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“Per Se”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	Upper West Side	Break the Bank	Off the Charts

ail partner and your conversation. This is occasionally a nice idea, no?

After our cocktail half-hour, we were seated in the dining room at a wide round four-top cloaked in layers of fine linen and set with stunning china specially made for Mr. Keller. The room is modest in size and is soft in design, decorated in a neutral palette of chocolate and light coffee tones, with waves of raw wood on the back wall, and a wide expanse of windows straight ahead to let the view below sort of fall gracefully into the room. The décor though, is not the draw here. It knows its place. It fades away, letting the food take center stage, but reminds you that it is there in subtle ways—perfect lighting, wonderful acoustics, comfortable chairs (we were eating in them until 2 am so I should know), and a general feeling of serenity.

We were presented with the menus about 8pm; they take a while to digest. There are three feasting options: The Chef’s Tasting Menu (nine courses, changes daily, $150 per person), the Tasting of Vegetables (not a vegetarian menu, per se (no pun intended), but a menu made from vegetables; nine courses, at $135) and the Five Course Prix Fixe menu, at $125. One of the great things about Per Se is the freedom of choice—every person can order a different menu; it is not one of those, “And everyone at the table must do the tasting menu” experiences. You have what you want. Three of us chose The Chef’s Tasting Menu, and one chose the Tasting of Vegetables. We asked for help with the wine list, and landed some stars (sorry, I was too overwhelmed to write them down and I have no short term memory anymore because I drink too much so I cannot tell you what they were.) I do strongly recommend that you discuss your wine budget in detail with your sommelier. It can get very high very fast. (If you must know—and you must—our check (including food and wine) was $1011 at the end of the day. And it was well worth every penny.

Our dinner stretched out to about 15 courses, including five desserts, and I cannot even imagine going through every course with you because honestly, I can’t even remember them all. They come in a slow and steady progression, at the exact right pace, in precisely the right size, so you are eager for the next course, not dreading it. There is no dread at Per Se. It is pleasure all the way. Love that.

There was a raw salad of jicama, shaved into fettucine-like noodles served in a stunning bowl that rese ... [more, click below]

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Posted: June 10, 2004

Other restaurants in Upper West Side :
+ 'Cesca   + Asiate   + Blue Hill Stone Barns   + Per Se   + The Neptune Room   + Spigolo   + Telepan   + Aix Brasserie   + 'Cesca   + Bar Boulud   + Dovetail   + BarBao   + Dinosaur Bar-be-Que   + Kefi   + Bar Luna   + Ed's Chowder House   + Red Rooster, by Rachel Barbarotta   + Loi by Dara Pollak   

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