Per Se

M

Michael Lewis

Michael Lewis
Brutal review of the restaurant today from Pete Wells in the paper of record. The four stars it used to merit have been halved. I never had the opportunity to dine there, and always intended to fork over the cash at some point, but now I am not so certain. Has it really declined that much?
 
I don't doubt that there is a debate to be had about that, but it sounds as though this is truly a new low. Some choice quotes:

"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."

"Even canonic dishes could be mangled."

"Servers sometimes give you the feeling that you work for them, and your job is to feel lucky to receive whatever you get."

"Per Se is among the worst food deals in New York."
 
It's been at least 5 years for me, but at that time I preferred it to the caricature that Eleven Madison Park was becoming. That was under a different chef de cuisine, though - no surprise if they've started phoning it in. It's interesting how many high-end restaurants become the toast of the town for a short while and then flame out - makes it all the more impressive what Daniel Boulud and a handful of others have been doing to stay at the top of their game for so many years.

Either way, I didn't like Pete Wells' review. It read to me like another installment of his series of clickbait "takedowns" full of zingers that don't zing.
 
originally posted by Michael Lewis:
Per SeBrutal review of the restaurant today from Pete Wells in the paper of record. The four stars it used to merit have been halved. I never had the opportunity to dine there, and always intended to fork over the cash at some point, but now I am not so certain. Has it really declined that much?
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Went once, late 2011, I guess. Mark and I took a friend and his girlfriend at the time to celebrate his 30th birthday. He had been a server and sometime expediter there in his early 20s and still had many friends on the staff. So, on the whole our service was, not surprisingly, better than what Wells reports encountering. But the food was not uniformly suberb. And not sufficiently varied for the sheer quantity and richness. And then there is the absurd pricing on their wine list. Our friend told us we'd have to carry in and eat the (then) $90 per bottle corkage. I hear the corkage fee is now $150.

I never felt even the slightest inkling to return.
 
I guess maybe there is a maximum number of restaurants one ownership can run and still keep up the high quality. Thomas K. is well known for demanding perfection by the employees in his restaurants and what Pete Wells describes is not consistent from what I've known from Mr. Keller over the years.
I've never eaten at Per Se while in NY but have eaten many times at The Laundry here in Napa and never encountered what Mr Wells described. Now I admit I've not been to the Laundry for about a year but usually the "buzz" gets around if drastic changes take place. There are many locals who eat at the laundry on a regular basis and I shall inquire.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
originally posted by Ross Massey:
This review seems more in line with the spirit of this bored.
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I will finish this review but I am only on p.2 now and I find it relentless, charmless, and picayune.
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i felt the same. the author came across as self-important as the chefs she was poking fun at.
 
I'm shocked that Ms. Gold is writing restaurant criticism in the US, she's a representative of a very old tradition in UK journalism that feels that the possession of knowledge of the subject of which one is writing is somehow rather vulgar. Per Se does not mean 'through itself'(in fact 'up herself'would be a marginally more justifiable and greatly more appropriate rendition) and the piece gets progressively worse, giving us an excellent idea of her prejudices but none whatever of the experience. Like Gill she is an (ex) alcoholic so we aren't going to find too many useful insights in to a restaurant's wine culture but it's certainly possible to get far too excited about that.
I like Gill's work because he understands that of which he writes, though I'd still like to see whether I agree with him, I am very attracted by the idea of L'Ami Louis but have never dared actually going.
 
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