Menus has been with us for as long as people have been dining out. Recently, however, it seems that some restaurants have been abandoning the descriptive text, in favor of chefs making the decision on what goes into your mouth. After all, they are the professionals and you’re just a diner.

Now what about restaurants that hand you a menu, then tell you there’s only one thing on it? Apparently some restaurants think they’re good enough to pull that off, and guess what, so far it seems to be working.

Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote started life back in 1959 in Paris, when Paul Gineste de Saurs purchased an inn to showcase his family’s outstanding wines. The restaurant served only one meal. You get a salad, followed by some steak with fries. Drawn by the unique experience of this restaurant and amazing sauce, business flourished.

50 years later, the french steakhouse has arrived in New York. Midtown to be specific, within a stone throw’s distance from traditional steakhouses such as Spark’s and Smith & Wollenski. Some might think that the French has gone mad, I certainly did. Will New Yorkers embrace this unique formula?

I arrived at the restaurant having done very little research, in fact I didn’t even know that they served steak. I was simply told by a friend that it was new, different, and worth trying. In fact I wasn’t even aware of their unique menu until one of our guests (a lovely lady whom won a drawing at our book launch party) informed us that her husband cannot attend as he cannot eat red meat, and that their daughter will attend in his place.

So here we were, Sunday evening in the midtown business district, and to my surprise there was a line at the door. A 5 minute wait later, we were seated.

The waitress came by and quickly explained about their menu, or rather lack thereof. We were given the choice of how the meat was cooked. Blue, Rare, or Midium. Talk about lack of choices, you can’t even have the meat cooked to your exact liking, only 3 predetermined levels. Again, they think they know better.

Your choices are scribbled onto the paper table cover. Gimmicky, and intrinsically lazy.

We ordered the house wine, which is cheap, and quite excellent. After all this global franchise did start off as a winery. It’s on display throughout the restaurant.

Step one in this draconian dining regime was the salad, four equal servings of chopped lettuce with chopped walnuts and a creamy mustard, Caesar like dressing. Refreshing, but not amazing.

Once the plates are cleared, it’s time for meat. Slices of steak covered in the special sauce are served with a messy side of fries. The plates are prepared at the many “serving stations” around the restaurant, where the waitress arranges your food and brings it to you. The remaining meat is kept on a few tea light candles. Once you finish the initial batch of meat, they “refill” your plate with more steak. They say this is done to ensure that the steak on your plate maintains a good temperature, but for me it was more of a gimmick.

The quality of the steak is slightly inconsistent. On some bites, the meat is tender and as good as the best steakhouses in NYC. Some bites, are not as impressive. However, for the price of $24, it’s really quite a value.

Then comes desert, where you actually have choices! We ordered two to share. The creme brulee and profiteroles were an excellent way to cap off the evening.

At this time the restaurant started to have some empty tables, but people were still coming in despite it being close to 9PM. With only one option, I’m not sure how often I’d return to this place, but for that evening, it was a simple, enjoyable meal.

CS

Rating:  

590 Lexington Ave
New York NY 10022
(212) 758-3989
relaisdevenise.com

December 8th, 2009 | Tags: 3 Apples, L'Entrecote, Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote, Midtown, Steak and Fries, Steakhouse | Category: French, Steak | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL