Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote
Posted by bellastraniera - 27/10/09 at 09:10 am “It’s like the Ray’s Pizza of Paris,” I said to Marie Fromage, trying to describe the complicated history of L’Entrecôte. “There are several of them, and each one claims to be ‘the original.’”Unlike New York’s various “original” Ray’s Pizza shops, however, all of the L’Entrecôtes of Paris dish out steak frites with a delicious mystery sauce from the same grandfather’s recipe—they are just owned by different branches of the same Gineste de Saurs family. They all have a rabid following in Paris, though there is some debate as to which one is “the best.” Now L’Entrecôte is finally in New York.
The one off note that kept us from going until now was the location. The Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte, with locations in Paris and Barcelona, landed on the bottom floor of a brutish Midtown office building, a far cry from its charming centuries-old building in the 17th arrondissement. Inside, New York’s L’Entrecôte is cheerful, with bright lighting, as in Paris, a mural of Venice on the wall, as in Paris, banquettes, glass partitions, and no bar, also as in Paris. Once you’re inside, the most jarring difference is the absence of a thick haze of cigarette smoke floating above the tables – that and the fact that there are no lines or hour-long waits. We walked right in with a party of five and were seated immediately.
Indeed, the reader comments on New York food sites are really entertaining if you’ve ever been to the Parisian version of this place, where everything is done exactly so, and no questions may be asked of the brusque waitresses.
“Dim the lights and add some background music,” a Yelper suggested. (Alas, achingly bright restaurants with no soundtrack are the Parisian standard.) “Where’s the beef?” a Zagat commenter asked about the non-Outback-Steakhouse-size portions, while another complained that he couldn’t say “medium rare” when ordering. An Urban Spoon commenter was flabbergasted that his waitress did not know the exact origin of the beef: “Organic? Grown where?” A commenter from 10021 raged on NYMag.com: “They do not serve ketchup. Do not go there!!!”
Marie Fromage surmised that they need a publicist.
It’s true that L’Entrecôte is rigid. They only serve one meal: salad and steak frites. There is only one cut of meat, the l’entrecôte, which is a specialty cut of rib meat. It’s not dry aged, only one inch thick, and not more than six to eight ounces in size. You can only order it four ways: well done, medium, rare, or “blue.” You have to pour your own wine. They don’t have ketchup or even butter for the French bread. But all these things make it exactly the way it should be. The only thing that’s been tweaked for New Yorkers is the service.
“She actually offered to leave the walnuts off the salad,” our friend la Parisienne marveled about our waitress, clad in the traditional black dress and white apron. “In Paris they just throw the salad on the table and then ask how you want your steak done.”
About that sauce: There has been a lot of speculation about the secret ingredient and the greenish color. Some guess it’s chicken liver, others say it’s bone marrow. It’s not just the greenish color (probably due to the herbs – tarragon and thyme?) but the umami taste that make it distinctive. We detected something fishy, like anchovies, ground into a paste with herbs, shallots and mustard and then cooked with a good amount of butter and white wine. The thin French fries are crisp and addictive and taste like beef fat.
The good but young Bordeaux is the family’s own: originally they started L’Entrecôte to provide a market for a vast trove of wine from their own vineyards.
Profiteroles are wonderfully indulgent, with just the right contrast between warm, crusty pastry and cold vanilla ice cream, all doused in a good chocolate sauce and speckled with toasted almonds. Skip the cheese plate – Adam Platt was right when he said it seemed like it came from Food Emporium. In cheese plates, New York may have actually surpassed Paris.
So can Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte in a Lexington Avenue office building ever be old New York, just as its counterpart is quintessential old Paris? The whole meal cost only $50 per person with wine and tip. The dinner crowd, many of them repeat customers, is growing, our waitress said, and business lunches have been steady. Some of them have even been martini lunches.
Now that sounds like the kind of old New York that we need now.
Le Relais de Venise “L’Entrecôte”
590 Lexington Avenue at 52nd Street
New York, NY
212-758-3989
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bellastraniera
a.k.a. Marcy Swingle - obsessed with food and fashion.
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