Crains New York Demo - (Page 49)

flickr.com/chemex INSATIABLE CRITIC Gael Greene APRIL 2-8 CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS MONDAY, APRIL 2 The Columbia Business School Alumni Club of New York will host A CONVERSATION WITH BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY ADVISER LI LU. Mr. Lu will share his keys to success, lessons learned and views of the future. The event will take place at the UJA Federation of New York, 130 E. 59th St., from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The cost to attend is $25 for alumni club and Manhattan Chamber of Commerce members and $40 for nonmembers. To get more information and to register, visit www.cbsacny.org. TUESDAY, APRIL 3 The New York Building Congress will host A CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY BREAKFAST FORUM featuring Joseph Lhota, chairman and chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The forum will take place at the Hilton New York, 1335 Sixth Ave., from 8 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. The cost to attend is $75 for Building Congress members and $150 for nonmembers. To get more information and to purchase tickets, call (212) 481-9230 or visit www.buildingcongress.com. TUESDAY, APRIL 3 Join Roy Fenichel for REPRESENTING THE BUYER: CO-OP AND CONDO DUE DILIGENCE AND CONTRACT MATTERS, an accredited continuing legal-education class for lawyers. This class will address specific topics, including delivery-date issues, the mortgage-contingency clause, downpayment and default clauses and more. The class is worth three professionalism credits and will take place at the U.S. Trust Building, 114 W. 47th St., from 8:30 a.m. to noon. The class is free for lawyers with preregistration, which is required. To get more information and to register, call (646) 695-7925 or email rfenichel@kvnational.com. TUESDAY, APRIL 3 The International Special Events Society will host its second annual SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT. The event will provide information, insight and updates concerning the latest event-industry sustainability standards. The program will feature green-event innovators and environmental experts, educational workshops, keynote speakers and networking. The summit will take place at the Rubin Museum of Art, 150 W. 17th St., from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tickets start at $50 for members and $75 for nonmembers. Student tickets are also available. To get more information and to purchase tickets, call (646) 8200474 or visit www.isesnyc.com. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 Join the Science, Industry and Business Library for COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE FOR YOUR SMALL BUSINESS. Author, educator and technologist Sean Costigan and investor and securities analyst Joshua Horowitz will examine the key market and industry sources available at the library and how to find market resources on the Web through better research strategies. The free seminar will take place at the library, 188 Madison Ave., conference room 018, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. To get more La Quenelle’s complex menu rises above tortured creperie space WHAT HE’S READING AS PRESIDENT of Hearst Magazines, David Carey devotes most of his reading time to Hearst’s 20 titles. He also finds time for personal favorites from other publishers, including Hemmings Motor News (Mr. Carey is a classic-cars buff) and The New Yorker, where he served as publisher. “It’s more fun to read when you don’t work there,” he said. “It’s all pleasure with no business.” Though he has little time for books or TV, he did manage to watch both seasons of Downton Abbey, burning through all 16 hours during a recent trip to and from Paris. “Everyone’s been talking about this series,” said Mr. Carey, who loaded up two iPads for the flights. “It was like a very long movie. And more television than I’ve watched in the last 18 months.” —MATTHEW FLAMM W. 65th St., 10th floor of the Rose Building, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30. To get more information and to purchase tickets, call (212) 875-5788, or visit www.chambermusicsociety.org. THURSDAY, APRIL 5, TO SATURDAY, APRIL 7 The Baryshnikov Arts Center presents ON THE BEACH. Five groups of emerging artists will interpret sections of the seminal opera Einstein on the Beach, by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson, through dance. The performances will take place at the Jerome Robbins Theater, 450 W. 37th St., at 8 p.m. each night. Tickets are $20. To get more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.bacnyc.org. —suzanne panara S NETWORKING RECEPTIONS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 The Better Business Bureau and Constant Contact will host DRIVING BUSINESS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA, a networking breakfast briefing. Attendees will learn how to manage social-media tools to deliver powerful results and how to determine which ones will work best for their needs. The event will take place at Scandinavia House, Volvo Hall, 58 Park Ave., second floor, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The cost to attend is $15 for BBB-accredited companies and nonprofits, and $25 for nonaccredited businesses. To get more information and to register, call (212) 358-2842 or visit www.manhattancc.org. avory buckwheat crepes at his simple Bar Breton were chef Cyril Renaud’s response to the city’s financial trauma in 2009 after he closed his 8-year-old Michelinstarred Fleur de Sel. Now he whips off the mask of making do, revealing the ambitious chef who won three stars at the late La Caravelle, still in the same downsized creperie space, cheerleading an economic recovery. He calls it La Quenelle, invoking the gossamer fish dumplings from the old days.There is no cream in the updated ground pike batter or in its Nantua-like sauce, except for a bit of whipped cream at the end to lighten it. And here, as at the late, lost Caravelle, an island of seafood risotto with carrots and Swiss chard stems— added for crunchiness—nests alongside. Topping all, lobster foam. The familiar flavors fill my mouth, and I think how close it is to perfect.If only it were a bit less grainy. The amuse is back, wearing tiny broccoli flowers: two little paddlefish caviar-topped goat cheese and artichoke ravioli, the chalkiness of the cheese thrillingly set off by the sweet tang of its beet slick. Rye bread arrives warmed, wrapped in a napkin. And the price creep is not aggressive: appetizers $13 to $17, entrées $27 to $33, the chef ’s five-course tasting $75. White tablecloths come off for lunch, where there’s still a burger and a $29 three-course prix fixe. It’s clear from the flair and complexity of the new menu—kamut grains and black rice, red-wine maple sugar reductions, chocolatebraised short rib—that crepes and burgers could never fulfill this man. I imagine him in his signature chef blacks, brooding and fantasizing over his crepe pans, watching the Dow for a sign. During a stock market roller coaster, he may have conceived of planting Burgundy snails on polenta with a rivulet of red wine-maple syrup reduction flying a Parmesan tuile. It’s good, as is the pig and foie gras terrine with house pickles and Devonshire mustard ganache salvaged from Bar Breton’s offerings. The delivery of his smoked salmon might have been inspired by one of Michelin-three-starred Michel Bras’ exquisite blossomstrewn creations. The salmon is halfsmoked, half-cured like gravlax, in-house, arranged in delicate tendrils on the plate with lemon confit, salmon roe, green herb sprigs and a splash of horseradish vinaigrette. buck ennis A GOOD SIGN: Burgundy snails LA QUENELLE 254 Fifth Ave. (212) 213-4999 www.laquenellenyc.com CUISINE French PRICE RANGE Entrées $27 to $33 SERVING Lunch, dinner, brunch RESERVATIONS Advised NOISE LEVEL Lively I can’t wait to return. I will definitely go back. I’ll let them simmer awhile. NO HATS Never again. CULTURAL EVENTS Exquisitely cooked scallops with a blossom cut for extra caramelization are surrounded by pink grapefruit, curry-roasted carrots and a curry foam, with artichoke chips for crunch. For all the rich chemistry of red wine and Valrhona braising, the short ribs are slightly tough and dry. But Long Island duck breast, served with red plum and apple compote and Swiss chard, is astonishingly rare and evenly cooked, almost gelatinous.“Do you cook them sous-vide?” I ask. Absolutely not. “But I was tired of the chewiness of duck breast,” he says. After he sears it on the skin side, the skin is removed and it gets poached in duck fat. “Then it rests.” Listening to him describe his techniques reminds me how French he is, that he is a chef who actually cooks. Balthazar’s bread is not merely warmed. It is baked for 20 minutes. “That removes the humidity, recrisps the crust,” he explains. Perhaps the orange Creamsicle is not quite up to Creamsicles of childhood memories—it’s too icy. Still, I’m impressed by the gooseberry jewels. And you may feel as fulfilled as the chef himself if you end the evening with his apple Tatin crepes with Devonshire cream or sensational crème brûlée riding atop brioche pudding with Armagnac ice cream, plump raisins and salted pistachios. Copyright © 2012 by Gael Greene. Syndicated by www.insatiable-critic.com. TUESDAY, APRIL 3 The Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrates the opening of “DÜRER AND BEYOND: CENTRAL EUROPEAN DRAWINGS.” The exhibition will be the first to offer an extensive overview of the museum’s holdings of early Central European drawings, as well as works by later 16thand 17th-century artists. It will run through Sept. 3. The museum is located at 1000 Fifth Ave. The recommended admission donation for adults is $25. To get more information and to purchase tickets, call (212) 535-7710 or visit www.metmuseum.org. THURSDAY, APRIL 5 The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents NEW MUSIC IN THE Pick of the week KAPLAN PENTHOUSE. The series showcases an eclectic mix of current composers and styles. Tonight’s performance will feature soprano Claron McFadden, pianist Gilles Vonsattel, the Afiara String Quartet and clarinetist Jörg Widmann in works inspired and presented by German impresario Klaus Lauer. The performance will take place at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, 165 To view Crain’s classified events listings, go to www.crainsnewyork.com/events Power Players Drink Here. (Trophy Wives Welcome) framesnyc.com | 212.268.6909 R Networking & Dining Packages Available. Host your next corporate event. March 26, 2012 | Crain’s New York Business | 49 bloomberg news French that’s beyond classic THE WEEK AHEAD information and to register, visit www.nypl.org. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 Join the Peoples Improv Theater and instructor Tommy Galan for INTRO TO SMALL BUSINESS IMPROV. The program uses the techniques of improvisation to train attendees how to present themselves with confidence and poise and how to network effectively. The seminar will take place at Simple Studios, 134 W. 29th St., from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The cost to attend is $30 for Manhattan Chamber of Commerce members and $50 for nonmembers. To get more information and to register, call (516) 770-1842, or visit www.thepitnyc.com. http://www.flickr.com http://www.nypl.org http://www.thepit-nyc.com http://www.thepit-nyc.com http://www.cbsacny.org http://www.laquenellenyc.com http://www.manhattancc.org http://www.buildingcongress.com http://www.chambermusicsociety.org http://www.metmuseum.org http://www.bacnyc.org http://www.crainsnewyork.com/events http://www.isesnyc.com http://www.framesnyc.com http://www.framesnyc.com http://www.insatiable-critic.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York Demo

Crains New York Demo
Contents
Sweet project in danger of a total meltdown
More red ink on the books at Reader’s Digest
Bank in the tank: Bad bet on rates sinks Hudson City
Neighborhood Journal
The Insider
Small Business
Viewpoint
Really dumb move, Upper West Side
Real Estate Deals
Classifieds
Business Lives
Hot Jobs
Executive Moves
The Week Ahead

Crains New York Demo