My All Time Favorite Restaurant Closing!

[MylesBAstor]

Another one of my all time favorite restaurants ends its incredible run (the other being La Cote Basque.) Ate there twice and had unforgettable meals both times. Even the bread cart was to die for. In fact, could have made a whole meal of the bread alone! Everything was perfect from the service to the dining experience to the attention to the decor to the food. Hopefully the successor will be even better.

Now

[Bill Hart]

I remember his first restaurant well. We ate there days after we returned from France, and it was comparable. That was saying something back in the late '80s, when the cheeses and other ingredients simply weren't available here. It got very trendy, guys with shiny suits and big cell phones, and a holding pattern in the bar/reception area. We knew a guy who worked for him who used to bring us those little chocolate cakes that were all hot and gooey inside- I forget the pastry guy's name- he went on to fame, as did others who started w/ Bouley. He's had a good, if uneven run. Few restaurants in major cities endure- times and tastes change; New York is a very tough city for restaurants.

[Folsom]

How do you figure, Bill? New York has more customers than most places for restaurants that are any good. They are the same price or cheaper for that reason, than a a lot of the rest of the country when comparing food quality. Now for some of the upscale places that decided to locate themselves in very expensive upscale locations, that I can see being a problem. Last I was there, there seemed to be plenty of places with better food for the same or less than I'm use to where I live. And they were all busy on slow days, not super busy but very consistent. Also the patrons seem to dine and get up and leave within a reasonable amount of time unlike around here where it's not that unusual to see them basically sit 45m and sometimes up to 2h after eating...

Still its a shame when a loved place closes... these days many businesses have a 5-7 year life, and that's just how things are.

Modern places to eat are sort of driving me crazy. They look nice, food might be great... but they're all really DAMN LOUD. And I mean a mix between music and the layout so that all the conversations are just blasting in your ears from the whole place. Still, can't fault the trend of collapsing "casual dining" places like all the microwave places such as Apple Bee's, Chili's, etc.

[MylesBAstor]

How do you figure? New York has more customers than most places for restaurants that are any good. They are the same price or cheaper for that reason, than a a lot of the rest of the country when comparing food quality. Now for some of the upscale places that decided to locate themselves in very expensive upscale locations, that I can see being a problem. Last I was there, there seemed to be plenty of places with better food for the same or less than I'm use to where I live. And they were all busy on slow days, not super busy but very consistent. Also the patrons seem to dine and get up and leave within a reasonable amount of time unlike around here where it's not that unusual to see them basically sit 45m and sometimes up to 2h after eating...

Still its a shame when a loved place closes... these days many businesses have a 5-7 year life, and that's just how things are.

Modern places to eat are sort of driving me crazy. They look nice, food might be great... but they're all really DAMN LOUD. And I mean a mix between music and the layout so that all the conversations are just blasting in your ears from the whole place. Still, can't fault the trend of collapsing "casual dining" places like all the microwave places such as Apple Bee's, Chili's, etc.

What exactly is your point and what does your comment have to do with the OP? Please stay on topic.

[cpp]

Someone tell him to move to my area, he will make a killing and the rent is low.

[Rob]

reading between the lines it appears they may have been at the end of their lease. since the great recession demand for prime restaurant space has come roaring back. You see new restaurant concepts that, if they don't perform out of the gate they're nixed within a year and the space is quickly retooled into some other latest and greatest food trend.

What Ive noticed about today's young diners (a generation or two behind us) is that nostalgia and tradition doesn't resonate with them and if it was their parent's favorite restaurant then it definitely wont be theirs. we've seen iconic establishments in L.A. go under for this very reason.

[Bodhi]

[JackD201]

reading between the lines it appears they may have been at the end of their lease. since the great recession demand for prime restaurant space has come roaring back. You see new restaurant concepts that, if they don't perform out of the gate they're nixed within a year and the space is quickly retooled into some other latest and greatest food trend.

What Ive noticed about today's young diners (a generation or two behind us) is that nostalgia and tradition doesn't resonate with them and if it was their parent's favorite restaurant then it definitely wont be theirs. we've seen iconic establishments in L.A. go under for this very reason.

That makes sense. A former French 3 star chef once said that if you want to make money open a Brasserie. Fine dining with its lower number of services is for passion not high profit.

[Rob]

true that, turning tables quickly is the name of the game. that and pushing menus that highlight pairings with alcoholic beverages. I read somewhere that in spite of the huge craft beer scene in the US, beer sales overall are in a decline. millennials for instance prefer cocktails and wine. every new food hall that pops up in my market has either a cocktail lounge or a rum/whiskey/wine bar even the high end fast casual joints are doing this.

[Folsom]

Local breweries must not show up? In the NW beer is HUGE but it is all local places.

[Rob]

im in So Cal, mircro breweries are everywhere. from repurposed industrial buildings to gas stations and where you'd least expect to find them

[Bodhi]

Seriously though Myles, my favorite Italian restaurant La Trattoria closed about a year ago. It wasn't fine dining or anything, but they were a family-run business which did yummy honest home-style Italian food at reasonable prices & had friendly service. They were also one of the only restaurants in the area which was BYO and didn't charge corkage. They would even allow you to BYO a birthday cake, then supply sparklers & sing you Happy Birthday. In particular, their Napoli-based pastas and herb bread was to die for!

I heard their official reason for closing was the owner wanted to retire, but I think the encroachment of residential apartments being built next door was the last straw. I remember seeing a large crack in the wall from the construction work. Sadly, the new owner didn't re-open the restaurant, and instead opened a hipster cocktail bar with savory food . We haven't found a local restaurant yet which compares, and doubt we will. That's life.

[Letsmakeadeal]

I enjoy the fine dining experience we have here in DFW as much as anyone. Losing the greats periodically just seems to be part of the game..Patron's attention spans are shorter and there is so much competition a place has to be really great and stay that way to even survive their first five years. There are a few that stand the "long term > 15 years" test of time but they are less plentiful than in the past. The one thing that will kill a restaurant for me is when the noise level is so high that you have to yell at people in your party in order to have a conversation...Some are so loud you feel like you've been to a Rock concert when you leave...I don't go back...It is hard to watch the "Old Timers" you love disappear though...We just had a landmark in Dallas close after 45 years...

[Folsom]

Yelp doesn't help.

[Alrainbow]

Mine is in queens ALBERTO'S lol on metropolitan ave
been there more than 30 years.
While in NYC others have gone. I think nyc rents have all to do with closings. On park ave south by 19 st near city crab house was a great steakhouse a big place
it was there for many years and then just went away. Sorry I cannot remember the name now. Point is great food and service and atmosphere. It seems this is not enough anymore.
Angelo maxes was the name. Maybe big buz is needed.

Min queens there is a few great stark houses.
Cristos in ASTORIA
umcle jacks on bell blvd bayside.
Expensive but worth it for all of the above.
I mostly now Eat at little family type places now two are
non gmo places lol.

[MylesBAstor]

Mine is in queens ALBERTO'S lol on metropolitan ave
been there more than 30 years.
While in NYC others have gone. I think nyc rents have all to do with closings. On park ave south by 19 st near city crab house was a great steakhouse a big place
it was there for many years and then just went away. Sorry I cannot remember the name now. Point is great food and service and atmosphere. It seems this is not enough anymore.
Angelo maxes was the name. Maybe big buz is needed.

Min queens there is a few great stark houses.
Cristos in ASTORIA
umcle jacks on bell blvd bayside.
Expensive but worth it for all of the above.
I mostly now Eat at little family type places now two are
non gmo places lol.

We went to City Crab years ago. Food was good but the prices were a little over the top. The Dungeness crab was truly a meal to die for. There was also a great restaurant featuring Southwestern cooking on the other side of Park Ave. South. It's recipes were regularly featured in Gourmet magazine. It's now a Greek restaurant owned by Simon Oren.

Yes rents are killing restaurants. Notice how some of the leading restauranteers aren't building stand alone restaurants anymore. Instead, take Danny Meyer for example, restaurant groups are partnering with leading hotels. Guess there's a ready made business there. Hell even the company that own our gym chain, a 100 billion dollar real estate company, is now putting Equinox's in all their new luxury hotels around the world. The first will be in the hotel in the New York City rail yards. That Related owns. 😉

[MylesBAstor]

I enjoy the fine dining experience we have here in DFW as much as anyone. Losing the greats periodically just seems to be part of the game..Patron's attention spans are shorter and there is so much competition a place has to be really great and stay that way to even survive their first five years. There are a few that stand the "long term > 15 years" test of time but they are less plentiful than in the past. The one thing that will kill a restaurant for me is when the noise level is so high that you have to yell at people in your party in order to have a conversation...Some are so loud you feel like you've been to a Rock concert when you leave...I don't go back...It is hard to watch the "Old Timers" you love disappear though...We just had a landmark in Dallas close after 45 years...

Gocha on the noise level. There's a good restaurant near Carnegie Hall but it's all glass including the roof and is intolerably noisy. Like you said, impossible to talk to whomever you are dining with. Maybe not so much a problem with millennials since they don't talk to each other while dining but text and talk on the phone with other people. Why go out then?

[Letsmakeadeal]

Isn't that the truth!

[MylesBAstor]

Mine is in queens ALBERTO'S lol on metropolitan ave
been there more than 30 years.
While in NYC others have gone. I think nyc rents have all to do with closings. On park ave south by 19 st near city crab house was a great steakhouse a big place
it was there for many years and then just went away. Sorry I cannot remember the name now. Point is great food and service and atmosphere. It seems this is not enough anymore.
Angelo maxes was the name. Maybe big buz is needed.

Min queens there is a few great stark houses.
Cristos in ASTORIA
umcle jacks on bell blvd bayside.
Expensive but worth it for all of the above.
I mostly now Eat at little family type places now two are
non gmo places lol.

By the way, one of the saddest thing in Manhattan is the shrinking of Little Italy to basically two blocks. I miss the old days. La Bella Ferrara (the small, not large shop) had the best Italian and French cannolis as well as cream puffs. In college, used to go down to La Bella Ferrara, buy a dozen Cannolis and polish them off In two days. And if you dined next door, the world's best cappuccino. I don't know what they did but could never recreate that Capuccino at home or any other restaurant.

[lasercd]

I used to find Italian prog rock albums in the gift shops on Mulberry Street.