Lunch at Le Bernardin

Day 1		Day 2		Day 3		Day 4
Eataly Part 2 Esca Tasting menu		Le Bernardin Appetizers Main course & desserts Men's tennis Final Miss Korea		Lunch at les Halles 911 memorial Staten Island Atera Amuse Bouche Main Dishes Desserts		Streets of New York Daniel Amuse Bouche 3 course dinner

I called a month ahead in the hope of getting a dinner reservation and the earliest slot they had was at 10:00PM which is way too late for me. Since we could not get in for Dinner I had to change my plan and settle for lunch instead.

If you have not heard of Le Bernardin it is an acclaimed four star seafood restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Le Bernardin is the only restaurant in New York City to received four stars from the New York Times for 27 consecutive years to date without ever dropping a star in all these years.

Zagat just revealed their 2014 best restaurants in New York City by giving the top spot to French seafood eatery Le Bernardin for the fifth straight year in a row. Zagat 2014 list in New York City.

Éric Ripert is the executive chef at le Bernardin since 1994 and under his helm Le Bernardin has been ranked among the best restaurants in the world for 8 consecutive years. Ripert is a French chef and has become somewhat of a celebrity chef in his own right by writing three cookbooks and he is also television personality specializing in modern French cuisine and renowned for his work with seafood. He is a good friend of Anthony Bourdain and can be seeing traveling, eating together and having great fun.

Le Bernardin is located on the ground floor of The Equitable Center building in midtown Manhattan.

This is the main entrance.

This is the entrance for private dinning.

As you walk in the restaurant you see the bar/lounge. The bar looks comfortable with one wall and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the street (right of picture).

The restaurant was remodeled in 2011 and won the “Best Restaurant Design” in 2012. You can stop by at the bar/lounge a without a reservation for appetizers and cocktail but I was told arrive early or the place is usually full by 8:00PM. The real draw is a revamped cocktail menu and an a la carte lounge menu that is really affordable. And nearly every dish with the exception of the salmon "croque monsieur" that can barely contain its overflowing caviar is under $20.

The lounge is a chance to experience the dinning experience at Le Bernardin without the commitment of a full meal and you will not break your wallet.

We are now in the dinning room. All the men are required to wear a jacket, if you don't have one they will loan you one.

The dinning room is a single large room, with private dining rooms in the next room.

We were seated in the middle of the room and not far from our table is a large dinning table for 6 and further we could see a beautiful towering botanical arrangements that dominate the center of the restaurant.

This what I see from our table.

This is the view on the left of our table. The windows are covered in shimmering metal-and-bamboo treatments so people cannot see inside the restaurant from the street.

The restaurant open at Noon and we were one of the few first customers to arrive.

An assortment of 6 or 7 type pf breads were offered and I selected a few. The baguette was really good.

Silver sparkling charger.

Hoa is starting with a glass of white wine.

At Le Bernardin the menu is split into 3 categories: Almost Raw, Barely Touched and Lightly Cooked, reflecting chef Eric Ripert’s focus on freshness, sourcing and delicate flavor combinations.

The Salmon Rillette is a combination of lightly cooked salmon and raw cured smoked salmon whipped together and bound with a creamy mayonnaise and chives.

The portion was very generous. The Salmon rillette was delicious with wafer-thin croutons.

Once we sat down a waiter brought a leather purse stool so I can put my purse on top. The idea is that my purse does not have to touch the ground. This is not a great shot of the stool what you see is mostly my purse but the stool is the underneath it.

Our tablecloth had a few spots after we finished our amuse bouche and...

I was so surprised to see that they put a fresh white cloth on top to cover it up so the tablecloth looks fresh and spotless. Pretty amazing right!