Le Coucou
“Great ambience, love the decor, friendly staff, great open kitchen, not noisy even when packed, nice WC music and it's fun to sense the subway passing to remind us that we are not in Paris.”
“We started with the white bean salad with crispy pig and anchovy and the fried eel with curry.”
“To our surprise we were even able to meet chef Daniel Rose.”
Le Coucou
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$$ Price range Above $61
2 reviews
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This is an excellent new restaurant with delicious food and service that (mostly) befits it.
We were very excited to try this place because of *both* the chef and the designers, the latter who have created a lovely space that feels very French yet very New York at the same time. It is a lovely environment to have a lovely meal.
We were greeted by three extraordinarily friendly hostesses who made us feel very welcome, almost as though they were genuinely excited to see us. And, for the most part, the evening continued with more of the same. Our water glasses were never empty (my barometer for attentive service); virtually every interaction came with a smile and a warm tone of voice; and the food was delicious from beginning to end.
Choosing a cocktail seemed like a fun activity at the start. At least right now, they're merely numbered #1 through #6 (except for #5, which is, perhaps too winkily, something like #528). There were no cutesy names, which was a bit of a relief. Except that some of the ingredients were a little obscure . . . and even a little under-table Googling provided no insight. With a little elucidation from one of the servers, we made our choices–except apparently even they were confused about which cocktail is which, because we were served the wrong ones, even though they were announced by the correct number. Perhaps this system can be smoothed out.
For appetizers, we chose from the hors d'oeuvre menu (there was a "gourmandises" section of the menu that had pricier delicacies as appetizers, as well): the fried eel (out-of-this-world good!) and the veal terrine (also delicious). Both are recommended.
Unfortunately, the menu is in French with English translations OR descriptions OR elaborations. It's difficult to process–and I might say TOO difficult to process. My co-Yelper and I are adventurous eaters (and drinkers), and there were too many things we didn't know. (My co-Yelper lived in France and is fluent in French, so that's no excuse.) The restaurant has fallen into the recently popular trap of sounding fancy at the expense of clarity. If the menu is going to be in French: fine. But throw us a bone by being consistent and clear. (This, by the way, is the only reason I didn't give Le Coucou five stars.)
For mains, we selected the duck with cherries (and foie gras) and the halibut. The duck was exquisite, and the halibut was very good (flaky and smothered in a white butter sauce). I would order the cherry-duck dish again and again and again. A selection of three cheeses (for $18) was a perfect cheese course to finish the meal.
The restaurant is pricy, and it mostly merits the digits. It needn't try so hard in the area of the menu, though. Try hard with the hostesses, with the very nice bathrooms (Aēsop soap!), with the preparation of the cheese monger. All of these things are wonderful and make me very excited to go back. But a menu should empower diners, make them feel excited about the meal they're about to enjoy, not outsiders uninitiated in the culinary mysteries–which also happen, unfairly, to trip up the servers.
Otherwise, a five-star experience.
Breakfast review. The French love their oeuf's and it's done right at this star of Stephen Starr's restaurant empire. Located in the Blond Hotel(really) this is a glam spot with sumptuous velvet banquettes and velvet baked chairs. Modern chandeliers hang over the space. Fancy French country open kitchen.
Ate:
Pain au chocolat
Oeuf's special
Cafe
The pain au chocolat arrives warm, made in house. The poached eggs with choron sauce (bernaise with tomato) are perfect served over pomme Darphin- perfectly crisped French hash browns. La Colombe coffee made this a rock star breakfast.