A friend puts together heavy duty wine dinners, and last night we did a 1989/1990 Bordeaux comparison at Vaucluse on the Upper East Side. Pete Wells of the NYT had basically trashed the restaurant, giving it one star, and based on last night, he could not have been more wrong. We enjoyed five superb courses, a signature ravioli dish, the pasta al dente filled with rabbit and served with an intense truffle sauce.
The duck, a breast with a green pepper sauce was next. The fat had been perfectly rendered, the skin crisp and perfect, and flesh tender.
Then while the others feasted on venison (I don’t eat bambi) I enjoyed a beautiful piece of well aged steak. the mushroom accompanying the dish were too salty, the only flaw in what was otherwise an extraordinary meal.
Then a new dish, a shoulder of lamb cooked for several hours until the meat was falling off the bone. What made this so much better than any other version of the dish I have had was the remarkable and addictive spice rub. Finally an individual cheese soufflé made with Comte.
Haven’t been yet but most of the food press/message boards/etc chatter seems to agree with you. I think he’s just sick of Altamarea group, for whatever reason.
The first few paragraphs were about the Altamarea group. You felt the agenda beginning; in spite of himself it still read like a 2 star review even though he gave it one star. Based on this meal, it was four star, but it was a also a very carefully planned dinner, with the chef very focussed on what came out of the kitchen.
As much as I like Vaucluse, imo it is not a four star restaurant. Great space, excellent food and very good service for me doesn’t equate to four stars.
I agree it is not a four star place, but the chef is certainly capable of putting a four star meal together, as he clearly showed last night.
My friend who has eaten there several times, feels that it is between two and three stars, and very consistent. I have a wine lunch there next week, and will report.
Personally, I would give Vaucluse 2 NYT stars. I ordered a martini and asked if they had Old Raj; the captain looked confused and asked if I meant, “Old Forrester.”
If I hadn’t known Rocky and some of the staff there, I seriously would have walked out after 10 minutes.
The captain’s description of one dish he served me (it was sent as a gift from the house) was lobster “with a sauce that’s been foamed up.”
I think there is a clear bias against the white table cloth over-the-top restaurant with a multi course menu.
Apart from an annual wine dinner, I have never eaten at Per Se, but a couple of close friends have stopped going there, and generally felt that Wells was on the right track, but he had “over trashed” the place. It just needs tweaking, but it is so incredibly expensive and there are too many alternatives in Manhattan to keep going back in the hope that it will regain its glory.
Hopefully Keller will give it the necessary kick up the backside it needs. Love the guy, hope it succeeds. Still can’t afford to eat there.
Just looked at the menu. Very nice. I would give an extra star because they are comfortable enough to put a burger and fries on the menu. I am tempted to go just to order the truffle salad followed by the fois gras followed by a burger and fries.
I know what Wells meant when he said that it doesn’t quite live up to its potential. Its a beautiful restaurant, extremely comfortable and expensively liveried. Everyone is unfailingly pleasant and good natured, though the service is not as polished as at Marea.
The food though - there was nothing particularly wrong but certainly nothing that excelled and again, I think about Marea and every time I go there I leave the place going “wow, that was great.” Not so much last night. My snails were, unfortunately, just ho-hum. Not enough garlic and unnecessarily tricked out to no great effect. Lamb was perfectly cooked but again just a tad lacking in flavor, in contrast to the potatoes which had a little too much mustard. Nice but I’m not sure they’re aiming for “nice”. Paris-Brest was lovely. We drank a sneaky half of Krug and a delicious '01 Pibarnon which was just stretching its legs with years to go.
So - a pleasant evening but nothing that really shone. Which is a shame, as I really like the space and the people and hope they do well. And they get big props for such a well thought out wine list, having as it does a great selection of relative values under $100. But they need to sort the food out on last night’s evidence.
I also thought the restaurant was decent but unexceptional after one lunch visit. I agree that the room is really lovely and the restaurant in general is well put together.
The food was ok. The burgundy snails I thought were excellent, although it did have a lot going on. A deconstructed onion soup lost a bit in the deconstruction. Leeks were ok but no one would walk away remembering them. My duck confit was also ok in a forgettable way. I saw the burger and wished I had ordered that - I will try it next time.
I went there for a lunch on Monday with three friends, and preordered the roast duck (not the confit) which is normally only served at night. Started off with the rabbit ravioli, then duck, which I thought was superb, with a broccoli gratin which was tasty, but a lousy match with the wines. Wine service was perfect (we brought four bottles, and the Sommelier handled the corked bottle beautifully whispering to the bringer, who promptly ordered another bottle).
The two dishes are stunning, and the steak tartare which we shared was also excellent. The confit was good but honestly, I make a better one at home. Still think food is two star, but ambience, service and location are three star.