Les Halles

It's impressive that although Anthony Bourdain has not cooked there in some time (8 years I believe), Les Halles on Park Avenue (there is another location on John Street) is still very busy. At least it was on my recent visit—a Tuesday evening, no less. It's surprising because there is a little bit of a strange feel to Les Halles. One I couldn't quite put my finger on. Initially, I was put off by attempting to figure out if the crowd was all sight-seeing tourists or if they were there for the food. Aside from the crowd, however, the staff was even more flawed. The matching denim shirts that the waiters wear inspired flashbacks of Bubba Gump Shrimp. Or maybe it was the aprons emblazoned with "Les Halles" on them. Service-wise, they seemed like leftovers after all the better and more qualified candidates were hired by other restaurants. The last ones to be picked for dodge ball in gym class. So the folks at Les Halles have done a smart thing by keeping Bourdain (now the host of No Reservations
on The Travel Channel) affiliated with the restaurant. While clearly
just a marketing tool, certainly the service and food alone would not warrant such a
crowd.

I took a seat at the bar and waited for my dining companions. The bartender seemed completely confused by everything, including the menu. And after way too much deliberation, recommend what turned out to be an awful rosé. Thankfully it was only a taste. He did mention to a co-worker how hungover he was, so I guess you can't really blame him? After an additional 15 minutes to get a glass of wine at the bar, we were finally seated by a hostess who's heavy Eastern European accent made her attempts at speaking French painful. Hoping that the worst was behind us, we placed our order. However, 10 minutes or so later our waiter returned to our table to make sure he got the order right saying, "I'm sorry. I was distracted by the #8 and #9 tennis players." To ease the looks of confusion of the faces of my dining companions, I explained that the US Open was going on. (It wound up being John Isner, who is actually ranked #55. Anyway, I digress.) Although the waiter and bartender were useless, when the food came out, it made everything okay. That's not to say it was exceptional—far from it. But it was good enough to justify the visit and the somewhat bloated prices. On future visits, if I make any, I'd like to explore the menu further. However, on this night I only ordered an entrée. The steak au poivre had an incredibly peppery crust that complimented the meat perfectly and it was cooked as I requested. We also had the salmon, which needed some salt, but was otherwise tasty. Still, it was hard to forget all the other missteps.

Hey, love you Tony. But Les Halles, not so much.