Le Rock

[Wilfrid]

I don't see a thread for this place. I've never been. That will change on November 10 when they present a Bistrot Paul Bert dinner with Bertrand Aboyneau.

I have never been to the Paris location, sadly, although I often re-read Aboyneau's book, French Bistro.

I understand I am really setting myself up for disappointment here (but at least the price is fair).

[rozrapp]

We had dinner at Le Roc in 2023. I wrote about it on my blog. 

https://thewizardofroz.wordpress.com/2023/09/12/four-days-of-al-fresco-dining-in-nyc-le-roc

[Orik]

It will be less disappointing than going to Paris for it! 

[voyager]

Indeed.   Can't imagine cashing a Paris dining opportunity at Paul Bert were I staying next door.

[Wilfrid]

Eyes wide open.

[Wilfrid]

Well that was better than expected. It's a while since I've been to a big, loud brasserie in New York and it was packed for the event, mainly with industry people who knew each other. I said hello to M. Auboyneau, who ate the food himself along with a fairly large party.

An amuse platter featuring a slice of pâté, champignons de paris in some kind of white sauce and leeks vinaigrette. There were choices for the other courses. I went for the boudin and the entrecôte. The first came with cooked and raw apples and a really good potato  purée featuring little salt crystals (probably from the butter used). The boudin itself was the soft, slightly sweet kind; it took me back to Chez Josephine. I think the entrecôte is pretty much a signature dish for Paul Bert, served in a rich sarawak pepper sauce. I think the steak was sous vide rather than grilled, but it certainly came out as ordered. Perfect fries, as you might expect from a Frenchette kitchen.

Finally, a choice of profiteroles or rice pudding. I would not normally order either, but the latter, served cold, was really very good (I didn't finish it), topped with marinated prunes and strands of bitter orange peel.

These days, I think $125 for four courses of decent bistro food is very reasonable.

[GerryOlds2TheReturnofGerry]

I would say $125 for a four-course meal in that setting, from a big-name visiting chef, is a pretty solid deal. Prices look comparable to Paris (the beef is €48 a la carte).

[Steve R.]

I agree and we probably should have gone. The amusing part is that we spent a month last year living almost around the corner from Rue Paul Bert and passed the restaurants almost every day when shopping on that block or eating outdoors at a local café that Mitch recommended after his stay a year earlier. Never during that month did we think about going to Paul Bert, as it didn’t seem to have held up over the past number of years.  

[Wilfrid]

That has certainly been the rumor. I think I tried to go years ago but couldn't get in. But that may be a false memory.

[MitchW]

Been a decade or more since we last ate at Paul Bert - and even then, it wasn't exactly great.

3 hours ago, Steve R. said:

local café that Mitch recommended after his stay a year earlier.

Funambules, if memeory serves me correctly.