wooden bar, sipping wine and discussing the events of the day.
And there are the signs on the walls: “Journaux”, “Rue Jean B. Therre” and “Le Petit Parisien.”
Bar Tabac has live jazz four times a week. It was happening when I was there and I found it to be real jazz rather than easy listening faux jazz which one often hears in cafes.
The menu has most of the bistro standards: moules frites, steak tartare and grilled hanger steak. The appetizers are onion soup, pate, snails, and tuna tartar.
The mains are nicoise salad, roasted half-chicken, rtruite amandine, duck leg confit,and steak frites. A variety of sides (mashed potatoes, french fries,string beans, asparagus, etc.) may be added.
Dinner is followed by classic deserts such as creme brulee, chocolat coulant (a small chocolate cake), profiteroles or sorbets.
Ratings
Staff: 6 (Authentically French, casual and well-informed about the food)
Archetype: 7 (There are many signifiers of the Archetype and they felt organic rather than designed)
Food: 6 (Good solid traditional bistro food; no creative offerings)
Energy: 7 (Noise low, friendly neighborhood crowd, pleasant atmosphere, surprisingly good jazz)
Resources
The Tabac
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabac_(shop)
Breathless
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/movies/23scott.html?mcubz=1
The Odeon and Stephen Shore: Uncommon Places
Stephen Shore, Collected Works 1973-1981. Book signing and lecture at Aperture, June 7, 2017. I eat at Odeon before the lecture.
The Odeon
145 West Broadway
New York, New York 10013
212-233-0507
https://www.theodeonrestaurant.com/
Five things about Stephen Shore and The Odeon:
Stephen Shore
1. Mystery
Why did he take this photograph?
A cheap hotel room. Rust brown shag carpet. Umber brown fake leather chair. Gold brown bedspread flowers.
A bleak brown apartment building behind empty pavement. Cars parked. Empty blue sky.
A car at an intersection. Telephone poles and wires. Storefronts and signs.
Unseen. The mystery of intention. What does he see that I do not see?
2. Signs
Buying and selling: advertisements, information, injunctions, commands, questions, invitations, notices and names.
3. Composition
Form. Light and dark. Edges. Leading lines. Color. Rhythm. Stillness. Pattern. Flatness. Volume. Space compressed. Space distant. Vertical and horizontal. Beauty and ugliness.
4. Story
Paul Graham: “There are a thousand novels in these images.
Perception and wonder.” It is mute. It is multitude. Beauty and coarseness. I feel stillness.
5. Still Life
Dirty dishes on a table: two smoked cigarettes, three pickles, two crumpled napkins on dirty plates, 1/2 a cup of tea with a lemon slice floating, dirty utensils, 1/2 and 1/2 plastic creme cups….
The Odeon
A neon-lit promise of excitement on Tribeca’s then dark streets, the Odeon was the restaurant that defined New York’s 80s: a retro haven for the likes of Warhol and Basquiat, De Niro and Belushi, with a cocaine-fueled scene captured in Bright Lights, Big City.
Frank Digiacomo
1. We are at Area
It is 1983. Keith Haring painted the walls. Club kids are in the swimming pool naked. Unisex bathrooms. Art films running on monitors. Artists, writers, Euro-trash, Wall Street masters of the universe, fashionistas, and beautiful people. Look! There is Boy George, David Byrne, Jean Michel Basquiat, Sting, and Ann Magnuson! We dance to Kraftwerk, Berlin, Eurythmics, Tom Tom Club, Flock of Seagulls, Human League, New Order and Soft Cell. It is 4:00 a.m. We need food, we need drink and it is too late to go to bed.
We walk from Area. Tribeca is dark, deserted, decayed and dangerous. Abandoned iron buildings and empty cobblestone streets. In the shadows are fear and excitement. But we are high from the energy of the club, we are high from the music and the dance and the life, and we are high from the drugs. We are at Odeon. The end and the beginning of the night.
2. The Odeon Sign
Lena Dunham: And because I’m an officially deranged daughter of TriBeCa, the Odeon neon sign now lives on my ass for life.
The Odeon sign has progressed (or regressed) from the front cover of McInerney’s “Bright Lights, Big City” in 1984 to Lena Dunham’s ass in 2017. How many restaurants have been culturally relevant (or even in business) for that long? Imagine the distance from Jay McInerney to Lena Dunham.
3. Bauhaus
Primary colors, thick straight lines across white space. The trilogy of circle, triangle and square. Man reading a paper and drinking a coffee in black and red.
Old wood long bar with the huge mirror overhead made for conversation. The neon clock in the corner glows green and pink soft. It marks the time and is timeless. 1980 to 2017.
4. Odeon. Cafeteria. Cafe. Brasserie.
The soft globe lights make everyone beautiful. The old polished wood, bistro chairs and tables, the ceiling fans, white tablecloths and burgundy banquettes are familiar. The Art deco accents, the red awnings and red-orange neon lights. It is an expression of the Bistro Archetype.
Vanity Fair says:
“They hit the Zeitgeist with the architecture,” says Joe Helman, an art dealer who was instrumental in making the Odeon a popular place to fête an artist in the 80s. “The Odeon was kind of retro, without being kitsch. It was one of the places that really defined the moment.” Self-conscious without being pretentious—which couldn’t always be said of its customers—the Odeon’s design, its flattering lighting and aesthetically pleasing staff appealed to a younger, more cosmopolitan generation’s love of the cinematic, and its preoccupation with looking good.
5. Food
The best French onion soup and chocolate ice cream in town. The food is consistent and sometimes inspired. Favorites on the menu: brook trout, roasted half chicken, Faroe Islands salmon, and the steak frites. From the brasserie, the tuna burger, moules frites, and croque monsieur. New York and Paris standards.
It’s easy to see why The Odeon has been a part of the fabric of TriBeCa life for so long. Like watching a re-run of Seinfeld, it is reassuringly familiar, classically New York and, even when you know what’s coming next, still eminently satisfying.
New York Times
Resources
A great history of Odeon written on its 25th year anniversary by Vanity Fair
http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2005/11/odeon200511
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/27/dining/the-odeon-review.html
Stephen Shore
https://newrepublic.com/article/115243/stephen-shore-photography-american-surfaces-uncommon-places
http://aperture.org/shop/stephen-shore-selected-works-1973-1981/
Area
The definitive book on Area:
Eric Goode, Area: 1983-1987 (Harry N. Abrams 2013)
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_art_of_parties_new_yorks_legendary_80s_nightclub_area
Le Veau d’Or (The Golden Calf): Timeless Magic
Le Veau d’Or (The Golden Calf)
129 E. 60th St.
New York, New York 10065
212-838-8133
The essence of a bistro is that it conforms to its Archetype. This is its soul and this is why they are so popular. Comfort, tradition, familiarity, small towns. Fresh food from the market, cooked by mom and served in a casual dining room. Lingering over the newspaper having a glass of wine at the bar before moving to the dining room. Because this results in a uniformity of design, atmosphere, service and cuisine, it is difficult to evaluate bistros against the Archetype.
Most bistros fall in the midpoint in a distribution curve; a few are extraordinary and a few are poor. Most are within a narrow range of acceptability. You may expect competent food and service and comfortable warm feelings. You generally do not expect creative, brilliant or exciting food.
But some bistros have a magical quality that distinguishes them from the crowd. It may be the food, it may be the staff, it may be the energy. Sometimes all of the elements magically converge to create quality.
Le Veau d’Or has that magical quality.
“Monsieur, retirez votre chapeau.” The imperious and elegant madam of the bistro commanded me after she graciously welcomed and seated me in her bistro. She fluidly alternates between French and English. Discrete signs forbid cell phones and cameras. There are no hipsters intently staring into their Apple Air laptops and iPhones projecting creativity and importance. There is no website. There is no social media. There is no one under fifty.
Chanson music plays in the background. Jacques Brel.Edith Piaf. Charles Trenet (Did I hear La Mer?). Chanson music makes me feel melancholy but satisfied with my past victories.
You walk along the Seine in Paris as the sun sets and it grows cold and the water turns from a brownish viridian to an oily black with the lights rippling and reflecting as it flows underneath the bridge and the ornate light posts. You see the red awning and golden lights and you pop in for a glass of wine and dinner and warmth. You feel stylish, you elegant, you feel like you live in the Belle Epoque, you want to dance up the steps from the water level to the sidewalk where the booksellers are closing the metal lids to put their books, maps and post cards to bed for the night. You want to watch old French black and white movies: Breathless, Hiroshima, Mon Amour or Jules and Jim. You want to write something important- Hemingway in the cafe. You relish the familiar and take delight in it.
“If you want to know something about nothing talk to me!”
Catherine Treboux stops by my table for a chat. She recommends the fixed price special of lentil soup and monk fish. I accept her recommendation. She tells me the history of the bistro. We chat about Sibelius, Mahler and Carnegie Hall. I am going to hear the Sibelius Seventh Symphony and some Mahler songs.
Gentlemen in suits enter, sit by the bar and are served their usual cocktail or glass of wine. They invite each other to parties. You have the impression they have been coming here for a long time; everyone speaks French and everyone knows everyone. Catherine brings me a glass of the house Bordeaux.
On the walls hang black-and-white photos of the historical Les Halles market in Paris (not the grotesque and soulless underground shopping mall), black and white Parisian street scenes, and some watercolors. There are red banquettes along the wall, wood chairs, and pink tablecloths with white linen pressed coverings. Flowers and candles are on the tables.
“Voila!” Dinner arrives. It is very light and delicate. The pommes frites are warm and crisp and served with hollandaise sauce as they should be. The monk fish is served in medallions but suffers from a bland whiteness. Same for the creamed spinach. Chocolate mousse is home made and brilliant. It is served on a plate with a dash of whipped cream. The espresso is perfect. The dishes are simple and traditional. There is no innovation or frills.
The pace is leisurely; one should enjoy dinner and wine without a rush. How can one enjoy the finer things in life while plugged into an iPhone while Facebook scrolls by pushing video ads in your face?
Le Veau d’Or was opened in the 1937 and Orson Welles, Marlene Dietrich, Ernest Hemingway, Grace Kelly, Helmet Newton, and Oleg Cassini dined here from the 1940s through the 1960s. In the window is a large stack of books that mention Le Veau d’Or.
Mr. Treboux bought Le Veau d’Or in 1985 which capped a long and distinguished culinary career in New York. The New York Times describes the atmosphere:
By the time Mr. Treboux took it over, it had settled into a dignified old age, supported by a fiercely loyal, older clientele who loved its unbending traditionalism and adored Mr. Treboux for refusing to change its menu, its décor or its highly personal style of management.
Mr. Treboux passed away in 2012 and the restaurant has been managed by his daughter Catherine ever since. She told me she knows of five generations of people who dine in her restaurant. It is popular among writers, publishers and theatrical people. Apparently, the menu has changed little over the decades. You will not find kale on the menu.
“Après moi, le déluge.” he is known to have said (“After me the deluge.”) They like their business the way it is-serving their regular customers and friends- and see no reason to change!
When you are there you feel like you are a member of a private club. You are participating in New York bistro history. The menu, decor and management and atmosphere has changed very little over time. And that is the way everyone connected to Le Veau d’Or likes it.
Happy, I leave Le Veau d’Or and I hope that it stays just the way it is for a very long time.
Resources
New York Magazine Review
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/le-veau-dor/
New Yorker Review
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/14/tables-for-two-le-veau-dor
Eater Review
https://ny.eater.com/2009/1/30/6775673/who-goes-there-le-veau-d-or
New York Times Article on Robert Treboux
Chowhound Review
https://www.chowhound.com/post/le-veau-dor-explain-822099
Boston Globe Review
Rimbaud’s Drunken Boat and Mahler’s First at the Met-May 31, 2017
Thenceforward, fused in the poem, milk of stars,
Of the sea, I coiled through deeps of cloudless green,
Where, dimly, they come swaying down,
Rapt and sad, singly, the drowned;
Where, under the sky’s hemorrhage, slowly tossing
In thuds of fever, arch-alcohol of song,
Pumping over the blues in sudden stains,
The bitter rednesses of love ferment.
Arthur Rimbaud, Le Bateau Ivre
Le Bateau Ivre
230 East 51 Street
New York, New York 10022
212-583-0579
http://www.lebateauivrenyc.com/
It is a curious synchronicity that I have been working on a photography project based upon Rimbaud’s Drunken Boat and I find myself in a bistro of the same name after seeing the Irving Penn Centennial at the Met. It was a show of 200 photographs which the Penn Estate had bequeathed to the museum. I was impressed by Penn’s range and the perfection of his images from a compositional and tonal point of view. The Vogue fashion images are iconic, of course, but I did not know that he photographed still life compositions, cigarettes, flowers and images of urban trade workers. The first display in the show was Penn’s camera in a glass case. It was a Rolleiflex-the same model that my father used throughout his life and that I heartlessly and regretfully sold thinking that I would never shoot film. As a photographer witnessing the brilliance and perfection of Penn made me want to cry.
For several years I have been photographing dead boats in the canals of Amsterdam. These are boats that are abandoned, decayed, lost, useless, lying dead in the canals. They collect trash and debris thrown from the sidewalks above. Rope lines curled and tangled, reflections of clouds in the oily water, weeds growing in the algae pools collected in the bottom of the boats. These boats are unseen. It is a project to defeat the tyranny of the banal images of red brick and white trimmed canal houses, bridges, bikes, trams and tulips. Rimbaud’s Le Bateau Ivre (The Drunken Boat) is a source of inspiration for the images. As is Godard’s film Socialisme.
After the Penn show my plan was to attend a performance of Mahler’s First Symphony at Carnegie Hall. I decided to dine at Le Bateau Ivre which was more or less between the Met and Carnegie Hall.
Rather than a traditional bistro, Le Bateau Ivre is a French wine bar. A bistro a vins. It opened in January 1999. It offers more than 250 varieties of the French wines. Unlike Parisian wine bars that typically only offer light snacks, Le Bateau Ivre has a traditional bistro menu.
The appetizers are old favorites such as asparagus with hollandaise sauce, burgundy snails, french onion soup and a sushi grade tuna. There is a selection of familiar salads. There are oysters, shrimp, clams and lobsters. The mains are lamb chops, steak frites, salmon, skate and mussels. The seafood is reasonably priced but the meat offerings are expensive: lamb chops are $33.50 and steak frites are $35.00. The deserts are traditional: a cheese selection, creme brulee, chocolate mousse, and a tarte tatin.
The wine list is huge and the servers are very knowledgeable. They offer a wine tasting every day at 6:00.
The space is small and inviting. There is a red awning over the sidewalk tables, and the walls are lined with wine bottles in wooden racks. A light after work crowd began to arrive ordering the first glass of wine and then the second talking and enjoying the end of another work day with the long evening ahead. For some it may be a potentiality, who awaits, and for others a predictability, like falling asleep in front of the ball game on TV.
The high point of Le Bateau Ivre was the staff. They were charming, friendly and literate about the wine list, even though the list was extensive. Even though they were very casual their timing was excellent. I asked my server for a wine recommendation and she suggested the Chateau de Bouchassy Lirac Rouge. It is a Rhone wine and was excellent. It is a GSM wine which means that it is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. It is a specialty of the southern Rhone Valley.
Curiously, even though the bistro is named after a famous poem by Rimbaud there was no reference to it in the bistro. It would be interesting to have a card with the poem placed on the tables. Considering the radical imagery of the poem, it would be an excellent conversation piece.
My starter was the Salade D’Endives (with apples, walnuts, and roquefort cheese). My main was the skatefish with asparagus and potatoes with the grilled Brussels sprouts on the side. For dessert I had the chocolate mousse and an espresso. (This was my first chocolate mousse since I started my Crossfit training in January to prepare for my mountain climbing expedition to Mera Peak in Nepal. We successfully summited the 22,000 foot peak last month. )
The dinner was without distinction; however, it was uplifted by the bistro’s positive energy, the staff, the wine and the excellent mousse!
After dinner, I walked to Carnegie Hall. In the words of the program notes: “Mahler’s First offers both a bold continuation of the symphonic tradition pioneered by Beethoven and a poetic evocation of the landscape of Central Europe, albeit with a vein of nostalgia.” I found the performance by the Met Symphony to be magnificent.
Ratings:
Staff-9 (Friendly, casual and knowledgeable about wine; good timing)
Archetype-8 (The red awning, the wooden tables and chairs, and the menu reflect the Archetype )
Food-6 (Good but not creative; the bread failed. The wine was excellent)
Energy-7 (Comfortable space, windows open to the street; red banquets, bookcases of wine bottles, and large wood bar)
Resources
Are Parisian Bistros Finished or Just Getting Started? (Good history of neo-bistros)
https://www.eater.com/2016/4/21/11475276/french-bistro-paris-history
The Best New Paris Bistros
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-new-paris-bistros-1431624971
Where To Experience the New Wave of French Food
https://www.eater.com/2016/10/19/13311212/paris-bistro-brasserie-dilia-dersou-beast
The Cave a Manger
http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/travel/travel-guides/2010/6/paris-cave-a-manger/
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/sep/02/top-10-caves-a-manger-paris-france
Samuel Becket’s Translation of Rimbaud’s Le Bateau Ivre (analysis of the poem)
http://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1549&context=sttcl
Irving Penn Centennial
http://metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2017/irving-penn-centennial
The Met Orchestra-Carnegie Hall-Mahler Cycle
https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2017/5/31/0800/PM/The-Met-Orchestra/