The
Three Ages of Restaurants
in NY's Meat Packing District
by
Marlene Nadle
In the
beginning there was Pastis.
 This French bistro with its
outdoor cafe sprouted on the corner of a cobblestone street and helped
create New York's now
fashionable Meatpacking District. It was 1999 when the restaurant came to
the seedy area that was full of butchers in bloody aprons during the day and
transvestites at night.
Its
legendary pioneer, Keith McNally, has an uncanny knack for opening
restaurants in out of the way places just before they explode into the next
in neighborhood. That was true of his first restaurant Odeon, and of
Balthazar which he put on a downtown street so nowhere the neighborhood
didn't have a name.
His
success with Pastis, which is still going strong as the grandfather of the
Meatpacking District, has much to do with the character of the
man. A British former actor who once shared a theatrical stage with John
Gielgud, McNally fits well with the creative types who form many downtown
crowds. They are fond of him. Even before he opened any of his restaurants
and was just managing One Fifth, he formed good relationships with the folks
from Saturday Night Live who held their after parties at the place. When he
started the Odeon his loyal coterie, ever growing in numbers, followed him
there and to all the nine other restaurants he has started since.
Pastis
resembles McNally in another way. It is casual, much like its bed-headed
owner who is fond of old sweaters. He and it broke the mold of pretentious
restaurants that ruled NY then and still rule it now. He created the kind of
place he would want to hang out in.
 As might be expected, there
is great theatricality about Pastis. It has the feel of a stage set for the
perfect old French bistro. There is faux aged plaster on the walls, an
exact Tabac sign behind the bar, and giant urinals in the men's room, It is
all part of McNally's salvage decor. It is gathered by scouring flea
markets in Europe
for the perfect antique mirrors, globes for lamps, and bentwood
chairs. The place is put together with a lot of mahogany, mosaic on
the floor, lace cafe curtains, a newspaper rack, and a curved zinc bar.
The bar
is in many ways is the center of the restaurant. It is has a high energy
buzz. It is always crowded and noisy. Too crowded and noisy some would say.
Probably even McNally would say. He seemed to have had more low key
intentions. The bar's mahogany corner is full of pretty people watching
other pretty people and often waiting for a table. The spots in the outdoor
cafe and in the bar do not need reservations. The tables in the large dining
area at the back of the restaurant can not be had without a reservation most
of the time and never on a weekend.
The mood
in the rear dining area, is less frenzied. It is full of dark wood tables
and benches. It is also more McNally because it is not seating by caste.
There are no special star tables or hinterland ones for tourists. As part of
its friendly feel, there is a very long communal table that can seat 20 and
be booked by groups.
The food
is good, but would not cause twittering among the gourmets. It is best
described as French comfort food with dishes like a crisp croque monsieur,
savory moules frites, and a dependable steak with bearnaise sauce. A
favorite choice is the cheese encrusted onion soup and seared tuna nicoise
salad. The prices are reasonable by NY standards with most dinner entrees in
the $25 range. Items for less are available, especially on the brunch and
late night menus.
McNally's creates relaxed restaurants for real people as well as
celebrities.. He knows ordinary diners are the ones who will keep coming
back. That is why his restaurant of the moment, like Pastis when it
first opened in the Meatpacking District district, turn into enduring
treasures.
 In the five years after he
started Pastis, other restaurants began to flood the area. The competition
among them was fierce. Each one was trying to present some twist on the
usual formula. No restaurant has done it with more extravagant elan than
Spice Market which arrived in 2004 and continues to attract celebrities. It
is a two-tiered Asian temple of hedonism, full of carved arches and pillars.
The central staircase that leads to the downstairs bar passes through a
central pagoda lined with burgundy brocade curtains. Above the pagoda's four
corners and hanging from the beamed wood ceiling are beige silk
lanterns that are a full story high. They dwarf the low backless stools and
equally low tables that furnish the bar. The place is filled with
imported ancient wall carvings, screens, temple art, and a teak floor that
is two hundred years old . It is all a bit over the top and great fun.
 The dining balcony above the
bar has its share of carved wood pagodas with the faces of women worked into
them. They shelter small groups of tables and the white leather chairs
designed to replicate the seating of the colonial era. That period is also
evocated by the large fans throughout the restaurant. It all makes it seem
as if Spice Market was set in end-of-empire India. The colonial feel is
also part of the carved wooden settees which serve as banquettes. Without a
solid wall separating the dining balcony from the central stairway,
people have a clear view line of the activities in the bar below. This is
especially true of the smaller tables that hug the railing.
This
restaurant, too, very much reflects the man who created it, star chef
Jean-George Vongerichten. Although French, he worked for 3 years in
the kitchen of the famous Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. He fell in love with Asian spices and
the street foods of the East. The restaurant manages successfully to combine
its glamorous high style with the low style of the easy-to-eat treats
usually found in Asian markets. One can easily imagine buying the mango
salad with crystallized tamarind from a Vietnamese vender or reaching for
one of the chicken samosas with cilantro yogurt on a Bombay corner.
This
combination of high and low style works because of Jean-Georges ability to
transform the basic street foods into the vibrant flavors that made his
reputation. He is able to improvise them into entrees like shrimp in pepper
sauce flecked with dried pineapple or crisp squid surrounded by the zip of
ginger, cashews, and papaya.
All his
dishes echo his unique cooking choice. He has abandoned the traditional use
of meat stocks. Instead he gets his intense flavors and textures from
vegetable juices and fruit essences, light broths and herbal vinaigrettes.
His method of cooking food set professional standards and changed the
way America
eats. He has had great influence because of his numerous Chef of the Year
awards, his cookbooks, television appearances, and the many restaurants he
runs around the world.
It is
the serious foodies who come to Spice Market. They know they can count on
Jean-Georges to not disappoint. He has always been passionate about food.
The smell of cooking forms his earliest memories. His mother and grandmother
made lunch for the 50 workman every day. As a young boy he became their
palette and tasted their dishes for seasoning. By the time he was 16,
he made his career choice and has never tangented. He is still very much
about giving pleasure through food rather than about ego.
 Carrying on the traditions
of his mother's kitchen, all dishes are served family style to be shared.
Each one follows the other in no particular order. They are carried by
waitresses in flowing, backless, orange, costumes to the variety of dining
spots including the small private alcoves in twin or single sizes
with a drape that can be drawn. Some dishes going by on any given evening
could be mussels steamed in lemon grass and coconut milk, grilled chicken
under a shower of kumquats, or curried duck. The must-have dessert is kulfi
which is like ice cream and is served with a spicy chocolate sauce.
Spice
Market can be expensive. A reasonably wide tasting of dishes can easily run
$50 or more. For the pricey occasion, especially at dinner, people tend to
dress chicly or at least do business casual. It is also possible to just
stop by for a drink and small plate. Dinner and late night are the best
times to be at the restaurant The place takes on a romantic glow with the
light of its small lanterns which add to the fantasy that is Spice Market.
By 2008
people were beginning to say the Meatpacking District district and many of
its restaurants were over. It was no longer a great destination place. Then
in 2009 Andre Balazs opened the Standard Grill and began the area's second
coming. The restaurant that he started in his new Standard Hotel is again
attracting an uptown as well as downtown crowd. Literati like author Salmon
Rushdie and glitterati like actor Ben Stiller have been seen at it. Many
from the fashion industry come, including Vogue editor AnnaWintour. T
he
connection to the fashion industry is not a great surprise. Balazs was named
one of the ten most stylish men by GQ Magazine This movie-star-handsome man
about town has made the Standard Grill his first venture into the food
business. One gets the sense that it is the rock star status accorded
successful restaurateurs that attracted him.
 His more natural habitat is
business. After making a vast fortune in a bio tech company, he began
creating boutique hotels and developing residential properties. That
part of him has most strongly influenced the decor and atmosphere of
the Standard. The floor is literally covered in money, 480,000 copper
pennies to be exact. The place has the retro feel of other power
establishment restaurants for the business elite like 21. It appeals to some
of that same crowd who turn up in suits even for lunch on Sunday. They are
comfortable in the men's club atmosphere of tufted red leather banquettes
tucked into bay windows. Yet, the decor is not completely business elite and
old money. It is more nouveau riche with its gaucheries. There are off notes
like the black and white checked tattersall table cloths, and the twisted
modern lights. Neither are quite old school .
Even
though the Standard Grill may be about power ranking and the social or
business connections to Balazs, it is taken to a higher level by its
chef. The talented Dan Silverman is serious about food even if some of the
celebrities at the tables are not. A few of his dishes are chilled almond
soup, butter drenched trout with pine nut relish, and charred octopus with
sweet potato and lime. There are good steaks to honor the Meatpacking
District's history and the male desire for the substantial. There is also a
burger on the menu. Complimentary Spanish fried potatoes spiked with pepper
aioli are provided with the meal. The favorite dessert is a big bowl of
chocolate mouse topped with whipped cream and meant to be shared. It is
called the Deal-Maker in proper Balazs spirit.
A meal
of appetizer, entree and dessert will usually run between $50 and $60.
A less expensive lunch and breakfast are served. Both are ample and
varied because the hotel needs to provide for its guests. The morning menu
includes organic eggs in many forms and French toast with rum sauce. Lunch
has a good selection of sandwiches including a smoke turkey BLT.
 In addition to the main
dinning area with its vaulted ceiling, there is another entirely separate
eating space with a completely different character. The narrow front
bar is as informal and pristine as a New England
clam house. It is a dazzling white in its walls and ceiling tiles, airy and
made bright by floor to ceiling windows. The blonde oak tables and bar
soften the edges. There is a larges selection of oysters and ham to be had
with the drinks. It is also possible to order anything on the menu of the
Standard Grill. The room's serenity encourages lingering.
In
creating these two spaces, Balazs has performed a service. Much like
McNally, he is rejuvenating the Meatpacking District. Additional new places
are opening in a rush. The areas pleasures, gastronomic and otherwise, seem
guaranteed to continue into a new age.
IF
YOU GO :
Pastis
255 Ninth Avenue(at
Little West 12th Street)
212-929-4844
Spice
Market
403 W. 13th Street
(at 9th Avenue)
212-675-2322
The
Standard Grill
848 Washington Street(at West 13th Street)
212-645-4100
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