Loved this place and I’m happy to see it restored. I especially loved the fact that you could get an early seating of their dinner for $38 instead of the regular $125 fixed price. I used to take my sales team here to reward them, back in the days when I had a company Amex. Although it was five-star French service, it never felt stuffy. I wouldn’t have gone back if it did.
Le Bec Fin
For my 50th birthday, wife treated me to a restaurant, in her hometown of Torino, Italy, which was 249 years old, with decor at least 150 years old. I got to sit in the location reserved for Count Cavour when he was the first Prime Minister of Italy, in the 1860s. There is a lot to be said for a restaurant which just keeps on doing right by their customers, and slowly evolves over time. (Unlike the famous late 90s makeover of the Russian Tea Room, which only cost many millions, offended all the old customers, and didn’t attract any new ones…)
Yes, trying to catch the latest trend is exhausting. My neighborhood is inundated with gastropubs, and sometimes I wish I could just get a regular dinner platter without all the frills.
@susie: you mean you don’t like the Garlic Mooshed Malonies, with yak confit on a bed of artisinal quackgrass with Windex reduction dressing?
Sometimes I just want meat loaf, string beans and plain old mashed potatoes.