Per Se is a restaurant located at Columbus Circle in New York City, on the fourth floor of the Time Warner Center. It has been called the best restaurant in New York City by the New York Times.[1] The chef is Eli Kaimeh.
Contents |
The owner is Thomas Keller who is also involved in the restaurants French Laundry and Ad Hoc in Napa Valley, Bouchon in Napa Valley and Las Vegas, and Bouchon Bakery, which is also located in the Time Warner Center in New York. Per Se opened in February 2004.
Keller chose restaurant/hotel designer Adam Tihany to draw together subtle references to The French Laundry and elements from both his and Keller's pasts, for example, the decorative blue door to the right of the main entrance is modeled after the blue door at The French Laundry.
The restaurant features a salon, bar, and wine cellar. Like Keller's previous project, The French Laundry, Per Se features two daily prix fixe menus, one of which is vegetarian.
As of February 2010, it is one of only seven restaurants in the United States to be awarded three stars in the Michelin Guide, along with New York restaurants Daniel, Le Bernardin, Jean-Georges, Masa, Chef Keller's California restaurant The French Laundry, Alinea in Chicago, and Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas.[2] The restaurant currently has four stars, the highest rating, from the New York Times (awarded in 2004[3] by Frank Bruni and again in 2011[4] by Sam Sifton), and it was listed as one of the 2011 Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S. by Gayot.[5] It was named as the 9th- best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine in 2007.[6] Restaurant ranked Per Se number 10 in the world in 2011.[7]
Per Se's former head sommelier, James Hayes is currently the associate beverage director for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group.[8]
Phoebe Damrosch's Service Included, a non-fiction account of her employment as a waiter at Per Se, was published by William Morrow and Company in September 2007.
In 2010 Jonathan Benno, who had been chef de cuisine since the restaurant opened in 2004, left to be executive chef of a Patina Restaurant Group restaurant at Lincoln Center called Lincoln.[9]
On a typical night, each diner is given the choice of one of two prix-fixe menus: a nine-course vegetable tasting menu or a nine-course chef's tasting menu; each costs $295,[10] which includes non-alcoholic beverages and service. Menus frequently include up-charges for luxury ingredients such as foie gras and truffles. The price has steadily increased since the restaurant's opening when a tasting menu was $150 without tax and a service charge.
The private room can accommodate approximately 10 people, while the west room can accommodate 62 – the same number of seats as the French Laundry.[11]
|
|||||