Le Bernardin, Driving Miss Dasiy, and an ethics quiz.....
Dear Diary,
Today was a most interesting day. We took the 9:45 train from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central, which was scheduled to arrive at 11:30, leaving plenty of time to make our noon lunch reservation. The plan was to have lunch at Le Bernardin on 51st Street, and then take in the matinee performance of Driving Miss Daisy. As I was walking out the door this morning, I tweeted our plans – Heading south to see James Earl Jones in Driving Miss Daisy. Lunch at LeBernardin first. Life is good. Tweets (or Facebook posts) that announce that you will not be home all day are asking for trouble, since they alert thieves that your house will be empty for the day. I was not thinking clearly this morning.
In any event we arrived for our scheduled lunch at Le Bernardin and were seated along the back wall under a cluster of paintings of Mediterranean anchorages, with a full view of the dining room.
The lunch menu at LeBernardin is prix fixe at $70, and includes three courses - an app, entrée, and dessert. Unfortunately it did not offer the bouillabaisse that I was looking forward too. The restaurant's focus is on seafood. The chef, Eric Ripert, has held his four stars with the New York Times longer, I think, than any other restaurant. Le Bernardin also boasts three Michelin stars. I won't bore you with a course by course description; there are probably a hundred reviews of lunch at Le Bernardin on the internet. (I will however tell you not to pass up the pistachio mousse for dessert.)
In any event we arrived for our scheduled lunch at Le Bernardin and were seated along the back wall under a cluster of paintings of Mediterranean anchorages, with a full view of the dining room.
The lunch menu at LeBernardin is prix fixe at $70, and includes three courses - an app, entrée, and dessert. Unfortunately it did not offer the bouillabaisse that I was looking forward too. The restaurant's focus is on seafood. The chef, Eric Ripert, has held his four stars with the New York Times longer, I think, than any other restaurant. Le Bernardin also boasts three Michelin stars. I won't bore you with a course by course description; there are probably a hundred reviews of lunch at Le Bernardin on the internet. (I will however tell you not to pass up the pistachio mousse for dessert.)
I tend not to enjoy myself at four star haute cuisine “destination” restaurants. If I have to call more than once for a reservation it's not going to happen for me. I much prefer a good family run one or two star bistro where I can get a crock of cassoulet and bottle of Beaujolais. Le Bernardin was on our list because we had not been there during Chef Ripert's residency, it was in the theater district, and we love seafood. We did get a reservation on the first try, and there were in fact a few empty tables in the dining room at 1 PM.
We did find out what all of the fuss was about. The experience was extraordinary. Is Le Bernardin one of the best restaurants in New York? It most certainly is, but you already knew that. Is a $70 lunch at Le Bernardin three times as as good as a very fine $23 lunch that can be had at many Manhattan restaurants. I suggest that the answer is yes to that too. Actually the salmon rillette that was served as a complimentary app was worth what most places charge for an entree. Made with very lightly smoked salmon and poached salmon, blended with a touch of mayo and herbs, this was dish was as delicate as a cloud.
Again, this is not the type of restaurant that I would want to eat at every day. I'll trade you two stars, two waiters, one sommelier and some of the pageantry for a little more casual atmosphere and a little more fun. But that's just me. If you have never been to Le Bernardin, and you are a seafood fan, you really should find a way to eat there. It is an experience you will thoroughly enjoy.
What was also a wonderful experience was our next stop - Driving Miss Daisy, with Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones. This really was as good as it gets. The play, which explores the relationship between a southern Jewish widow and her African American driver in Atlanta circa 1960, is every bit as poignant today as it was in the original production from the late 1980's. I think it is also a healthy thing to be reminded occasionally how extraordinarily, collectively, stupid we were back then. To see this compelling story of bigotry blossoming into the purest of friendships, with a fabulous and still timely script performed by these two icons of the theater was truly a moving experience. It is not often that you witness an entire audience spontaneously jumping out of their seats in a thunderous ovation when a play ends. We did, and rightfully so.
Earlier, while we were at lunch I did try to clear up an issue that has been driving me crazy for the last two weeks. I suspect you might be agonizing over this issue yourself. While we were finishing up our entrees and putting the finishing touches on our bottle of Sancerre, I made eye contact with the sommelier who hurried back over to the table, tastevin aswinging. I asked permission to pose a question, and told him I would certainly understand if he could not reply. I suggested the following hypothetical situation: Charlie Sheen is at the restaurant with a table full of, umm, escorts, and has had WAY too many drinks, and he orders two bottles of 59 Chateau Latour (at six grand a crack). The reason I posed this question is because I have been wondering if a temple of gastronomy such as Le Bernardin, or Daniel, has some special responsibility to preserve some of the world's oldest remaining first growth Bordeaux, or - must the customer always be accommodated . I wanted to hear if restaurants of this caliber answer to some higher authority. I could see my new favorite sommelier was puzzled if not startled by my interest in this topic. He composed himself, and with a French accented deadpan that only a sommelier at Le Bernardin could pull off, responded “I have nay-vair had the play-zure of serving Monsieur Sheeeen, but at Le Bernardin we always focus on the cusotmair's total es-peeriance. It wooood how-ay-vair be our polocee to nay-vair serve anyone who is obviously intoxicated.” I could see that he was most uncomfortable, and that he was not going to address my real point – which was not about serving someone who was intoxicated, but why would you waste two of the last surviving bottles of 59 Chateau Latour on some drunken lame who could not possibly taste it anyway? I'd like to think Eric doesn't need the money. I suppose many if not most Latours are wasted on suits with expense accounts who do not appreciate what they are drinking. I guess it was a stupid question to ask.
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