[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: February 22, 2010]
Remember Bayard's? A restaurant which had a run of several years in the historic One Hanover Square building downtown. I visited ten years ago this week to sample the cooking of Eberhard Müller, late of Lutèce where he had taken over the kitchen from the legendary André Soltner.
Bayard's the restaurant is no longer with us, but Bayard's survives as a catering and event business, named for the family which once owned this real estate, but owned by the Poulakakos, long-time proprietors of Harry's, the bar in the basement. The One Hanover Square building, widely known as India House after the India House Club, to which it is still home, dates from the middle of the nineteenth century - although this Bayard and that has built on the site since the 1600s. It is a splendid setting, a staircase sweeping you up to dinner in rooms lined with model ships and hung with seascapes.
This evening began in the so-called Blue Bar, a corner room with windows overlooking Hanover Square. A pianist accompanied the cocktails. Upstairs I ordered a swanky wine to go with the surroundings, the 1984 Opus One (it would be around six hundred dollars on a list now, but I can't believe I paid that price for it ten years ago).
This led to a dilemma. The bottle was presented, then taken to the side of the room for opening. I could see the sommelier struggle with the cork. Then struggle more. Then sigh, and struggle again. When he brought the bottle back for tasting, it was evident that the cork had turned to crumbs. The first pour was lumpy with them. To cut a long story short, the outcome of all the sommelier's wrestling was a bottle from which perhaps a quarter of the wine had gone missing. I rejected it.
Rightly or wrongly, I still wonder. The wine was untainted, but it was a very expensive bottle, and I wanted all of it. Sombrely, but without fuss, the sommelier produced a second bottle which presented no difficulties. Given the standard mark-up on wine in New York restaurants, the cost of this bottle, and the Poulakakos family's extensive holdings, I thought I was justified.
The food? Pleasant, but there were errors: a salt bomb of a fish dish had to be sent back. I ate a foie gras terrine with pineapple as the sweet garnish, then duck breast baked in salt with barley - a nice combination. Loin of venison came with a sweet potato gratin and red cabbage. Cheeses to finish: Tomme de Savoie, Comté, Roquefort.
Bayard's was far from a bargain, and its location felt remote - the same problem SHO Shaun Hergatt faces today. This was my only visit.
The other gastronomic highlight of the week was, if I may be bold, a lengthy dinner menu I cooked for guests. I have always been pleased with myself for mastering Escoffier's sole "Alice," although truthfully it's not a difficult dish. Sole poached in thyme-flavored white wine, some oysters added at the last moment. The sauce is thickened with some breadcrumbs, and it is all supposed to be finished with a tableside flourish in a chafing dish. I tend to finish it in the kitchen.
This was followed by a Dominican dish, plantains stuffed with spiced ground beef. Then a Provençaldaube de boeuf. 1996 Nuits-St-Georges, a Morey St Denis 1er Cru, "Les Millandes" from the same year, and a '97 Steele Pinot Noir brought by a guest. And then a lot of clearing up. More restaurants next week, and a return to London.