The James Beard awards are in, and we have a winner.
The best new restaurant in the US is Le Coucou in Manhattan.
Opened in June 2016, the French restaurant is helmed by Chef Daniel Rose — who also runs the Paris-based Spring — and famed restaurateur Stephen Starr.
What makes Le Coucou so special? It fits into a certain tradition. From NYT
New York City cannot compete with Los Angeles’s patchwork quilt of cuisines, Northern California’s sainted ingredients, New Orleans’s discerning and passionate diners. What sets New York’s restaurant culture apart is that it never quite shakes the past and has never fully severed its ties to Europe.
And Le Coucou celebrates its European roots. Consider, mon ami ((again from NYT)
Much of the cooking revolves around glossy, spoon-coating, cream- and butter-reinforced sauces that some younger diners have never tasted. These sauces aren’t remotely heavy or deadening, two of the charges hurled at them when they were led to the guillotines by the Robespierres of nouvelle cuisine.
I happen to love this style of cooking. Here is peek (you can go to the first link for more)
And a lovely bar
Take me there!
