Adour Alain Ducasse

One word resume our experience at Adour restaurant: FANTASTIC !!
We went yesterday with my husband. The room is beautiful, the food was delicious, and the service was exceptional! A special thanks to Lorie our waitress, she gave us such a delicate, graceful service. Lorie has also extended knowledge in wines. The atmosphere and service made me feel like a Princess!
Also I am a Vegetarian, and they have a sumptuous Vegetarian testing menu. I was in heaven! Thank you again Adour Alain Ducasse!

I just want to say that it is an asbolute travesty that Adour is closing. The fine dining world and New York city is losing an incredible restaurant that is as authentically French as can be. It deeply saddens me, especially with so many bad restaurants staying open for many years. Adour hits on all cylinders– superb and refined food, the utmost professionalism in service, and possibly the most beautiful dining room I’ve ever eaten in. As a good friend of mine says and puts it best, this actually isn’t just food, it’s the true meaning of «cuisine».
Of course, Adour is not the cheapest meal you will ever eat. As a matter of fact it was probably the most expensive or at least one of the most expensive meals I’ve paid for when dining solo. However, when the quality you receive is this great, the price tag feels warranted. I felt like my buck went a very long way as I got to experience a meal that I will never forget. I truly mean that. And that is saying a lot for me.
My server Sait was great. Very knowledgeable, funny, engaging. He was very personable and treated me like an old friend, which I apprecaited. He was aware of whenever I needed something, without being overly annoying or on top of my every sudden move. The rest of the staff were equally attentive, constantly refilling my water, clearing my plates and silverware at the proper time, and of course refilling my bread several times throughout the meal (alot of places don’t do this believe it or not).
Since I knew I may never go back, I went for broke constructing my own five course tasting menu. Before the 1^st course came I was served an amuse bouche that was croutons topped with gruyère cheese. This was incredibly tasty, almost like the top of a french onion soup.
First course– Vea sweetbreads with poached egg, mushrooms, and carrots– This is one of their signatures and Sait urged me to get it. I had planned on getting this anyway, but I trusted him. This one perhaps the best sweetbreads dish I’ve had the pleasure of eating. 2 incredibly large sweetbreads, not gamy at all, surrounded by a perfectly poached egg, and roasted veggies. This dish was very hearty, filling, and reminded me of fall. When you combined all the flavors together on one forkful it was just insane. Such a delicious dish.
Second course– Seared foie gras with apples, grapes, and brioche. Now this was not on the online menu so was absolutely delighted to find this was available. It’s $ 34, yes. But this was the best $ 34 I’ve ever spent in my life. Holy smokes! You get two generous slabs of foie gras that were just seared to perfection. Seared with a nice crust outside, but just utterly pink and luscious inside. Of course, as usual the grapes and apples served as the sweet component to counteract the richness of the foie. The toasted brioche was also killer. This was probably the largest amount of foie I’ve ever been given in a restaurant. And definitely one of the top 3.
Third course– Lobster thermidor with spaghetti squash. Certain words jump out from the page when I see them. Lobster and thermidor are two of them. This was also just French cooking personified. Another large portion– deshelled tail, claws, and also a shell that was stuffed with spinach and breadcrumbs all sitting in a luscious French sauce that included copious amounts of butter and cognac. Wow. The lobster was perfectly cooked and just had enough bite. They walked the fine line of perfect vs overcooked and executed it right.
Fourt– Squab with foie gras stuffed cabbage and salmis sauce. After much deliberation between this and the lamb saddle, I caved into the squab. By now, I was very full. 4 pieces of bread and the three aformentioned rather large and rather rich courses down. This was yet another hearty plate of food. A whole squab, split in half and left on the bone for my gnawing pleasure. Sauced tableside, it didn’t stand a chance. Cooked a little past my rare request, but still wonderful. And the stuffed cabbage (usually not a fan) actually was great.
Dessert– Gala apple soufflé with tart tatin ice cream– How could I come and not get the epitome of French desserts. One of my favorites too. This was just wonderful. Eggy, light, fluffy, crispy on top, doused in powdered sugar, apples that were simmered in some of of booze at the bottom, and super delicious ice cream.
Some macarons and chocolates with the check.
I asked the captain the reason for closing and he said it wasn’t due to bad business but just the lease expiring with the hotel. Shame on you St. Regis. I cannot believe they would let a gem like this close. But then again, shame on me for never getting to Adour sooner!!!

Adour Alain Ducasse was on my list of places to try a long time before we snagged restaurant week reservations to eat here. My expectations were high and the experience managed to exceed them in every way.
Everything here was extravagantly elegant and every course was cooked to perfection. My favorites were the scallop diver sea ceviche and the desserts. Our party got both the hazelnut mousse and the dark chocolate sorbet — which were simply divine! They felt so decadently sinful and rich, a chocolate lover’s dream! I’d definitely come back and eat here again.

Went here with my husband for our 1 year anniversary.
This was trully an excellent experience. Service was top level, decour was pleasant but not too stuffy (ie: Bouley), and it is very well priced for fine dining of this level. I’ve been to many other Ducasse locations, albeit of course the Jules Verne Eiffel Tower location, this is my favorite one now.
Our meals were delicious, just the perfect amount of flavor and not too heavy.
The wine selection was excellent, they suggested a perfect bottle of red to go with my meal and my husbands meal as well.
Very accomodating for people with kosher food requirements.

Came here for my birthday last weekend. It was my first visit to NYC, and I really wanted to try a renowned restaurant in the city. Service was really excellent. My friend and I made our reservation on time and was seated promptly. We had great service throughout the dinner, and the recommended wine was also delicious.
Regarding the menu items: there were fewer items than I expected, but the duck foie gras is a MUST. It was my favourite part of the entire meal. The Cote de Boeuf was very generous in proportion — and I mean, it was really big, they let you see it before they serve it to you — but I felt it was a bit too much for me.
For birthdays, they offer complimentary desserts. Unfortunately, my friend forgot to tell them about my allergies, so I could not eat them.):
Overall, I would love to give Adour 4.5 stars. Great atmosphere, great service, great food.

Decided to have dinner at Adour after finishing drinks at King Cole Bar (very swanky and gorgeous place). Adour is what you’d expect décor wise being located inside the St. Regis. Classy, elegant, plush, a hooker/​escort dining with «her date» to your left, with a little touch of glamour. I love the little bar area at the entrance. I guess its designed to remind you of champagne, very different from the actual restaurant.
We ordered a bottle of wine and for an appetizer I ordered the vegetable cookpot. It was delicious and the best part of my meal. For my entrée I had the colorado lamb truffle, which was good, and finished with the hazelnut soufflé for dessert. Another Unilocaler described my experience here best by saying it was perfectly nice. It speaks volumes when the best part of my meal was a vegetable cookpot. For the price and for the name attached to this place I expected to be blown away.

We had a perfectly «nice» meal here. «Nice» being the operative word. Nothing was inventive or wow-​eliciting, the service was sparse, and the décor felt a little dated.
The vegetarian tasting menu was mostly hits, with a pumpkin soup with nuts and cream; a shaved salad that could’ve been a little crisper, an artichoke ravioli that needed something else, and a sweet little entrée of a baby eggplant halved and stuffed with ricotta salata and shaved local root vegetables (local? Were they foraged in Central Park?) The sommelier recommended the perfect wine to straddle my choice and my husband’s omnivore tasting menu (but why does that have one more course than the veg? Makes it a little awkward)
The dessert was the shining star. Chocolate soup with gold leaf; and a surprisingly light but satisfying tropical fruit sorbet/​gel/​meringue.
With so many great Michelin starred and French restaurants in the city, I’d be hard pressed to recommend this to someone else. Sorry Adour I think you need to step it up :(

Do yourself a favor. Take $ 1500 cash out of your wallet, walk into the center of Adour, pull down your pants and take a hot steamy crap on the floor. Walk out smiling — this will be a better use of your time then eating here.
Seriously — food was a 5/​10, service ⁷⁄₁₀.
The food is really boring — no one at my table was wowed by anything.
Sure the King Cole bar around the holidays is fun, so go there and get a few manhattans and then take a cab to Artisanal or any other French Bistro in this town — order anything you want, and get a few $ 200 bottles of wine and you will have spent your money well.
I’ve been to a few of this towns so called «spots» — this is not one of them.
If it wasn’t for location/​atmosphere this place would be shut down!
PS…I know I am a bit particular about my after dinner drinks but if you claim to run a French resturant in the city you better have fucking Marie Brisard Anisette or at least Fernet. When the last note of your mediocre symphony is a glass of Sambuca with 3 coffee beans in it I feel like I’m at Christina’s in Murray Hill — no wait — they have Marie Brisard. I should have gone there!!!

When you stack this place up against some of my favorites, like Daniel, Per Se and French Laundry, I want to give Alain Ducasse a 4.5. Too bad Unilocal doesnt let you give half stars (yet again) because there are many restaurants that I have given 4 stars, that do not stack up to Alain Ducasse when comparing establishments of equal caliber (price, service, ambience)
I would give this place a notch above Grammercy, Madison Park and a few notches below Daniel, Aureole, Per Se, etc…
All in all the food was spectacular, especially the scallops which were so tender and buttery they fell apart on the plate.
Of course the service was 5 star, and the décor, although not my style, was as luxurious as it gets.
Thumbs up!

This really is a 4.5 star review, but I am rounding down. We recently visited Adour for a special occasion. I had been meaning to come here for a long time, honestly since the previous Alain Ducasse experiment failed a few years back, and AD decided to open up Adour as a slightly down-​market sop to the New York market. Yes, seriously — Adour is down-​market, for Alain Ducasse, at least.
One of the reasons I liked Adour is that one is not necessarily roped into an elaborate tasting menu. Of course, there are some days that seven courses, with an amuse before and mignardises afterwards is an appropriate meal, though in the present environment one wonders whether all of this is not a little obscene. But Adour lets you dine somewhat more modestly — so pick two courses and a shared cheese, if you like, or perhaps skip dessert. In addition, the great benefit of a la carte dining is that the main course is more substantial — even though I’m always filled to busting after a tasting menu, I also always feel like I could have used more of the primary dish and less of the other things (or, perhaps, just the other things and no main course).
In any event, the food we actually ended up ordering was excellent, if perhaps boring in the sense that really well executed classic French food can sometimes be. Take, for example, my main dish. Roasted lobster with cranberry beans and lobster reduction. The lobster quivered between cooked and raw, just as I Iike it. The beans were just cooked through, creamy without mush. And the reduction a dark treacle of great complexity. This was all food executed at the highest level. But did it startle me? Make me think new things about food? Inspire me to wonder where this dish has been all my life? No. If «startling» is the word you want to describe your food splurge, Adour is not your place. Adour is where you come when you want someone to serve you a hazelnut soufflé un-​ironically, and have it be flawless.
Having said that, some of our dishes were remarkable. One was my appetizer of sea urchin and pasta, an vegetal orange froth of the shellfish, pureed and whole, beautifully saucing some ethereal pasta. Those who have had sea urchin only raw, on sushi or otherwise, are missing out — cooked, the textural problems that sometimes put people off disappear, and the untuous fat remains. So too my wife’s dessert of apple ice cream with a sort of caramel sable. It was as if a candy apple from my wife’s childhood trips to upstate New York grew up, like we have. We will remember these dishes.
Service follows the same pattern. Efficient, without the over-​the-​top hysterics of Per Se. Not quite as stuffy as Daniel. The meal was well paced, and people understood that we were there to celebrate.
A last note about wine service. Adour has a very strong wine program, including a much hyped holographic wine display. I am no great wine expert. But when confronted with a list of this depth I’ve found the best approach is to simply call the sommelier over and give him a price range. Don’t be bashful — in the end, it’s just a restaurant, and the sommelier is nothing more than someone whose job it is to leave you satisfied. Adour’s sommelier took my modest budget of $ 80 for wine and got us an excellent bottle of premier cru Beaune, to match my desire for a red that we could drink with fish. But if you have really deep pockets, I’m sure Adour can take you some surprising places.

(This is the review for my experience on July 6^th).
First of all, I think the overall experience at Adour was 4 to 4.5 stars. However, if you taste something that you never tasted anything that good before, and if you may never have that experience anywhere else, I think it is worth giving 5 stars. To me, the Almond Soufflé did the job that night.
My then-​fiancée and I decided to try this place after taking our wedding photos. We decided to go with the 3 course meal. She ordered the Sea urchin pasta, beef entrée and no dessert. I went with Foie gras (for the first time), pork entrée and Almond Soufflé. I wasn’t a big fan of a non-​chocolate soufflé, but decided to try it somehow.
Their amuse bouche was a panna-​cotta-​ish soup with citrus touch. It was good but wasn’t spectacular. The bread and butter was good I though. My first course, foie gras was actually very tender, juicy and full of flavor. However, because of how the livers are prepared I am skeptical if I will have foie gras again. My fiancée said her Uni pasta was quite tasty.
My main course was the pork chop with the eggplant side. The pork was so tender and juicy. However, I actually enjoyed the eggplant side even more. It was prepared on a slice of cooked eggplant topped with other vegetables and cheese. It was perfectly cooked and seasoned. Her beef entrée was good but not memorable.
Then here came the soufflé. I had one bite, and then had to cut my wife’s phone conversation so that she could taste what I just did. It was amazing. The creamy almond flavor, so full of flavor, comes into your mouth and melts in there. It was indescribable. I still remember, after a month, how the first bite tasted like. You too will say OMG the moment you taste it.
Lastly their petit four was the macaron, which was very good too. Overall it was a great experience anyway, but the soufflé made it a night to remember.

Went to Adour 2 years ago while staying at the St Regis and Loved the food. As I read the reviews and saw that Adour is only One Michelin star; I’m not sure if that’s for this year only? Because it’s a beautiful restaurant their service was excellent and the food was excellent. But I know that the cheif moved to LA. So I don’t know about now.
I went to Daniel (over rated and the food wasn’t great) and Adours food is much better!

Ducasse deserves his great reputation. This 1 star Michelin restaurant is under-​rated. It fully deserves 2 stars. Go and try the tasting menu with paired wines. It will be pricey, but for a special occasion, well worth it.
Adour’s cooking bursts with freshness and originality. No other-​worldly molecular cooking here. Rather, layers of well blended taste-​on-​taste that explode in your mouth. Favorite dishes: the halibut with wild mushroom crust; the divers scallop with artichoke; and the chocolate crisp dessert.
The staff, from the head waiter, to the servers and sommelier, all were kind and professional. The ambience is elegant old-​style hotel. Bottom line, one of NYC’s finest restaurants.

We ventured through a snow storm that night to come here for dinner, and it was definitely worth the adventure — spectacular space, beautifully appointed furnishing, delicious food, and wonderful service.
The place is an experience, as the décor surround you with dreams of grandeur and you envision yourself in another era. The service is friendly and warm — perfectly welcoming and not pretentious. The food… while I have had better, is pretty darn amazing and the presentation top notch, especially the chocolate sorbet with gold foil leaves over the chocolate. And the wine was delightfully tasty.
Adour, you have my heart.

Walking into the St. Regis Hotel, it’s not totally obvious where Adour is as there’s a bar area and you kind of have to walk to the back, but as soon as we got to the right entrance, we were greeted by a lovely hostess and led into a vast room, that resembles a pretty large wine storage room. The sections of the restaurant were in fact aligned with wines and champagnes, therefore setting the tone that cuisine at Adour is designed for the wine connoisseur.
We were seated and promptly welcomed with a delicious watermelon soup, pureed zucchini with a crostini covered in an olive tapenade and lastly a fish croquet as our amuse bouche. This wonderful display of color, texture and flavor really set the tone for what was to come.
For my appetizer, I went with the local fluke ceviche. I am always a fan of ceviche and this was wonderful. Bursting with flavor and color, I enjoyed every bite. It was so refreshing and with the avocado, the fish just melted on my tongue. I would have been happy having this as my main! It was substantial enough
Already a little full, they brought out my main which was the Slowly Cooked Wild Bing Salmon sauteed vegetables, heirloom tomatoes, barigoule. This was prepared rare which I think most people would have enjoyed a lot, but I think I would have preferred it to be cooked a little bit longer. It was delicious though. And I absolutely LOVED the heirloom tomatoes. The vegetables really complemented the fish quite well.
We skipped dessert which was fine because they brought out macaroons and chocolates petit fours which was more than enough to go with the French press coffee we ordered. That was a little over-​priced by the way. $ 20 for a cup and half of coffee a piece. Delicious, but pricey. I really enjoyed the strawberry macaroon! Normally i don’t care for macaroons at all because they are just too sweet for me, but these were really nice.
In sum, this is a great place to go to dinner to celebrate a special occasion or simply to have a romantic and delicious meal. Recommended!

My quest to visit all of the Michelin-​starred restaurants in NYC continues with an evening at Adour. Located inside of the St. Regis hotel a few blocks away from Central Park, the restaurant has all of the trappings of elegance one is accustomed to seeing at a high-​end hotel. Unfortunately, aesthetically, there were no bold notes or the presence of a distinct personality. For example, while some restaurants will include beautifully crafted walls of wine, vaults, and the like; at Adour, they are simply on display as an afterthought. Reflecting back, there was nothing distinctive about the layout of the restaurant or its ambience. The food, however, is a different story.
Dinner began with a trio of amuse bouches. I absolutely love when then come in threes, and this arrangement was just gorgeous with its interplay of color, texture, and fragrance. To my left, there was a shot glass of watermelon soup. In the middle, a cup housing pureed zucchini capped by a crostini generously covered in an olive tapenade. And to my right, a small fish croquette. The watermelon soup was smooth and refreshing. The tapenade was especially flavorful from its use of fresh olives. The croquette was perhaps too salty though, disguising the flavor of the fish.
For the first course, I had the sea urchin homemade pasta. A most understated description because it in no way captures how amazingly good this dish is. To begin with, the noodles are freshly made. Their texture, size, pliancy, and taste were all perfect. Mixed in with the noodles was fennel, garlic, and of course uni. The uni was just splendid as it was incorporated in three different ways: directly, as a creamy sauce, and again as a foam. A decadent dish that was pleasing all around because the uni was so good. The only slight was that it was a largely monochromatic dish, but that is a nitpick at best. I definitely recommend this dish.
For the entrée, I ordered the Maine lobster. The online menu shows it served en cocotte with carrots and a red wine reduction. My lobster was not served en cocotte (a specialized cooking vessel), and there were no carrots. What I had was a bit different. The morsels of lobster were impressively large. There was another creamy sauce with foam, and apple added in for texture. The dish was highlighted by 3 spears of narrowly cut Romaine lettuce. The color composition was more interesting in this dish. The lobster was fairly good being both fresh and embodying a lot of flavor. I was generally pleased with this dish, though it is not my favorite preparation of lobster.
The dessert menu eventually arrived, but we were simply not taken with any of the fruit-​centric selections. Instead we both just opted for a service of organic Nicaraguan (Matagalpa) coffee. Strangely, we were both presented with individual services (and charged twice). Each service contained about 1.5 cups of coffee. Taking it black, I was very pleased with the deep flavor. I just couldn’t recommend it at $ 20 for 2 people though. Along with our coffee, we were served petit fours. We had 4 macaroons and 4 chocolates between us. I really enjoyed the macaroons and thought the nougat chocolate was just wonderful.
The service was minimal which I found surprising. There was no explanation of the tasting menu, no entreaties for wine pairing, and not all of the dishes that we did order were explained.
Overall, Adour has wonderful food at slightly higher prices than is typical for this level of dining. I think it is worth seeking out for particular pleasing dishes like the uni pasta, but the ambience and service are underwhelming enough to make one aware that Adour is not a complete package deal. I think they just barely garnered 4 stars from me because ultimately I did enjoy the food enough to overlook the rest.

This place is amazin’ (as Michael Buble would say). The décor is ultra romantic (more than If One by Land…) but the main dining room might be too open for couples. For a date, I’d probably sit in one of the more private rooms where it feels more intimate. The service from the get-​go was fantastic (unfortunately no orchestration of plates) as can be expected of nice hotel restaurants.
The food:
Foie gras with rhubarb and hearts of palm — so delicious
Uni tagliatelle — finally a uni pasta dish that doesn’t skimp on the uni or turn it into a viscose form — the best uni pasta I’ve had in the city
Halibut — pretty good
Short ribs — pretty good
Risotto — good
Ceviche — good
The stand-​out dishes were definitely the foie gras and uni tagliatelle. This place is definitely a place I’d revisit. A star well deserved.

I went to Adour for restaurant week. it happened to be on bastille day which was an extra treat. but, i cant believe AD had an availablitiy thanks to my great bud Yvette G. scoring the rezzie. So it was nice to be able to experience the «haute» french old country on a 35 $ budget. i uploaded a pic of the menu if you want to see… while i felt a little sheepish because MY black amex is «in the mail» it was a good evening and worth the trip as follows:
A visit to the bar is worthwhile as the have the new «interactive» wine selection experience with the computers and vacuum preserved wines. Similar to SD-​28 (i think that is what its called) over in Madison Square Park area)…otherwise on to the evening…
The dining room is intimate with big cases of wine bottles on all four walls. Smaller group rooms border the main dining room and look really nice if you have a group. I hear one can «rent» space in their celler for your 500 $ bottles of rothschild and crystal champagne. intimate yes, but still retains an air of that pretentious french style dining room. i thought AD was trying to tone it down a little after leaving Essex House, but it’s still quite a suit and tie kind of place with blax amex’s being waived about and UES snobbery to cut with a butter knife.
I have to say that they were generous with what was on the restaurant week menu… see my upload pic of the menu. I know there is a great debate on Unilocal re: restaurant week love/​hate. But for me i do love it however, I wish restaurants wouldn’t do a special menu for restaurant week. I liked the early days of the 2 week trial of NYC restaurants. Used to be we could order from the main menu so we could actaullly try what the «real» food was like. I mean the whole point is to get people in to try and generate return business right!!! A «special» menu for the restaurant week is not really IMHO an accurate depiction of what the true experince is. But this one was good none-​the-​less.
The amuse bouche was pleasant basil and gazpacho foam. Very pleasant for the hot night. We also took a half bottle of sancere ($ 40)which was very grapefruity and crisp. Two choices of bread (olive triangle and mini-​baguette) rounded out the pre-​meal selection.
For the 1^st course I chose the chilled english pea soup and Yvette G had the CLEAR winner risotto with calamari. My spoon was in her dish a few times (eww that could be another review)…the other options were ceviche which the table next to us had and looked impressive, but wouldn’t fill a guy up if you know what i mean. The pea soup was light and pleasant a nice summer dish, but get the risotto if you go.
Main courses were cod with mussels for both of us. VERY simply prepared. I was almost dissapointed at first glance because it was so simple. But the flavor was light and perfect for the summertime heat. Sizeable portions of cod as well. The other options were salmon with veggies and a meat choice of the ever present fine dining menu — short ribs. The table next to us got both and they looked nice, the salmon looked really well prepared and presented.
Dessert was well executed, typically fine dining style excessive, but a beautiful presentation and tasty. Both of us had the caramel (gold) leaf with caramel ice cream, the winner looked like the chocolate sorbet or the other choice which i cannot really describe but looked like a crushed ice with foam? Dessert was rounded out with a petite four of dark chocolates and macarons (the French style obvi.)
The service is what i keep reading about on Unilocal,and while it was deliberate and friendly not the best i’ve experinced. There was a long lag between each course and we had to ask for the bill even though we were sitting with an empty table looking around…
Overall it was a good experince on a budget! I’d like to go back for the main tasting menu ($ 115). But like I said the black amex is in the mail.

I stumbled upon this restaurant through Unilocal and the interactive wine bar totally lured me in since there are so many great restaurants in NYC This was my last dinner for my NYC trip and I hoped it was better than my Jean Georges lunch and u know what? It was! The food here is AMAZING! It’s a good sign when you can’t pick out which dish you liked best and that you loved all of them because that’s how I felt here!
Décor & atmosphere:
It’s absolutely BEAUTIFUL inside. I don’t get why one of the Unilocalers was so picky on the décor. They must have impossible expectations or something. The mauve, taupe, white, dark brown, and gold color palette creates such a delicious atmosphere! There is wine displays just everywhere in the dining room. There was seductive Maxwell like music on. It all created a very sexy environment. I loved it!
Service:
Right when you walk in they ask for your coat and I thought that was nice. Our maitre d was very knowledgeable and the all the servers were so welcoming and warm. The service was excellent.
Food:
Complimentary bread: they were like cheese pastries and they were soooo good! I wish I had more and just pop 10 of those babies into my mouth. It wasn’t heavy cheese balls … they were very airy and light with a taste of cheese.
Amuse bouche: foie gras chowder: damn foie gras chowder? That is some fancy schmancy soup! The best amuse bouche ever! I was scraping the sides of the cup to get every bit of it! It was chunky too… not sure what it was… more foie gras? Sigh… so good.
Appetizers:
Sweetbread «Meuniere» egg purse: this sweetbread was much better than Jean Georges but I think Bouchon in Beverly Hills was better. It’s sauteed with mushrooms, carrots, snow peas, and a poached egg in a thick like sauce. The middle is not fully cooked to taste like chicken and had a softer middle.
Duck foie gras terrain: I never had it terraine style before and it is just as good as seared ones! I am seriously having a whirlwind of foie gras tastings today in so many different styles. This one was full of flavor and had a silky texture. So delicious. Those red balls are some sort of fruit. It cleansed my palate every I took a bite of it so that I can have the full body taste of the foie gras again. The bits of sea salt sprinkled on top was just the right amount of salt. VERY lovely dish.
Main entrees:
Berkshire pork tournedos: It had boudin noir, polenta gratinee and spaghetti squash medallions. This looked so cool and it tasted so good too! I loved the boudin noir and polenta gratinee. Each medallion had a different flavor. Awesome dish.
Butter poached Maine lobster with royal trumpet mushrooms and salsify in a champagne sauce emulsion: I was in love with this dish! The sauce was super flavory and the lobster was cooked perfectly! Nice and succulent and not chewy and dry like AnQi in California (Crustaceans chain). They gave a whole lot of lobster where I was just enjoying every single bite!
Desserts on the house:
Macaroons: these were softer and not as sweet as the one at Jean Georges.
Chocolates: very nice with a good middle filling… again… not too sweet.
Comparison:
I’m very wowed by this restaurant. Adour was granted 1 Michelin Star while Jean-​Georges was granted 3 but overall Adour trumped Jean-​Georges! I have to give Jean-​Georges big accolades for their foie gras brulee because that was so innovative but Adour wins me overall.
I don’t know what the full Alaine Ducasse experience is and this is the «water down version» but whatever it is it must be beyond fancy because this place was fancy already. I had a really great culinary experience here because ALL of the dishes we ordered was SO good. I highly recommend this restaurant for anyone from CA to NY because you don’t have to leave your leg or arm at the door and you get high quality and delicious food with excellent service.
Cost: 2 appetizers and 2 main dishes with tax and tip: about $ 150 total

Knives, chopsticks, cookbook, macarons.
It’s instructive to learn that while these four may not be the four primary elements of culinary life, but are still considered essential to constitute the range of items available for online purchase through the Adour, Alain Ducasse at St. Regis (mouthful, eh?) website. I suspect the underlying motif is that no meal is complete without them?
Indeed macarons are enjoying such an unprecedented surge in popularity that only a handful of top tier restaurants have the audacity to consider a meal complete without featuring them as at least a supporting act in the grand finale.
However, this is the first time that a prominent restaurant is offering this delectable confection available for retail purchase. The Fall collection offers two flavors: Mandarin /​Orange and Passion Fruit /​Chocolate, however, these are available in boxes that contain a minimum of six macarons. So, to try the two flavors you need to order two boxes, resulting in a minimum purchase of 12 macarons for a cash outlay of $ 30.
This is my biggest gripe with Adour, Alain Ducasse. The charm of macarons is to have multiple flavors available in glorious, bright colors and symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing shapes. I find the requirement of purchasing 12 macarons to sample just two flavors as restrictive and unappealing. The website makes it clear that custom orders (more flavors) are available, but for quantities in excess of 200. Boo!!!
That said, both versions are visually attractive. In terms of execution, I have minor grievances: the Mandarin/​Orange had air pockets that led to some brittleness, while the Passion Fruit/​Chocolate (clearly the more flavorful one) was just a tad too chewy. Again, minor annoyances as opposed to palpable misfires.
I’d be curious to see whether a large number of customers agree to walk through the opulent surroundings, repeatedly, to request the macarons. Even if the service is courteous and gracious, there is no mistaking that a number of pretentious souls (mainly the nouveau riche visitors) are judging your every movement to gauge your monetary value. This is not the first time I have been inclined not to return as a number of high end restaurants started offering gourmet ice cream for sale last year, and they haven’t seen any repeat business from me. That I agreed to visit Adour despite my reservations is a result of inquiries from two Unilocalers.
The first was from good friend Chris R, who has solemnly sworn to be the first to inform me anytime the word macaron flashes before his eyes. Now, I have absolutely no doubt that he’s a warm human being and has my best interests at heart, but lately a sneaking suspicion has crossed my mind that given his recent rigorous exercise regimen and resolve to save calories — he’s engaged me as his unofficial macaron taster :)
The other inquiry interestingly was from a reticent orange head, who has already written dozens of insightful reviews. Hoping that she’s another case similar to Mama Unlucky in eventually making the transformation to a respected, contributing member of the Unilocal community, I assured her that I would research and revert with a review anon.
Here’s to everyone living up to new resolutions for 2010! Salud!