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[entremet]

http://ny.eater.com/2016/1/12/10755256/nyc-per-se-nyt-pete-wells-review-two-stars

The rating is from the NYT Dining Section, which follows this methodology:

No rating : Poor
* : Good
** : Very Good
*** : Excellent
**** : Extraordinary

Losing stars is never a fun thing and usually results in shakeups.

Many who follow the dining scene believe the era of fancy pants restaurants is starting to wane. More casual dining has been the trend in the last five years and Per Se may seem like a dinosaur.

At 325USD per person, service is included so no tipping, but not wine, it's a hard sell.

Times critic Pete Wells eats rubbery cheese, chewy lobster, cold oatmeal, and grainy chestnut puree during this three meals at Per Se. He also notes that the pricey supplements "can cause indignation," and the service embodies "oblivious sleepwalking" at times. Thomas Keller's fine dining restaurant has received four-star ratings from the Times on two separate occasions. But now the restaurant has lost its luster. Wells writes:

He loves the sea bass, the agnolotti, the risotto, the caviar over bonito jelly, and the roasted sunchokes with beets. The critic does, however, find that the service can be "oddly unaccommodating" at times, and at $325, you don't always get your money's worth. Wells writes: "With or without supplemental charges, though, Per Se is among the worst food deals in New York." Two stars.

Only 5 NYC restaurants are part of the 4 Star club now.

 

[Jebusman]

325USD per person

Jesus Christ. No.

I will never be so rich, as to feel like I need (or want) to spend $325US on a single meal.

 

[Spaced Harrier]

Per Se, New to SoDoSoPa.

 

[Skelter]

Jesus Christ. No.

I will never be so rich, as to feel like I need (or want) to spend $325US on a single meal.

I'll take you out once I win the lottery.

 

[entremet]

Jesus Christ. No.

I will never be so rich, as to feel like I need (or want) to spend $325US on a single meal.

To be accurate, these are multi hour multi course affairs. Keller likes 7 plus courses, not including dessert.

 

[crimzonflame]

My friend ate there when he went to NY last year. Said it cost him $1200 total.

 

[see5harp]

If I went I don't think I'd get the wine.

 

[Guevara]

Per Se?

More like

So So

 

[CFMOORE!]

To be accurate, these are multi hour multi course affairs. Keller likes 7 plus courses, not including dessert.

yeah. the spectacle of the affair is also what you're paying for along with the food. I was in attendance for the GAF Santa Monica super fancy dinner, I believe it worked out to around $300 per person, but we were there for like 4+ hours throughout the whole thing.

 

[Spectromixer]

Wasn't Per Se mentioned in Jessica Jones?

 

[Cagey]

Damn. A close friend works there. I imagine today was a shitshow with this news.

 

[entremet]

Damn. A close friend works there. I imagine today was a shitshow with this news.

Yeah. Places go nuts when this happens. Really, these types of restaurants are not as coveted by today's more casual friendly reviewers.

 

[hamchan]

Third most expensive restaurant in the world apparently. Looks like it's a rip off now.

 

[TimeEffect]

yeah. the spectacle of the affair is also what you're paying for along with the food. I was in attendance for the GAF Santa Monica super fancy dinner, I believe it worked out to around $300 per person, but we were there for like 4+ hours throughout the whole thing.

Damn you guys meet each other for fancy dinners? Invite a mod and he/she will feel obliged to foot the bill

 

[CFMOORE!]

Damn you guys meet each other for fancy dinners? Invite a mod and he/she will feel obliged to foot the bill

was a one off. Evilore was there.

 

[jgwhiteus]

The NY Times review itself was hilarious though - just went for the jugular. The funniest (and most vicious) paragraph is the "bong water" one:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/13/dining/pete-wells-per-se-review.html

The kitchen could improve the bacon-wrapped cylinder of quail simply by not placing it on top of a dismal green pulp of cooked romaine lettuce, crunchy and mushy at once. Draining off the gluey, oily liquid would have helped a mushroom potpie from turning into a swampy mess. 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.

Pete Wells (the critic) is also responsible for two other funny reviews - one of Senor Frog's (which he was actually rather kind in, appreciating the restaurant for the silliness of the experience, certainly nicer than he was to Per Se) and one of Guy Fieri's Times Square restaurant, which was just a long series of rhetorical questions.

 

[Dennis]

Pandareactstocheck.gif

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

Well, it's not a 4-star restaurant per se, but...

 

[djplaeskool]

That review is savage.
Holy shit.

 

[Sirpopopop]

I think the era of fancy pants restaurant isn't over yet.

I mean, all of the 4 star restaurants qualify as fairly fancy.

Though, I will say that review was brutal. They weren't that bad when they took the fourth star away from Daniel.

 

[golem]

Restaurants rise and fall like most other things. Hard to stay at the top.

 

[entremet]

I think the era of fancy pants restaurant isn't over yet.

I mean, all of the 4 star restaurants qualify as fairly fancy.

Though, I will say that review was brutal. They weren't that bad when they took the fourth star away from Daniel.

Still 3 stars. Going down to 2 stars is brutal.

Michelin gaining ground has lessened the importance of the Dining Section reviews, but chefs still take them very seriously.

There's the story of the French chef that killed himself for losing a star in the Michelin Guide.

 

[King Tubby]

Is it wrong that I read a review like this and end up hating absolutely everyone, including the people who eat there?

 

[Cagey]

Yeah. Places go nuts when this happens. Really, these types of restaurants are not as coveted by today's more casual friendly reviewers.

Casual friendly reviewers aren't the ones frequenting or reviewing a place of Per Se's caliber though. This review puts it in the Masa "overpriced as all fuck for good food" tier.

Amusingly they're in the same location if memory serves where Masa is (Columbus Circle?)

 

[smurfx]

how much money do you think they will lose this year? what do you do when something like this happens? fire the entire kitchen staff?

 

[Gouty]

Can you get stars back?

 

[entremet]

Can you get stars back?

Yes.

But rereviews take a while at the NYT, like years.

The last review was in 2011.

 

[Sub_Level]

If they want those stars back in a timely manner they're gonna have to do some half A presses.

 

[Minus_Me]

Casual friendly reviewers aren't the ones frequenting or reviewing a place of Per Se's caliber though. This review puts it in the Masa "overpriced as all fuck for good food" tier.

Amusingly they're in the same location if memory serves where Masa is (Columbus Circle?)

Ya they're across the room from each other lol. Of Time Warner center of course.

 

[see5harp]

Thomas Keller will survive. For most chefs and restaurants starting out, getting a two star review would be amazing. He's probably not even there 95% of the year. He can just fire a few people, stay at his new York apartment for a few months and get things sorted again.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

yeah. the spectacle of the affair is also what you're paying for along with the food. I was in attendance for the GAF Santa Monica super fancy dinner, I believe it worked out to around $300 per person, but we were there for like 4+ hours throughout the whole thing.

A bunch of NFL-Gaffers joke about doing a French Laundry meetup someday.

All my meals at FL have been 4+ hour affairs - lots of courses, you definitely get full.