PrintLe Fooding Hits Le New York
"Do we need to enlist in a movement if we've already been moved?"
[Photographs: Erin Zimmer]
The folks of the French culinary organization Le Fooding brought their food, art, and design to New York this past weekend, and we were there for the Friday night portion of the weekend event at P.S. 1 in Long Island City. A couple of observations:
Le Fooding was founded in France to democratize, demystify, and take the snootiness and pretense out of French "cuisine." This makes lots of sense in France. But in New York and the rest of America for that matter, restaurateurs and chefs have been doing that for years, starting with Drew Nieporent, Danny Meyer, and Alice Waters, and continuing right up to the present day with Tom Colicchio, David Chang, and Wylie Dufresne.
Wylie Dufresne's grilled chicken necks with yuzu marmalade.
So here's my question: Do we really need a Le Fooding in New York City to bring us something we already have an abundance of? Put another way, do we need to enlist in a movement if we've already been moved?
Yves Camdeborde's soup.
All right, enough with the philosophical analysis.
What was most interesting about Le Fooding was how cheap it was. Thirty bucks to taste food cooked by well-known French chefs like Yves Camdeborde, Christophe Pelé, and Inaki Aizpitarte alongside dishes from great American chefs like David Chang and Wylie Dufresne? That's a good deal, especially when you get to taste it in the cool creative confines of P.S. 1.
David Chang's bo ssäm.
Camdeborde's soup with chicken, pork, veal, vegetables, tapioca pearls, and creamed cow's cheese was wonderfully meaty (the broth was seriously delicious), and Chang's bo ssäm was its typically crowd-pleasing delicious self. But I was puzzled by some the French chef's offerings. On Friday night, Pelé served two tender but otherwise unremarkable cubes of steak, and the pork ribs made by William Ledeuil were equally tasty, but also unnoteworthy.
The artwork was glorious, the food good enough, and the vibe was good—very French and almost egalitarian—so we would say the first Le Fooding in New York was a success. I just don't know how essential it is.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it pleasant. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
7 Comments:
Went to this on Friday. Lined up at 6:45 and got in around 7:20 or so.
I loved the soup,as well. It was incredible on the slightly chilly night. Broth was almost pho-esque. Went back 2 more times for it while a friend waited on line for the steak cubes. Which,in turn, I thought were ok, but seemingly phoned-in. Bo-Ssam was tasty, as was the fried corn w/ scallop butter. The cheese course was good but a little too cold out. I thought the chicken-neck thing wylie did was just ok and I skipped the ribs because the line was long and it didn't sound all that exciting. Glasses of wine at 12 bucks was a little crazy and skimpy on the pour. A friend was told that they had to get 6 glasses out of a bottle. yikes. All in all it was a good time and if you didn't drink, not a bad value at all.
gurizzy at 5:14PM on 09/28/09
Went on Friday. Lined up at 7 and got in around 8:10 or so, by which point waits for any single chef averaged around 25 minutes... while sinking into mud in the waterlogged grass. I imagine the experience was much different for those who either lined up super early, or got in VIP at 6.
The food itself was hit or miss. Wylie's chicken neck was a low point, excluding the yuzu glaze. The pork rib (by one of the Paris groups) was terrific though. Left by 9:15 though because the lines were only getting longer, food was starting to run out, and the place was choking up with grease smoke.
Other opinions?
mtingley at 6:14PM on 09/28/09
i would have to disagree with your take on Pelé's steak. I thought the dish was simple, but elegant. I think one should appreciate the difficulty of cooking small cubes of steak to total perfection medium rare. The flavor of the sauce that he squirted on were also spot on. He managed to take finger food to a new level. Along with the Bo Ssam, it was my favorite dish of the night. I liked but did not love the rib. I found the chicken neck to be a bit awkward. Sean Rembold's corn was delish but was hard to eat on that tiny plate and i found the scallop butter to be kind of out of place. I wish that the organizers had thought to put more tables out to facilitate easy eating. But...that said, I loved the event.
castor_de_luxe at 6:18PM on 09/28/09
@mtingley: getting in at 6pm was great but i felt like i was racing against the clock! there were no lines and plentiful champagne!
castor_de_luxe at 6:19PM on 09/28/09
I don't think Wylie's chicken neck was a successful dish, although I commend him for trying to go outside the box and make something strange something approachable, which I think is what the ethos behind LeFooding is about. Chang's bo ssam was delicious as usual, but nothing new or demystifying. The rib was a rib (good), but I didn't like the puree on the side, which was cold and an awkward condiment for the hot rib. The soup was something special, with the tapioca pearls in it and it hit the spot on the cold night. As for the location, the grass was soaked and muddy - why? It hadn't rained that day. They also turned the music off at around 9, which was disappointing because it was fun while it was playing. Next time, more tables, cheaper drinks, and a better space. The vibe was good though and it seemed like people were having a fun time. I don't know that the food made me think differently or demystified anything (ice cream cones for dessert?), but it was a good way to spend a Friday night.
laurelie at 8:24PM on 09/28/09
We got in line at 6:40pm - and into the event by 7:30pm...(also noticed that the last call line got in before us?!) We would have loved to be able to get in at 6pm, but we didn't want to pay $60 vs $30 for each of us...given the long food lines, we were glad we had each other to divide and conquer.
We loved the ribs, corn, and steak. The Bo Ssam and ice cream (bourbon vanilla) were good, though not exciting. Glad we didn't spend the money on drinks - just drank the free Pellegrino (a little flat).
Still cleaning our shoes due to the mud, but we had a great time - and it was all for a good cause!
Tons of photos (including Master Blogger Ed Levine speaking with Wylie): http://highlowfooddrink.blogspot.com/2009/09/le-fooding-damour-celebrity-chefs.html
HIGHLOWFOODDRINK at 10:50PM on 09/28/09
I was there on Friday, and thought it was mayhem!
I've posted some of additional thoughts on my blog, http://www.bloggingforburgers.wordpress.com
burgerblogger at 2:02PM on 09/29/09