Le Bernardin Wins the Luxist Award for Best Seafood Restaurant
A world-renowned New York restaurant that has received numerous awards, Le Bernardin, is also the winner of the Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award for Best Seafood Restaurant.
A seafood restaurant with French roots, Le Bernardin is known for its understated elegance. The mid-town Manhattan restaurant is beautifully and tastefully decorated: the restaurant reportedly spends $12,000 a month on fresh flowers. Its menu is extensive and includes such delectable dishes as warm lobster carpaccio, smoked yellow fin tuna, "prosciutto", bread crusted red snapper, crispy black bass and whole red snapper baked in rosemary and thyme salt crust. There are several tasting menus from which to choose, including Le Bernardin's Tasting Menu, which costs $138 per person, or $225 with wine pairing, per person. The prix fixe dinner costs $112 per person.
Le Bernardin's Head Chef and co-owner, Eric Ripert, was born in Antibes and trained in France. His background is impressive and includes experience working with some of the most famous chefs in the world, including Joel Robuchon and working at such legendary restaurants as the world-famous Tour D'Argent in Paris. Ripert came to the U.S. in 1989 to work as sous chef at Jean Louis in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. In 1991 he moved to New York to work briefly as sous chef under David Bouley before being recruited to join Le Bernardin when he was only 26. Ripert was named Le Bernardin's Head Chef before he turned 30. He has penned several cookbooks, including "Le Bernardin Cookbook", "A Return to Cooking" and "On the Line". Ripert won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in 2003, beating out such impressive chefs as Mario Batali, Nobu Matsuhisa, Tom Colicchio and Alfred Portale.
Co-owner, Miguy Le Coze was born in a small fishing village in Brittany, France. In 1972, when she was in her 20's, Le Coze opened the original Le Bernardin in Paris with her brother, Gilbert. The restaurant soon became one of Paris' top hot spots. The siblings won their first Michelin star in 1976 and the restaurant was later awarded a second star. Le Coze opened Le Bernardin in New York in 1986--only three months later, the restaurant won a four star rating from the New York Times--an unprecedented record.
The restaurant is also known for its extensive wine list and dessert menu. Aldo Sohn, its Wine Director/Chef Sommelier, recently won "best Sommelier in the World", a WSA competition held in Rome, Italy, while Michael Laiskonis, Le Bernardin's Pastry Chef, won the 2007 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef.
Located at 155 West 52st Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, Le Bernardin is open for lunch Monday to Friday from 12:00 pm to 2:30 pm. Dinner is served Monday to Thursday from 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm and from 5:30 pm to 11:00 pm Friday and Saturday. Reservations can be made by calling (212) 554-1515.
