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  Best
French Restaurants
in New York City
Le Bernardin
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Recommended reviews and articles about this restaurant:
Francis Bown /
DineSite.com
/
The Economist /
FoodTourist.com
/
Fodors.com
/
Forbes.com
/
Frommer's Guide
/
Gayot.com /
The Hungry Hedonist /
L'Internaute (French) /
Luxeat /
Mobil Travel Guide
/
New
York Magazine /
New York Times
/
Relais & Châteaux
/
Relais Gourmands
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MICHELIN |
NEW YORK TIMES |
GAYOT |
MOBIL GUIDE |
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18/20 |
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Dinner
Monday to Thursday
5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Friday and Saturday
5:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Lunch
Monday to Friday
12 noon to 2:30 p.m.
Closed Sunday
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Address:
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Le Bernardin
155 West 51st Street
The Equitable Building
New York, New York 10019 |
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Phone: |
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(212) 554 1515 |
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Fax: |
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(212) 554 1100 |
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Email: |
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bernardin@relaischateaux.com |
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Head
Chef: |
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Eric Ripert |
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Chef
Pâtissier: |
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Michael Laiskonis |
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Sommeliers: |
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Michel Couvreux and Troy Daigle |
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Owners: |
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Maguy Le Coze and Eric Ripert |
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Official Site: |
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Yes
Click here |
 At
Le Bernardin, seafood is always the star. From the day this posh
restaurant opened in New York City, it was recognized for
revolutionizing the way fish was prepared. Chef-owner Gilbert Le Coze
and his sister, Maguy, quickly gained an exalted four-star rating for
their original, impeccable, exquisite food, which you can now reproduce
at home using their recipes.
Le Coze avoided using classic sauces because, lacking professional
training, he did not know how to make them. Instead, he created
Carpaccio of Tuna, a kind of paper-thin sashimi on a plate, Baked Sea
Urchins, and Roast Monkfish on a Bed of Sautéed Savory Cabbage with
Bacon, a dish that is both rustic and rich. When Gilbert died in 1994,
at just 48, his Chef de cuisine, Eric Ripert, stepped in and has
continued to dazzle with his own fish dishes. Ripert, who had a
classical Chef's training, is especially innovative in his Poached
Lobster in Lemongrass-Ginger Bouillon. If following three pages of
meticulously clear instructions for handling the lobsters, puréeing
their coral, and much more is not for you, try the salmon fillets served
in a magically cream-free but creamy lemon sauce, the Roast Cod Niçoise
flavored with basil, capers, and black olives, or the
saffron-and-orange-perfumed Fish Soup.
Le Bernardin's desserts are famous, too. A reasonably competent cook can
create ecstasy with the Bitter Chocolate Soufflé Cake, lavish with dark
chocolate, butter, eggs, and just one tablespoon of flour.
If you read mostly cookbooks, the spirited dialogue between Ripert and
Maguy, their anecdotes of culinary adventures, and characteristically
Gallic commentary may divert you. Typically, Maguy says, "My favorite
way to eat calamari is with a nice green salad. How American!" Seems the
French only ate a lettuce salad with meats until nouvelle cuisine came
along in the 1970s, and Maguy still considers it an aberration with
seafood. Just as her taste has changed, this book may open you to new
experiences with seafood. --Dana Jacobi
Eric Ripert, Chef and part owner of New
York's Le Bernardin, discovered that as his Chef star rose he drifted
far, far away from cooking. A Return to Cooking is his response
to this sorry predicament, the result of a self-imposed challenge: to
gather together disparate souls--a painter (Valentino Cortazar), a
writer (Michael Ruhlman, author of
The Making of a Chef
and
The Soul of a Chef), photographers
(Shimon and Tammar Rothstein), and a personal assistant (Andrea Glick,
who would write and test the spontaneously created recipes)--and simply
cook.
The settings (and fresh food
ingredients) are spectacular. Sag Harbor in summer. Puerto Rico in
winter. California's Napa Valley in spring. Vermont in fall. Rent a
house, shop for food, and make the meals happen. For anyone who has ever
wanted to understand how a great cook looks at ingredients and settles
on a plan, A Return to Cooking is it. In Puerto Rico the reader
is treated to Caramelized Pineapple Crepes with Crème Fraîche; Shrimp
with Fresh Coconut Milk, Calabaza, and Avocado; and Seared Tuna with
Escabeche of Pear Tomatoes.
What Ripert does
with food, the Rothsteins do with photos, Cortazar does with paints, and
Ruhlman does with words. The stimulating recipes rise out of a young
lifetime of experience. This is a big, lush book (330 pages, 150
recipes, nearly 400 color photos and illustrations) dense with
information, technique, and flavor. For anyone who has wandered far from
the kitchen and the pleasures inherent in cooking, A Return to
Cooking will bring you right back home. --Schuyler Ingle
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