Le Bernardin
155 W 51st St
New York, NY 10019
www.le-bernardin.com
Le Bernardin is a hard restaurant to understand from the outside. Yes,
the chef is a Frenchman, the famous Eric Ripert. Yes, it's one of New
York's most expensive and refined restaurants, with jackets required
and flawless, old-school service. And yes, it's a seafood restaurant.
To "get it," you must understand that this is a temple to the flavor of
seafood, and that its approach is so refined, austere and ascetic that
there are whole sections of the menu labeled "almost raw," "lightly
cooked" and "barely touched." The food, and the experience that it
generates, is transcendent, ethereal and otherworldly. You have to eat
there to understand, which is the best thing one can say about a
restaurant.