PrintDoes the World Need More Fancy-Pants French Restaurants?
New York magazine devoted umpteen thousand words this week to superchef Alain Ducasse's two new attempts to open a successful restaurant in New York City. One, Adour at the St. Regis Hotel, is obviously going to be Ducasse's attempt to get another three stars (he already has accrued 15 in restaurants around the world) in the New York Michelin Guide and four stars in the New York Times (his now-shuttered restaurant in New York's Essex House did get four stars from the Times). The second is going to be a branch of famed Paris brasserie Benoit, which Ducasse now owns. It has also been rumored that Ducasse is going to open a restaurant in Chicago sometime in the next year.
Here's my question for all you Serious Eaters: At this moment do we really need any more fancy-pants French restaurants, in New York or Chicago or anywhere else for that matter?
I ask this question not because I have anything against Ducasse, who is clearly one of the world's great chefs. I ask it because I wonder about whether we really need or want more formal, stiff, jacket-necessary restaurants of any stripe. In New York people love the energized informality of Babbo or the Union Square Cafe or Craft. We love places that serve serious food in a way that makes us feel comfortable, relaxed, and well taken care of.
What is driving Ducasse to open Adour? To keep up with the Joneses. In the hyper-competitive world of superstar French chef-restaurateurs that includes Daniel Boulud, Joel Robuchon, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, he feels he has to prove to them and to us that he has what it takes to make it in New York.
I wonder if that testosterone-driven rationale is a good enough reason to open what I'm sure will be a terrific fancy-pants French restaurant (albeit one with exaggerated contemporary flourishes like an interactive wine bar).
I think we need more restaurants with heart and soul. I think we need more restaurants that don't feel like vectors on a business plan. I think we need more restaurants that come from someone's unique point of view, opened by people who want to share their unique vision with serious eaters everywhere. I think we need more restaurants that make us feel taken care of, that comfort us, that whisk us away from our insanely busy daily lives, and provide us great pleasure without exacting too high a price in terms of time and money.
In the New York Magazine story Ducasse says, "It's a serious business, pleasure."
It is indeed, but there are all kinds of serious gustatory pleasures in the world, and many ways to provide them. We are going to find out shortly if Adour and restaurants of its ilk can provide us with the right kind of pleasure at this moment in time.
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14 Comments:
i think the world would be a better place, if we had more of what you mentioned - restaurants with heart and soul.
but i also think the market will pan out evenly in the end. if there is demand for fancy pants, then fancy pants we shall have. my guess is there are enough goldman sachers to keep it going for a while.
foodinmouth at 10:49AM on 01/09/08
You're probably right. But I don't know if young Wall Streeters want fancypants restaurant experiences. I guess we're about to find out.
Ed Levine at 11:01AM on 01/09/08
The only kind of restaurant the world needs more of are ones that serve food that is seasonal, sourced locally, and grown sustainably.
twostars4arms at 11:21AM on 01/09/08
I much prefer restaurants like Jean Georges to places like Craft, because you actually get what you pay for, as opposed to paying the same prices for mediocre food. Just because a place is formal and the food is extremely refined doesnt mean it doesnt have heart and soul and doesnt mean it shouldnt be comfortable. Comfort, heart, and soul are extremely important in all restaurants of all levels. If Ducasse opens a restaurant lacking these, it would be in my opinion a failure, the same way that a greasy spoon diner without heart and soul would be a failure too.
seyo at 12:49PM on 01/09/08
I think the top chefs are branding themselves into exhaustion - for both us and them. I hear they are doing well in Vegas, town of a lot of spending. But it pains me to see them open restaurant after restaurant until they almost become an expensive chain!
mrsadm at 4:06PM on 01/09/08
Although phrased as a question, apparently you have already answered it in the negative. A phrase like "fancy-pants" doesn't leave much doubt about where you stand on the issue—practically implying that such a restaurant could never be worthwhile. (Has anyone ever used the phrase "fancy-pants" about something they liked?)
That's a pity. No one denies that the restaurant industry has been jettisoning formality over the last few decades. But many of the city's luxury restaurants are doing well: just try getting a last-minute prime-time table at Per Se, Daniel, Jean Georges, or Le Bernardin. And it's not just "grand dames" either. The Modern and Gordon Ramsay are fairly new and doing good business, even if the critics largely dissed them.
So I would conclude that there is indeed demand for such places, which is why restauranteurs continue to open them. Ducasse, after all, is a business man (as are most restauranteurs). He opens what he believes will attract customers. Obviously, he is limited by his experience. Ducasse could no more open Babbo than Mario Batali could open Adour.
Does New York "need" Adour? Well, it's not as if people were beating down Ducasse's door. But no one demanded Momofuku Ssam Bar either. It's what Chang wanted to do, and it worked. Last I checked, Chang isn't running Momofuku as a charity, however much heart and soul may have gne into it. It's a business for him, too.
Just because Adour caters to a certain type of luxury, does not mean it lacks heart and soul. The phrasing of your question clearly suggests that this type of restaurant doesn't appeal to you. But why don't you taste the food first, instead of deciding in advance that restaurants that happen to cater to a luxury clientele have no place in New York.
oakapple at 4:24PM on 01/09/08
Sure, New York will take any kind of restaurants it can get, as long as the quality's there. If the place is good, it should be welcomed. I love restaurants that make me comfortable while I enjoy great food(the places you mentioned are favorites of mine), but sometimes I like to go to someplace that is trying to elevate the experience. If there's room in NYC for every ethnic food under the sun, every goofy gimmick, and every restaurant that one large orange-clogged, red-headed Italian man and his apostles can dream up, I see no reason why we shouldn't welcome something more elegant and theatrical. Even as a casual New Yorker I don't think that the Rolling Stones are an appropriate soundtrack for every meal.
empath at 4:24PM on 01/09/08
Well, in all fairness, Alain Ducasse did have 3 Michelin stars for his restaurant in the Essex House when the Guide Michelin was first published fro NYC in 2006. Everyone of course suggested that was the end of his reign in NYC. So good for him to make a return. I hope that Benoit is not quite so stuffy but I fear Adour will be, despite the trend in Manhattan away from old-school French restaurants.
Livetotravel at 4:28PM on 01/09/08
I've eaten very well at Ducasse's former digs at the Essex House. I have nothing against him personally. I plan on eating at Adour. I just think he might still be out of step in terms of what New Yorkers want. We'll see. Personally I would love to see him succeed.
Ed Levine at 4:31PM on 01/09/08
The word I was searching for and couldn't find in my previous post was stuffy. If Adour feels as stuffy as Ducasse's previous restaurant that will be a problem for me and lots of folks.
Ed Levine at 4:34PM on 01/09/08
Yes, we need more fancy-pants French restaurants, at least here in the Midwest. In fact, there is a drug front furniture store across the street from my house that would be a great spot. Or the empty building a block down. Or the little grocery across the street that sells drug supplies.
But really, maybe we don't need more fancy-pants ones, we have enough here in Mpls, but a couple more would be good for me. More places to eat.
churchka at 9:29PM on 01/09/08
Yes, you do. For an out-of-your-country person like me, who loves to eat and don't have the time to get reservations months ago, it makes it easier to have options. I wanted to go to Jean-Georges in NYC earlier this year, but couldn't get a reservation, so I was told about Mercer's Kitchen (where I had a lovely meal) and then I finally got to eat at Jean-Georges, not in NYC but in Shanghai few days ago.
plumpernickel at 12:18AM on 01/10/08
Well, I'm not agree with you articule,when you said why nyc need another "french restaurant" well let me tell you, I think when Mr Ducasse opened ADNY he wanted to offer to nyc something unique never seen before with quality and details many details... diferent types of knives to give you an example for our comfort,but when you see that peopple here don't used both hands on the table just one almost "never used a knive to do anything" just the fork to cut even the meat have you notice? so offcourse you don't like does details and the superb food that was executed by an incredible Chef call Didier Elena,perhaps the only way to discover the beuty of "fine dining" is when you travel to France or any part in Europe and expirience the magic of a real restaurant 3,2 ,1 michelin you'll notice the diference that the happiness of the costumer is first, you will never compare a 4star nyc restaurant to a 3 michelin in Europe. Mr Ducasse mistake perhaps was that nyc was never ready for him and never will....So personally I'm happy that he is back.It is sad to go to any restaurant hopping to have a great expirience here in nyc and you expend big bucks for a good food but the service is poor ,you feel rush all the time ,the restaurant only cares to turn the tables as many times possible not about you .
So tell me are we serius eaters?
The reality is we are not ready to be seated with the grown ups table yet !!!! untill then Mc Donalds will be our hero.
henryaguilar at 2:49AM on 01/11/08
"
"Fancy pants French restaurants" - Fancy pants?? This sounds like it comes from someone with a limited vocabulary, I am sure other words could have expressed his feelings. Well anyway, yes there will eternally be a need for these restaurants, the chefs are creators, artists, always researching for tastes & beauty in their presentations. Why not do away with sculpters, painters, architects? Dress up to show respect for the reservations that you have taken with a great chef, use it as a celebration & the senses. it's so important.
lucille at 8:54AM on 03/19/08