75 replies to this topic

[Daisy]

Alain Allegretti's new place on 23rd just east of Tenth (the old Bette space). I walked past yesterday and the door was open, it looks like any day now. They have kept the basic Bette layout but the decor is very different, lots of dark wood and dark blue fabric, black and white tiled floor defining the bar area.

[g.johnson]

Does it feature a busy six lane highway that prevents you getting from the door to your table?

[Daisy]

Does it feature a busy six lane highway that prevents you getting from the door to your table?

I agree that the name is goofy.

[Wilfrid]

I thought it was French for "The Lambeth Walk."

[Wilfrid]

Now open.

[Sneakeater]

The Room: Wilfrid and oakapple will never talk to me again, but I liked the room better than Allegretti's. Allegretti's dining room really was a bit dull and suburban. This is much more lively and compelling. Although also, unfortunately but inevitably, more noisy. But it really is kind of cool and inviting, without being rustic or messy.

The Food: A notch below Allegretti. Just that bit less fine. Still good.

I started with their take on Vitello Tonnato, which uses sweetbreads instead of veal. Wait: wasn't that Jonathan Benno's take, in the early days of Lincoln? Whatever, it works well enough (although IMO it wasn't a patch on the great new sweetbreads dish at Mile End). Another new twist: there were actual strips of tuna on top of the sweetbreads. I'm not saying this added to the dish -- but it didn't detract. The tuna glop was, if any, insufficiently gloppy (a complaint one rarely gets to make).*

I then had the Ratatouille Raviolini. This dish really exemplifies this restaurant: it's not as fine as the pastas at Allegretti were, but it's nevertheless quite delicious.

And the same, really, for the rack of lamb, with its thick fava-and-garlic (I'm working from memory here) crust.

I recommend Promenade des Anglais. I was afraid it was going to be much worse than Allegretti, but in reality it's only a little worse. Which makes it still solidly very good. Prices are a bit high for what it is -- but that's true everywhere, and this food was good enough that I'm not going to complain.

COMP DISCLOSURE: Like Wilfrid at Ciano, I was "made" by a sommelier who knew me from Benoit (and whom I gave a glass of very good Bordeaux last time I was there). Not as an internet writer -- just as a big spender. Dessert, a digestif, maybe more.


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* Wanna hear something funny about Vitello Tonnato? Last time I ate at Rich's -- where I was the only guest over 35 -- Rich announced that he would ask me to guess what the next course was, since none of the other guests would have heard of it. "It's a cold Italian dish that was very popular in the '80s, but then vanished," he said. I guessed Vitello Tonnato immediately -- and, indeed, none of the younger guests had ever heard of it. I wonder if it's back?

[Wilfrid]

There are a few versions of vitello tonatto out there now. If only I could remember them. Surely Lincoln is doing it with sweetbreads?

ETA: Yep, Pink Pig Feb 14.

Okay, also the pork sandwich with tuna sauce at John Dory.

[g.johnson]

Is his bouillabaisse on the menu?

[Sneakeater]

It is not.

The stuff here is just a little simpler than at his last place.

[nuxvomica]

* Wanna hear something funny about Vitello Tonnato? Last time I ate at Rich's -- where I was the only guest over 35 -- Rich announced that he would ask me to guess what the next course was, since none of the other guests would have heard of it. "It's a cold Italian dish that was very popular in the '80s, but then vanished," he said. I guessed Vitello Tonnato immediately -- and, indeed, none of the younger guests had ever heard of it. I wonder if it's back?

funny, i just thought of Cafe McRich when you mentioned that - Rich's version is fantastic, as good as i had at Tony May places when i worked for him. Which, i'd like to say was a couple of decades after the '80s so it didn't quite vanish, unless you think of new places. wonderful classic, i'd love to see more of it.

[Wilfrid]

Is his bouillabaisse on the menu?

No, the waiter forgot to use his handkerchief.

[Wilfrid]

Service upset at Promenade last night. I know it's only been open a few days, but it wasn't really the server's fault or anyone else's. She couldn't hear us, we couldn't hear her. She had to recite the "specials" twice. From one side, a music track, the bass audible above everything else; from the other side (hidden from our table) what sounded like a rugby club after a good win.

I know noise=buzz, but communication is important.

Allegretti is still a lovely fish cook, by the way.

Oh, I should mention that the service error was trying to serve entrees and middle-course risotto all at the same time.

[Sneakeater]

At the bar, the bartender expressly asked me if I wanted my three courses served as courses, and then complied.

But he could hear me.

[Daisy]

Did you have a cocktail? I ordered an aviation while waiting at the bar for my dining companion. It was a big, loud drink, palate-scorchingly strong and much too sweet.

What food I had I liked, some of it a lot. A rather fish-laden menu, which is a positive in my eyes. And given its location I know I will be back to sit at the bar for a reasonably priced glass of rose and a couple of fish starters.

[Sneakeater]

I had a cocktail that I didn't like at all. I was in a charitable mood and so didn't mention it.