|
|
Adour: A new restaurant created
In today's world of globe-trotting celebrity chefs, their tangible presence can be the one ingredient their restaurants lack
By: John Mariani
No one would ever accuse Alain Ducasse of resting on his laurels, says John Mariani.
|
  |
These laurels include 15 Michelin stars, and 20 restaurants on three continents; neither would anyone expect to find Ducasse spending time cooking in any of his kitchens, an accusation to which he has retorted, "We're moving to a global situation. I have a lot of friends who are in their kitchens every day and their food isn't as good as in my restaurants, where I'm not in the kitchen. That's my answer." Me-oow! If that's what he feels about his friends, you can imagine what he feels about chefs who are not.
I shall not yet again harangue Ducasse about his global vision except to say that he's had his flops (everyone does), which some might well suggest was due to his inattention and absence. He closed his last two New York outposts--his namesake dining salon at the Essex House and the more casual Mix--but he is now back with Adour, which is far more an example of a 21st century French restaurant than his fussy and pretentious Essex House restaurant ever was, a place where you were offered a half dozen knives with which to cut your food and as many pens with which to sign your very high check. As I recall, dinner at the Essex House ran $150 prix fixe, for three courses plus generous complementary amuses and confections, at a time when NYC French restaurants like Le Bernardin, Daniel, and Le Cirque were charging under $100. At Adour, named for a river in Ducasse's hometown), the appetizers run $17 to $29, the main courses $32 to $49, which is actually comparable to a steakhouse tab (where forty-five bucks gets you a sirloin with no potatoes). The tasting menu of five courses is a mere $110--which would not even buy you a main course in Paris. Not dousing and stuffing every dish with foie gras and truffles keep down prices, as is the rule in contemporary haute cuisine.
But Adour, the St Regis Hotel, New York, restaurant, is far from low-rent Ducasse. Reports have been mixed about The Rockwell Group's decor, but I found it very beautiful, covering over the cavernous hotel dining room (formerly Lespinasse) with walls of elegantly appointed wine coolers and scrims that shimmer in the excellent, flattering lighting, although the central chandelier seems out of style here. Chairs and tables are well set, and in the posh bar (below) there is a remarkable computerized wine list that you merely move your fingers over to find a bottle to your liking, a device that reminded me of the info screens in the Tom Cruise movie "Minority Report." About 40 percent of the wines are French and an equal number American.
Service is polished, friendly, and less studied than in the old place, and the pace of the meal is ideal for a civilized night out. I cannot, however, figure out why, since opening this winter, Adour might offer you a table at 5:30 PM when upon arrival you'll find the place almost empty till about 7 PM and not full until after 8 PM. Unlike in France, where one seating each evening is the norm, Adour turns tables, but at very odd intervals.
And so, how does one eat at Adour? Very well, very well indeed, though at meal's end you may not be particularly giddy with delight or beg another rez too soon. This is pretty safe French cuisine, not so much simple as it is fairly predictable, delicious without being staggering. You begin with excellent breads and (for once) good olive-studded butter at the perfect temperature. NYC tap water comes in a lovely little ceramic pourer, and there are only enough knives designed for the specific job.
Chef Tony Esnault, who was the last of three chefs who'd worked at the Essex House restaurant, is a classicist who translates Ducasse's ideas on a menu that offers nine appetizers and ten main courses, all written entirely in English. A good number of the dishes are prepped in Sous-Vide, and then finished as the orders come in.
Among the starters the sweetbread meunière (right) with wild mushrooms, a poached egg that oozes luxuriously when cut, and toasted brioche--is quite decadent in the nicest way--but not exactly generous with the sweetbreads. Sautéed duck foie gras was lusciously paired with a lentil casserole and a "belt" of sweet red onions. Cucumber vinegar marinated hamachi with a green apple mustard was very tame of flavor, the marinade too subtle, the mustard providing the only tang.
|
French chefs can never leave well enough alone when it comes to pasta, which can mean either an overwrought mess or an overly rich rendering: Adour's ravioli of foie gras with tapioca, chervil, celery, sunchoke in a consomme is flavorful, though the flavors don't do much for the foie gras or the sheer ravioli pasta.
My scribblings in the margins of the menu range from "excellent!" for the olive oil-poached Chatham cod with a Bell pepper-white onion piperade with a pleasing intensity; scallops with salsify, black truffles, and shellfish jus, manifest the simple goodness of classic French cookery. "Very good" described Adour's version of that old 19th century cliché, lobster Thermidor--with a Swiss chard fondant and a dash of Armagnac; I can't say it was much of an improvement on the classic but it was damn delicious and it doesn't skimp on the butter and richness. Nevertheless it paled by comparison to one of the richest dishes I've ever eaten--glazed Berkshire pork tournedos with a golden apple ring, blood sausage, and juniper jus, whose every morsel was devastatingly good in a way that reminds me more of bourgeois cooking than haute cuisine. (This very popular dish, I'm told, will be staying put on the menu this spring.) Also quite good was a duck breast fillet "au sautoir" (a shape of sauté pan) with polenta, shallots, radish, lemon, and Niçoise olives, which hearkens to the Mediterranean flavors Ducasse has long favored at his restaurant in Monte Carlo. There is, however, nothing to get excited about with the roast Colorado rack of lamb--a skimpy rack at that--with piquillo peppers (mild), apricots (odd), creamy quinoa (trendy) and espelette (a French pimiento). The dish is just fine, but you can have something similar in any of a hundred New York restaurants.
Since you have not spent an exorbitant amount of money yet, you might as well splurge on the splendid cheese course offered at Adour, all in impeccable condition with appropriate breads and condiments. For dessert I was impressed by pastry chef Sandro Michelli's apple soufflé with Granny Smith compote, Calvados-laced ladyfinger, and vanilla ice cream, as I was with a rich serving of thin chocolate leaf layers with praline mousse and an orange-ginger sorbet. I wasn't thrilled with a funny-tasting pear clafoutis with caramel croustillant and honey ice cream, but my favorite sweet of one evening was dark chocolate sorbet with coffee granité and caramelized brioche croutons.
Ducasse has returned to New York City, if not yet triumphant, then at least with the potential for becoming so. Like his colleague Gordon Ramsay at his namesake restaurant in the London Hotel, Ducasse seems to be playing it safe with the menu at Adour at the St. Régis, at a time when there is so much excitement on NYC menus. And like Ramsay, Ducasse gives his restaurant only as much personal attention as he has time for as he trots the globe opening more restaurants (he's due to open a branch of Paris's Benôit in NYC this summer) and writing more cookbooks. In as many months Ducasse opened a three very grand restaurants, at The Dorchester in London, the spectacular Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower, and Adour in New York, where he has spent time doing menu tastings on a fairly regular basis since opening. That he invests his restaurants with a highly professional and efficient brigade is obvious in the details, but like so many 21st century celebrity chefs his restaurants lack the spirit of the man himself, which is a very palpable virtue when dining out.
John Mariani is the author of myriad serious tomes on food, and he publishes the irresistible online Virtual Gourmet www.johnmariani.com
Sign up for Confidential Newsletter
Send this article to a friend
View other Around the World Articles
|
| |   | | Hike the Grand CanyonJust the anticipation of hiking the Grand Canyon non-stop from Rim to Rim to Rim, a distance of 48 miles and twenty thousand feet of elevation change ... more
By: Mary Peachin |
| | | | |
|
| | | | Sign up for the Free WOW Confidential Newsletter |  |
Advertisement | |
BACK
