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Started By
Message
NY Times rips Per Se
Posted on 1/13/16 at 3:31 pm
Posted on 1/13/16 at 3:31 pm
I have never eaten here just posting because it is one of the most scathing reviews I have ever read.
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Posted on 1/13/16 at 3:39 pm to little billy
I understand why great chefs want to franchise and such ($$$ and fame), but I hate it. It always seems such an inevitable, sad progression.
Wolfgang Puck was one of the first I remember. Since then Boulud has done it. Batali has done it. Keller has done it. It just seems like a surefire way to push yourself into mediocrity and lose quality.
I'll never forget hitting up Bouchon in NYC and being just completely underwhelmed. It basically felt like a freaking Panera.
Chang seems to be dangerously flirting with this as well, unfortunately.
Wolfgang Puck was one of the first I remember. Since then Boulud has done it. Batali has done it. Keller has done it. It just seems like a surefire way to push yourself into mediocrity and lose quality.
I'll never forget hitting up Bouchon in NYC and being just completely underwhelmed. It basically felt like a freaking Panera.
Chang seems to be dangerously flirting with this as well, unfortunately.
This post was edited on 1/13/16 at 3:42 pm
Posted on 1/13/16 at 3:43 pm to little billy
It sucks for the restaurant but I can see where the guy is coming from. For that kind of money you expect far more than a meal.
Posted on 1/13/16 at 3:50 pm to fisherbm1112
A couple of my favorite excerpts:
quote:
The kitchen could improve the bacon-wrapped cylinder of quail simply by not placing it on top of a dismal green pulp of cooked romaine lettuce, crunchy and mushy at once. Draining off the gluey, oily liquid would have helped a mushroom potpie from turning into a swampy mess. I don’t know what could have saved limp, dispiriting yam dumplings, but it definitely wasn’t a lukewarm matsutake mushroom bouillon as murky and appealing as bong water.
quote:
The supplements at Per Se can cause indignation, among other emotions. When my server asked, “Would you like the foie gras”— $40 more — “or the salad?,” the question had an air of menace. When the salad turned out to be a pale, uncrisp fried eggplant raviolo next to droopy strips of red pepper and carrot, it felt like extortion.
Posted on 1/13/16 at 3:52 pm to little billy
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittt.
Keller is going to lose his mind.
Keller is going to lose his mind.
Posted on 1/13/16 at 4:27 pm to little billy
frick I would hate to come into work as an employee the day after that came out, my god those line cooks are in for an unholy amount of abuse
Posted on 1/13/16 at 4:31 pm to Caplewood
quote:
frick I would hate to come into work as an employee the day after that came out, my god those line cooks are in for an unholy amount of abuse
I would be more terrified as a server. They are liable to not be able to sit for a week.
Posted on 1/13/16 at 4:55 pm to fisherbm1112
If the review is true and I assume it is factual, they should walk with a limp. What I read is a perfect picture of how a premier destination establishment should not be run.
Posted on 1/13/16 at 4:57 pm to little billy
Cringed reading that, but Wells has been calling the big boys to the carpet routinely. He has a much more democratic viewpoint of dining than previous NYTimes critics who always seemed wowed by things like flowers, carpet, service, etc...
I am heading to Sonoma in April and wanted to do TFL but this article gives me pause. To drop that kind of coin and leave lackluster (as happened to me at Daniel, Marea, and Colicchio and Sons) would be a pretty big buzzkill and wallet blow.
PS His best point about the supplement issue is foie gras, wagyu, etc... are standard issue at other spots of that caliber. To seek to charge more for it is slightly missing the point of what the whole concept of a place like per se should be about. Namely, you come in and give us lots of money and we throw luxurious and delicious food at you for hours, without needing your consent.
I am heading to Sonoma in April and wanted to do TFL but this article gives me pause. To drop that kind of coin and leave lackluster (as happened to me at Daniel, Marea, and Colicchio and Sons) would be a pretty big buzzkill and wallet blow.
PS His best point about the supplement issue is foie gras, wagyu, etc... are standard issue at other spots of that caliber. To seek to charge more for it is slightly missing the point of what the whole concept of a place like per se should be about. Namely, you come in and give us lots of money and we throw luxurious and delicious food at you for hours, without needing your consent.
This post was edited on 1/13/16 at 4:59 pm
Posted on 1/13/16 at 4:58 pm to hogfly
Per se, as the French laundry, is never meant to step to these levels. He, as a businessman, has much more less ambitious restaurants like ad hoc, addendum, and bourbon to serve things of this nature without the expected caliber of service. For a 3 star Michelin restaurant at the apex of American fine dining, and reviews far and wide from restauranteurs and people of the industry, I would be upset and expect far more as well.
I agree with being there tomorrow, the shite will hit the fan. I've seen that recently in Houston at an unnamed place for their ranking in local restaurants.
I agree with being there tomorrow, the shite will hit the fan. I've seen that recently in Houston at an unnamed place for their ranking in local restaurants.
Posted on 1/13/16 at 5:19 pm to lilwineman
It's amazing how "fine dining" culture has expanded. I sat at the bar for a salad at Houstons today, and the two women next to me were talking the review.
Posted on 1/13/16 at 5:36 pm to MeridianDog
quote:
The kitchen could improve the bacon-wrapped cylinder of quail simply by not placing it on top of a dismal green pulp of cooked romaine lettuce, crunchy and mushy at once. Draining off the gluey, oily liquid would have helped a mushroom potpie from turning into a swampy mess. I don’t know what could have saved limp, dispiriting yam dumplings, but it definitely wasn’t a lukewarm matsutake mushroom bouillon as murky and appealing as bong water.
Holy shite. This is not someone I would want to have a drink with.
Posted on 1/13/16 at 5:42 pm to Degas
More often than not, these are the types of people I drink with ??
Posted on 1/13/16 at 6:14 pm to lilwineman
Here's the conversation...
"So, how's your dismal green pulp of mushy gluey, oily, swampy mess? I'm not sure if I can get through my limp, dispiriting yam dumplings or the lukewarm matsutake mushroom bouillon as murky and appealing as bong water."
Cue up two overweight douche bags in monogrammed sleeve cuffs pretending to want to pay for the tab...
"So, how's your dismal green pulp of mushy gluey, oily, swampy mess? I'm not sure if I can get through my limp, dispiriting yam dumplings or the lukewarm matsutake mushroom bouillon as murky and appealing as bong water."
Cue up two overweight douche bags in monogrammed sleeve cuffs pretending to want to pay for the tab...
Posted on 1/13/16 at 7:43 pm to little billy
I wonder if this guy is trying to make a name for himself. His review is contrary to the opinions of others recognized as experts who have consistently ranked Per se as one of the world's great dining establishments.
Posted on 1/13/16 at 8:41 pm to Poodlebrain
In the review, he speaks of Per Se's past greatness and his past love of the place. He's saying that this downturn has occurred within the last year.
Posted on 1/13/16 at 8:59 pm to Poodlebrain
quote:
I wonder if this guy is trying to make a name for himself. His review is contrary to the opinions of others recognized as experts who have consistently ranked Per se as one of the world's great dining establishments.
Wells has five James Beard awards for food writing. He spent time as a columnist/editor at Food & Wine and has been at the NY Times since around 2006. While I've not been back to Per Se in some time, Wells reviews are generally on point and I would give his current assessment a measure of respect.
Posted on 1/13/16 at 9:27 pm to Poodlebrain
He also isnt the first to have a change of heart on per se. See also Ryan Sutton who ripped it apart about a year ago.
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