LE CIRQUE - NEW YORK CITY

LE CIRQUE

NEW YORK, NY 

I am an idiot.  Time after time I choose famous restaurants and think we will be blown away.  Time after time I am dead wrong.  Le Cirque is New York's famous restaurant of Kings, Queens, Hollywood and celebrities from all over the world. The owner "Sirio" is a culinary legend and the Godfather of restaurants that Donald Trump is quoted as saying "He is the only person I ever imagine going into the restaurant business with".  We entered Le Cirque to find a dead hostess with no expression, hello or anything.  She just stood there and stared.  The Maitre De welcomed us and checked our reservation.  We checked our coats and were quickly seated in one of those long tables where you have people sitting on the right and left of you.  Guess who sat next to us?  Well it was Sirio himself.  A grumpy old man that barks orders at his staff and treats patrons like dogs.  I am serious. No smiles, no welcome, no nothing.  Totally absorbed in himself and yelling at his staff.  Problem with sitting next to Sirio is that the entire staff caters to him and forgets the other guests.  Our waiter was missing in action after Sirio sat down.  I had to give him a little lecture at the end of our meal because he neglected my wine pairing during our last course.  "For all this money, I told him, you would think the service would be exceptional".  He apologized and took something off the bill.  I won't comment on the cost of this dinner because it was far too expensive and I am embarrassed.  Lets just say that I  could have flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles for less.  The Thanksgiving Menu offered a selection of first, second, third course plus dessert.  I chose the Frois Gras Terrine.  This dish sucked.  Served like spam on a bed Green Apple Sauce with sliced apple on top and Squash Tempura.  The Squash was excellent and far better than the rest of crap on the plate.  We then had a Pasta with Mushroom dish that was excellent. Fresh sheets of pasta covered in a mushroom ragu.  Keli had the Australian Prawns and loved them.  For our main course we tried the Turkey with Stuffing and Roasted Pheasant.  The Turkey and stuffing were average.  The Pheasant was dry and pretty bland.  The meal was served with Sweet Potato puree, roasted Brussel Sprouts and Chest Nuts.  The Sprouts were o.k., the potatoes were fair and the chest nuts were crap.  For dessert we had a basic piece of chocolate cake and a tiny morsel of pumpkin pie.  We would have been better off ordering the complete Thanksgiving meal from Zippy's for around $50.  Once again Drew was duped by the big name restaurants and celebrity chefs and owners.

LE CIRQUE NEW YORK

BEAUTIES AT LE CIRCUE