Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Even people who don't normally like
seafood would be well advised to go with
the fish at Le Bernardin, because Eric Rip-
ert's fish cookery is a revelation. Part of this
is a matter of sourcing—Ripert's famously
skilled at buying the best and freshest sea-
food in Manhattan. (He does, however,
make a point not to deal in endangered
species—you'll find no Chilean sea bass,
grouper, shark, swordfish, or wild bluefin
tuna here.) But more than that, it's because
Le Bernardin focuses on the fish. Ripert and
his chefs know the various denizens of the
sea so well, they have developed distinct
methods of cooking to best enhance the
essential flavors of each species, as well as
a different list of suitable accompaniments
for each. Sauces and sides never over-
whelm the fish, only enhance it. You may
get, for example, a spectrum of Kunamoto
oysters, each one delicately calibrated to a
different level of spiciness than one next to
it. A thinly sliced geoduck comes marinated
in smoky Peruvian-style spices, paired with
dried sweet corn. Lightly sautéed calamari
come stuffed with silky sweet prawns and
shiitake mushrooms. Grilled salted cod
salad is served with a piquant pesto of aru-
gula and lemon confit. Crispy black bass
comes with a velvety braised celery and
parsnip custard and a vivid sauce of Iberico
ham and green peppercorn.
Since the brother-and-sister team of
Gilbert and Maguy le Coze moved their
Parisian restaurant Le Bernardin to New
York in 1987 (Gilbert was the chef, Maguy
the restaurateur), it has been at the fore-
front of Manhattan dining. No other Man-
hattan restaurant has held onto its
four-star rating from the
New York Times
as long as Le Bernardin has. The decor is
professional and upscale, trimmed in
glossy wood with a serious art collection
and enormous floral arrangements—not
stunning in its own right, but a sleek set-
ting for stunning cooking. Maguy is still
co-owner; when Gilbert died in 1995, it
was she who hand-picked Ripert to carry
on her brother's legacy. He's done more
than that—he's made Le Bernardin possi-
bly the best seafood restaurant in the
world.
155 W. 51st St. (
&
212/554-1515;
www.
le-bernardin.com).
(
John F. Kennedy International (24km/
15 miles); Newark Liberty International
(27km/16 miles); LaGuardia (13km/8 miles).
L
$$
The Lucerne,
201 W. 79th St.
(
&
800/492-8122
or 212/875-1000; www.
thelucernehotel.com). $
Milburn Hotel,
242 W. 76th St. (
&
800/833-9622
or 212/
362-1006; www.milburnhotel.com).
Temples of Gastronomy
140
Nobu Fifty-Seven
Transcending Sushi
New York, New York
To call Nobu Matsuhisa a sushi chef is to
miss the point. Yes, the dishes served at
his Nobu restaurants—all 18 of them, in
carefully chosen capitals of chic world-
wide—have their grounding in Japanese
cuisine. But ever since 1987, when he first
wowed diners at his original restaurant in
Beverly Hills, it became clear that he was
operating in his own culinary universe.
New York's first
Nobu
down in Tribeca
(105 Hudson St.;
&
212/219-0500
) quickly
became Manhattan's most-impossible-to-
