Now four years old, Vaucluse began as a “French brasserie” on the Upper East Side, but it has now been bisected into a lower room that is still resolutely French and an upper room called Omar (now darker than it used to be) that has a far more eclectic menu. The two rooms are separated by a swanky bar playing music at top volume.
Vaucluse is one of many restaurants run by Chef Michael White and his Altamarea group, including, in New York, Ai Fiori, Ristorante Morini, Nicoletta Pizzeria and Marea, all Italian, with two others in Hong Kong and Istanbul. I’ve remarked many times about the problems of maintaining the same quality at so many venues when the principal chef, White, cannot possibly be at most of them very often. And it was a disappointing meal at his New York Ristorante Morini recently that made me want to see how Vaucluse was faring.
For one thing, aside from the transformation into Omar upstairs, the lower room is not as loud as it used to be, and with its well-set, well-spaced tables, plush banquettes and elegant furnishings, this has become one of the most alluring dining rooms in town—the kind the New York food media contend no one wants to go to anymore, despite a full house on a Tuesday, and a restaurant of distinction that the same media rarely bother to cover on the tony Upper East Side.
For its elegance and address, you will pay a high tab, although, going à la carte, you could enjoy a fine three-course meal for around $65; for example, a crab salad or pasta, pan-sautéed trout with toasted almonds and haricots verts, and dessert. Otherwise there are prix fixe menus at $95 for four courses, $135 for six—both lower than comparable menus at Daniel, La Grenouille or Le Bernardin.
Chef de cuisine Arthur Lee presents a menu that is of ideal size, and in its fairly straightforward way dishes keep the emphasis on the main ingredients, with just enough complexity to provide nuance and complementary flavors and textures. One exception was a dish of Peconic bay scallops, now in season, that are so sweet and delicate in flavor that little or nothing needs to be done to them for maximum effect, and certainly not the shower of shaved fennel, purple carrots and snow peas tossed in a spring onion vinaigrette, orange carrot puree, garlic puree cooked in cream and pea tendrils ($31 and $54), all of which overpowered them.
I was happy to see that consommé with mushrooms is still on the menu (though the price has risen four dollars in four years to $23). A salad of crab was a generous mélange of crab (described as “jumbo,” the morsels were closer to “lump”) with delicious honey crisp apples, elderflower gelée and trout roe ($27). Silky and rich was a very classic terrine of duck foie gras with pistachio and fig compote ($28).
As does every chef these days, Lee has a few pastas on the menu (as appetizers or entrees), including a marvelous ravioli called epaulettes here, stuffed with braised rabbit, reblochon, stracchino,parmigiano and black truffles was further enriched, much in the Michael White style, with plenty of melted butter, more truffles, Madeira and chicken jus ($27 or $39). A nicely al dente, housemade squid ink spaghetti was tossed with a seppiaragôut, calamari and basil ($27 or $39)—what Italians call “brutta ma buoni” (ugly but good), for it was indeed not very pretty but had several levels of gutsy, hearty flavor.
Among the main courses, seafood holds the most interest, beginning with a grilled loup de mer(sea bass) that gained a cascade of flavors from a parsnip purée, roasted romanesco, salsify and ivory-colored beurre blanc ($44). Fresh, unsalted cod is not on its own always a tasty fish, but at Vaucluse it had more than usual, pan-roasted and given a fine boost from braised fennel and tomato fondue, with tender cannelloni beans for textural contrast ($44).
Roast chicken is a dish French chefs judge their mettle by, possibly in nostalgic comparison with their mother’s Sunday dinner. Vaucluse’s version is to take a hefty portion of the breast meat, roast it very juicy and serve it with a creamy polenta, matsutakemushrooms and a delightful chestnut crȇpinette ($36). I’ll give it a demerit, however, for its flaccid skin. (My Italian-American mother achieved a blistering crisp skin by sticking the chicken parts under the broiler.)
Aisha Momaney’s desserts are very good, very sophisticated and very French, including a Tarte Tatinaux Pommes made with Northern Spy apples, huckleberry and ginger ice cream; a chocolate semifreddo with chocolate crème, brownie and Madeira mascarpone ice cream; and crispy crêpes millefeuillewithEarl Gray-scented crème diplomat, grapefruit confiture and caramelized honey (all $15).
The well-priced wine list is first class, and wine director Richard Anderson suggested the ideal wine, at just $80, to go with the wide range of dishes our table of four had ordered.
The tiresome adjective “grown-up” should cease to be used next to the word “restaurant” as it is these days to describe a restaurant that people with expectations of elegance, fine service and a commitment to manners frequent. It used to be that many restaurants of many stripes in New York were always that way. And while it is far from alone in a wide-ranging pack, Vaucluse most certainly manifests all those virtues and draws a clientele that basks in them.
Open for lunch Mon.-Fri.; dinner nightly; brunch Sun.
