Arnon Grunberg

Rose petal

Show

Pete Wells reviewed restaurant Bouley in Wednesday’s Times. He gave Bouley three stars.
Yesterday I dined in Bouley. (Read the review here.)
Let me fine-tune Mr. Wells’ review.
Yes, the smell of apples is a delight, the décor is superb, the waiters have a French accent that is more than sexy. Some of them appear to have an attitude but this makes them only more attractive. The maitre d’ is the most lovable maitre d’ I have seen in years, with the exception of the maitre d’ in Sant Ambroeus.
The bread itself, I’m not sure how many types of bread were on the bread car, is reason enough to go to Bouley. My favorite was the dried-cherry bread. The man responsible for the bread car is delightful as well.
The other diners appeared to be extras and are part of the attraction of Bouley. We were seated next to three men, who were already drunk when they arrived. They ordered the tasting menu and shortly after that they got obnoxious and loud, but in a delightful way, needless to say.
The maitre d’ came to our table, he looked at the three men and he said: “What a show, I apologize.” But we answered: “Not, it’s fine, we are enjoying the show.” And this was true. The show was superb.
Then the food itself, the food is a footnote, which is just another way of saying, the food is mediocre. The striped bass tasted liked bad bisque, the lobster was okay but nothing more than that. Well, the rose petal ice cream was delicious.
Reason enough to go to Bouley: bread, rose petal ice cream and a great show by people with too much testosterone.

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