Picholine

Still a favorite. Wish it wasn’t closed.

how disappointing that they closed!!! this was such a great restaurant. i was surprised when we dined there that it was so empty for such high caliber food.

i can’t believe i have to be the one to close this place on Unilocal (November 2015). what a shame. picholine was to be my go-​to dinner for the opera when i’ve got $$$$$$ (yes, that’s six dollar signs) to splurge for dinner.
thankfully i did get to go (see my April pics) recently before they closed.
i did notice that the dining room was pretty empty that night. still, what an awesome spot.
what a shame because they earned their one-​star michelin. :(and well deserved…
Enthusiastic sommelier, joined from Paris, with excellent knowledge AND selection.
No Monbazillac, but he served a brilliant Henri Girard Blanc de Blanc Brut sparkly and this deliciously sweet Yves Guegniard Quarts de Chaume.
Langoustine amuse. Frothy foam (was it potato?)
Fois Gras Starter. Brilliant mixture of toasted nuts and the yummy fat of the duck.
Sea Bass with Squid Ink. Impressive balance of texture and flavor. I already feel a theme here: roasted and crispy. Nice!
Venison with turnip and cabbage. Mid-​rare, it’s a masterpiece with finishing salt. More roasted nuts with the potato mash and turnip. What a reduction!
Finishing with a fragrant and savory Lemon Tart with touches of Basil and roasted chocolate. WOW. Just WOW.
I have such fond memories of Picholine. I sincerely hope you will return to glory somewhere else in town.

This classic NY establishment is yet another sad story of restaurants not making an attempt to change with time.
I was pretty excited to check this place out, after hearing a lot of rave reviews from friends who had been here about a decade ago. So booked this place for our wedding anniversary.
The place was pretty much empty apart from a few asian tourists. We tried the tasting chef’s menu which was mediocre at its best. It was a aging attempt to create a 5 star dining experience. The service was decent. But if I am going to spend about $ 400 for two people I better be getting something a little more exciting than good service.

The best restaurant I have ever had the joy of eating at! The multiple courses with the wine pairings are out of this world. Not to mention the cheese cart for after

Very impressed the food and the wine and the service were all awesome we did the tasting menu definitely worth he investment for a special occasion.

I have been to Picholine several times and am impressed every time! IT’S FINE DINING AT IT BEST. The bar staff are well experienced and very customer friendly. The service is high quality as well as spectacular. The food… what can I say.
Master Chef, Terrance Brennan pairing up Exciting Meals with creative unending touches.
Flavors busting in your mouth. There is a great wine list to go along whatever you order. Picholine is a True Five Star Establishment…
* * * * *

Highly overrated. Super expensive $ 720 for four without wine. Small portions, decent food but nothing special for New York. Very 80s. But the worst are the waiters they appear to be put off by answering questions about the menu or making recommendations… ours said he was a vegetarian so he couldn’t comment on any of the meals and he didn’t offer to get anyone over to our table who could. Another one bumped into me every time he was filling my water glass. Restaurant was empty on a Saturday night in May I guess other people have figured it out.
The one thing that stood out was the extensive cheese selection and fromaggier who really seem to be an expert and passionate about cheese.

Expensive, fussy, and a bit dated. The service was very good if you like that stuffy style. The room is simple and elegant.
The food, mostly, did not impress. The beef texture was unpleasant and the carbonara was soupy and not very exciting. The tuna appetizer and the gâteau were the most delicious things that we tried.
When the fromagier wheeled over the cheese cart and started describing the cheeses, it began to sound like a parody: «textures of cashmere» etc… Though the actual cheese plate was great.
At this price point, I feel there are nicer rooms and more exciting menus to choose from in NYC.

I’ve been avoiding a review of this place for awhile, probably because it’s going to be pretty harsh and long winded, but here goes.
I’ll firstly get the food portion out of the way; it was fantastic. We had reservations for 8 pm on a Saturday night assuming it was going to be quite busy. Keep this in mind as I’ll get back to this little fact later (ala Sarah Koenig). They were only serving the chefs tasting menu which came in 5 or 12 courses. We indulged in the 5 course menu to not break the bank, which eventually turned out to be 6 courses on a spur of the moment decision for a cheese course + the 3 additional small dishes, gratis.
The three extras were served sporadically throughout the night and I can’t remember exactly when they were given. The first was a cornbread-​like square brick, powdered with some delicious red shit, served on a piece of slate. The next was a smooth, pale colored, and warm tapioca based soup of sorts which was light and refreshing. Finally the was a light vanilla flavored semi sweet desert with toasted almonds and sprinkled on top. Our waiter described them all in intricate detail, but I can’t recall.
My first dish was the warm white tuna cru. It was good but the tuna seemed a bit overcooked. My second dish was the persimmon miso glazed foie gras. I’ve had better foei. My fourth was the painted hills beef rib eye. Probably my favorite of the courses as the meat was a perfect medium rare and tender, though the veggies seemed a bit undercooked. Yes, I know I skipped my third dish, because they actually skipped it as well. More on that later. Anyway, my third dish was the vegetable pot a feu. The broth was very light and delicious and I wanted to spoon it up but was sans spoon for some reason. Finally, my least favorite dish was the dessert, which was the manjari chocolate cremeux. I’m not a fan of desserts so this was to be a bit expected. Somewhere in between these dishes, we had a cheese course as apparently they’re known for their fine assortment of cheeses. We got a big mix of all of the cheeses and shared and tasted among the table with an ample supply of bread. It was one of the highlights of the meal. I’d highly recommend trying it.
Now here are my gripes. Knowing it’s a Michelin starred fine dining restaurant in Manhattan, I expected snootiness. While the staff was very accommodating, friendly, and the ambiance nice, I’m guessing the normal clientele are more on the old-​money, snobbish side. I didn’t feel relaxed at all. It was so quiet that you hesitated to even speak, fearing you’d potentially display bad etiquette. We laughed and joked as much as we possibly thought «correct». On the other hand, a few old folk eyed us up and down as if they’ve never seen a group our age enter their establishment before. Fogeys and their young mistresses…
All this stuff isn’t what really irked me. What really bothered me was that the meal took a good g*d damn 4 hours to finish. Is this normal? We were the last to leave. The courses were spaced so far apart that between each, you started to felt hungry all over again. I said earlier that we had an 8 pm reservation and thought it was gonna be packed. Nope, ¼ of the tables were empty. There was no rush on the kitchen and there was plenty of staff on hand. Perhaps they just normally take their sweet time to serve food and are accustomed to diners sitting there for half a working day. The spacing was horrible. Barring all the empty time we spent sipping water and drinking booze, we could have literally eaten our entire 6 courses + free stuff in 15 minutes flat. Ridiculous!
Another thing that irked me is that try as hard our kindly waiter did, he was SOOO long winded when describing each plate as they were served. It seemed he forgot a few things here and there and did his hardest to correct himself. It made for long, awkward pauses before each course. I mean, each dish was described on the menu rather thoroughly, so…
Then finally, there’s the forgetting of our entire third course, which we had to remind them of. I find it strange that such a esteemed place would do such a thing, even after they make such a deliberate effort to be so precise and detailed in everything they do. To be fair, they did knock off 2 of the 4 of our 5 course meals, which was very kind of them, but I wouldn’t expect they needed to do so with such a lax and laid back time-​frame for dinner.
Maybe I’m a cretin/​peasant and don’t appreciate slow, steady and methodical dining at Michelin starred restaurants. Maybe I can’t sit still for 4 hours, given sporadic mouthfuls of food. Granted, the food was good, cheese excellent, but this place must have been having a shit day service-​wise. I mean, the old couple sitting next to us had to correct the waiter on their bill not once, not twice, but thrice!
Will not be back. This place isn’t for me.

Picholine is absolutely divine, dahhling. At one point I began laughing out loud because of how absolutely fantastic the whole experience was, the food, the service, the more food, the more service, the **dessert**… Heavens be.

What can I say, Picholine is one of those NYC institutions you have to try just once. We got gussied up and were swept into a perfect table, surrounded by people just as suave and fabulous as we were. Sigh.
The food is lovely, beautifully served. Waitstaff was over the top (as expected) and falling over themselves to please — never a bad thing in my not-​humble-​at-​all opinion.
3 and not 5 stars is strictly for timing. We clocked 3 hours and 10 minutes total, and only ordered an appetizer and an entrée. Perhaps I was starving, perhaps the constant flurry of activity and the ever rolling cheese cart made me salivate. I’m not really sure. But 1 hour and 22 minutes to wait for an appetizer was way too long. But the time dessert was offered (3 hours and 6 minutes), I was exhausted and ready for bed. We had our (completely amazing) cheese plate wrapped to go without judgement.
A side note: While the sommolier was really a lovely person, he must work with a very unimpressive wine list. Don’t even think about ordering by the glass or the pairings unless you want choices that are beyond limited and really not well paired. Not that anyone would go here and NOT get a bottle, but we had a few martinis during our 1 hour and 20 minute appetizer wait and wouldn’t have been able to walk out if we had. Just sayin’.

The dishes on the tasting menu were elaborate, but bland. Service was pretentious and overly obtrusive until steak was presented lukewarm, when it rapidly morphed into unprofessional and obnoxious. The steak was re-​served to us re-​heated and overdone. When we sent it back again, someone came to lecture us on how long it would take to re-​do. In fact, it was re-​done in 5 minutes, but again lukewarm. We didn’t argue further, but combined with the $ 12 price tag for ordinary coffee, the words «never» and ‘again” came to mind.

Maybe it’s because this restaurant had just recently opened after a brief hiatus, but the kitchen wasn’t turning out dishes quite the way that I had ordered it (lamb bloody rare instead of medium).
That was the only negative. The service staff and kitchen were exceptionally attentive and understanding, correcting anything I pointed out. The cuisine was remarkable and I especially loved trying different cheeses recommended by a very entertaining and experienced cheese monger.

We chose Picholine for a birthday dinner because their website listed a vegetarian menu with a large number of interesting choices. We were very disappointed to be told, on arriving at the restaurant, that they weren’t currently serving the menu because they had just returned from vacation. Given that we had called ahead to let the restaurant know we’d want vegetarian food, this was especially disappointing.
The food itself was very ordinary — a decent gazpacho to start, followed by a mushy, rather bland risotto. We also chose the wine pairing with dinner, and ended up with a glass and a half of wine plus desert wine — the meanest pours I’ve ever seen.
I’d heard good things about this restaurant and expected much better.

It was several weeks before my scheduled dinner at Picholine that the 2014 Michelin Guide was released and I learned that the restaurant had lost its one star [1]. While it was disappointing to hear, my friends and I were still excited to visit this NYC establishment. Named after the French cultivar of olives, the restaurant has been known to seamlessly blend together elements of French and Mediterranean cuisine and given its location, has been a popular pre or post-​theater meal.
On an early Sunday evening, we found ourselves outside the subdued entrance to this otherwise opulent restaurant. Picholine iscomprised of two dining rooms: the first utilizes two rows of tables bordering the hallway all underneath an impressive chandelier; it’s a little brighter and livelier than the second dining room in the back, which has a handful of well-​spaced tables against a calming auburn-​cream backdrop. We were promptly seated and given the requisite menus and glasses of water. Picholine has a fairly flexible dining menu, allowing diners to order à la carte, or choose between several prix-​fixe menus, as well as the impressive twelve course chef’s tasting. We’d decided beforehand to order off the five-​course menu, but were even more delighted to learn we could swap in dishes from the eight-​course menu that initially weren’t available.
We started off with a variety of amuses — a take on French Onion Soup that had an emulsified topping of Gruyère cheese, a lightly seared potato topped with a spoonful of caviar, and a small sphere of fried goat cheese. It was a nice segue to the first course, which was the Cod «Brandade» for me. A play on the traditional «fish and chips», it was elegantly presented in a glass cup and at first glance, the topping was a gorgeous distribution of trout roe, potato chips, and microgreens. The true surprise was after I after the first spoonful, when I discovered a poached egg at the bottom of the glass, initially covered by the brandade. The cod didn’t overwhelm the taste of the dish, and the contrast of the creamy brandade against the chips and roe made for an interesting texture.
The Agnolotti followed; two perfectly folded pieces of pasta placed in a dark, rich bolognese. The filling of celery root and apple was fresh and slightly acidic, and it was balanced well by the richness and hint of gaminess from the bolognese. Although it was a little too salty for my liking, it was nonetheless an enjoyable course and a good preview for our third course, which could be considered the «main»: the Poularde. This was the dish that I was least impressed with throughout the evening; the meat, while tender, lost any textural semblance of being chicken in the process of being cooked sous-​vide. The additions and garnishes to the plate, a squash purée, a foie gras emulsion, and a sprinkling of black trumpet mushrooms, helped provide some additional flavors and components, but couldn’t entirely redeem the dish.
The fourth course is from Picholine’s famous cheese cart, and while a little a gimmicky, has its draw for those that love dairy. There was a cheese specialist to go over the options; she was also the one bump in service that evening as she (1) assumed that every guest wanted to hear a 15 minute overview of all the cheeses available and (2) assumed we already knew about every cheese available. I was able to remember only a few descriptions and names that she went over during that time, and asked for three based on memory alone. They were, thankfully, all cheeses that I enjoyed, ranging from soft to slightly hard, not too pungent, and paired well with several slices of bread, a fruit compote, and figs.
Dessert ended with the Apple «Tarte Tatin», a rather complex plating of an otherwise simple dessert. There were far too many components to count — a caramel mousse, a spoonful of cinnamon ice cream, several slices of lightly caramelized apple, a crisp pastry that bore a strong resemblance to tree roots… To call it a deconstructed dessert would probably be fairly accurate and the interplay of all the different pieces, textures, and flavors was quite the experience.
I can see why some would criticize Picholine, deeming it outdated, too formal, and overpriced. To be fair, it’s not the place for everyone, but even after so much time, the food continues to push boundaries, even within the realm of classical cooking techniques and styles. Despite the fact that they won’t be on the Michelin Guide for the coming year, I’m glad I paid them a visit; Picholine is still one of the best fine dining establishments in New York City and I’m sure it will continue to command a loyal following in the years to come.
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[1] Picholine was re-​added to the 2015 Michelin Starred restaurants. Congratulations!

Picholine
What I «came-​a-​cross» became a «came-​a-​curse»
I came across this place when I was looking for a fine dining restaurant in the Lincoln Square area. I saw this place and I was surprised that I hadn’t heard of it. I assumed, my first mistake, that when a restaurant is surrounded by other big-​name restaurants such as «Bouled sud», «Atlantic Grill» and «The Lincoln Restaurant» it was going to be very good. My expectations were not crazy but they were certainly at a high level.
Ambiance:
It’s really hard to describe the ambiance because honestly that night, there wasn’t any ambiance. It was a Wednesday night which normally is a very busy dinner night in Manhattan. It’s the middle of the week or «hump-​day», as they say, so you would expect a business crowd, a social crowd and a theater crowd, especially where this restaurant is located. It is in the heart of at this of the Lincoln Center district. On this particular night the restaurant only had about 20% occupancy, very strange, or was it. The patrons were a mix of what looked like an older UWS crowd, some «regulars» and a few people that looked like they were there because they couldn’t get a table at the restaurants that I previously mentioned. It reminded me of a puzzle with many of the pieces missing.
The restaurant itself is classy and definitely has that «special occasion» type of interior. It almost has a «palace look» to it. I then realized that something happened that prevented people from wanting to return to this palace. Again, a puzzle with some pieces missing.
Food:
The food was good. I can’t say that my dinner was exceptional but I was generally satisfied with my entire meal. The French menu featured many seasonal game items. For desert I chose the cheese selection. It was well presented and well served. I want to thank the «Expert Fromager», she made this a wonderful experience.
Service:
Usually I don’t like to make negative comments about the service staff and I’m not going to start now. I will address my comments to the «management». I have had service experience and I will use this analogy; it’s not the players it’s the coach. I will mention this one thing that caused me to feel this way. It seemed the entire staff was trying to «up sell», from our waiter to the sommelier. I’m willing to pay for something if it’s worth paying for but $ 20 for a bottle of sparkling water, give me a break. Besides that the sommelier was trying to push another type of wine other that what I ordered. I also noticed he was doing this at every table. This to me was so impersonal. Was the restaurant just trying to unload some «over-​bought» cases of wine?
Conclusion:
I’m sorry to say if ever get invited to this restaurant I will politely decline the invitation and suggest the places mentioned in the beginning of this review.

Ah. Picholine at last!
After years of ruminating over where to have either pre or post-​concert/​opera/​performance dinner, we finally got around to this extremely pleasant restaurant. My smart wife had made reservations for last Saturday after the Met matinée of Prince Igor. As the opera was over at 4:30, we had reservations for 5:00, the official opening hour. We were in the door at 4:45 and, while they were still prepping, I sat at the bar and had a first-​class Negroni. My wife had requested a table in a corner that was against the banquette, and we were assigned a table in the far back room. As we always check the feng shui (not to mention the chi) of the table location before sitting, she felt the back room was a little cold and dark and we opted to move to another table in the front dining room. We were both on the banquette, at 90 degrees.
The first thing that we noticed was the high level of taste in the décor. The lighting level was out of the Goldilocks play-​book and the room was pleasantly gilt-​free — just off-​whites and some greys. Ample carpeting and upholstery helped to keep the noise level to an ideal level throughout the meal, even when the room filled with pre-​theater diners and the wait staff was bustling. (A parenthetical note about noise: for me, at least, nothing can kill the pleasure of a fine meal faster than being overwhelmed by noisy chatter and/​or intrusive music. Much of the pleasure of a meal comes from interesting conversation with the folks at your table — and occasionally with folks from surrounding tables — unless it’s a boldly described skin condition of particular unpleasantness.)
We opted for the three-​course meal with the «matching» wine pairings (more on this later.) Appetizers were the wild mushroom risotto and the duck and fois-​gras rillette. Both were killer. Highly recommend either or both. We both went for the Painted Hills Farm rib-​eye, medium rare. This was not your typical steak house rib-​eye cut. Rather, it was about a 2″ square, 1″ thick piece of meat of exquisite tenderness and taste. Cooked perfectly from top to bottom. I though that this must have been as the result of sous-​vide, but was assured by Matthew, the ever helpful and attentive maitre d’, that they do something else. Not sure what, but it turned out perfectly.
For dessert, du fromage, naturellement. The Frommeilere wheeled the cart to the table and described in detail the cheeses in exquisite adjectives reminiscent of a wine review («Big cheesy flavor with a finish of apricots and notes of black shoe polish.») Once we had made our selections, the cheese cart was rolled into a dark corner and, a few minutes later, we were presented with little wooden shingles, each with three minute samples of our selections. On side some quince jelly, dates, etc. to go with the cheese. I had selected two blues and for the third I has asked for something nutty and gouda-​like. What I got was a hard, grainy cheese that resembled Parmigiano– Reggiano. Clearly some disconnect. This cost ½ star of the rating.
The other ½ star deduction is attributable to the wine pairings, which I thought were mediocre. And, the fortified wine that was proudly served by the Sommeiler was obnoxiously sweet. We sent it back and were served an 18-​year old Port, that was a far better match for our cheeses. So — re the wine — for $ 50 you get two 1/​3-​filled small wine glasses. Not enough to really enjoy. I did get the sense that our Sommeiler disapproved of our rejecting his dessert-​wine choice. His Gallic froideur and hauteur were evident in his tone and body language. So, as they say in the finest Parisian restaurants, «Vas te-​faire enculer, mon ami.»
Aside from these two ½ star deductions, we were extremely pleased! The service was attentive without being overwhelming; the bread was too good (!), our few requests were met with a smile, and they even brought me out a small birthday treat at the end of the meal.
If you want a fine meal in an elegant setting, Picholine is definitely a must!

My boyfriend brought me here for our 2 year anniversary.
As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by the staff and sat wherever we wanted to (it was a quiet Easter Sunday evening) — the décor is beautiful.
I can still remember the taste of the food and how amazing it was. The waiter also recommended a sparkling rosé that would go well with the dishes. I wish they kept some of the menu items but I do understand that they have to change the menu seasonally.
Also, I will not forget that Cheese Cart with cheese from all over the world… *drool*
At the end of dinner, I was surprised with a dessert that said «Happy Anniversary» and 2 glasses of champagne! & the «Petit Fours» — a plate of chocolates & mini macarons.
My goodness, I felt so spoiled.

We came here for Easter Brunch with party of 6.
Prefixed three courses Brunch.
Drink Rhubarb mimosa was great.
Staffs are friendly and helpful. Food was excellent.
Their breads were amazing. We tried all!
A Sommelier was helpful to decide wine. We all enjoyed dining experience.
Even my 10-​year old enjoyed her first special meal at super fancy restaurant.
She saw my boyfriend was talking about origin of Spanish wine which was fantastic. So, she asked Sommelier from where the ice tea came because the Ice tea was so delicious. A manager was kindly answered her question. That was very cute moment.
I picked a Soufflé for dessert and loved it! My girlfriend picked Cheese courses. We all enjoyed our desserts.
Well, I guess Patissier was upset in the kitchen, because Soufflés were not brought out timely by wait staff, yelling not appropriate language in the kitchen and we all heard him. It was a bit awkward for a moment. (Especially we were with 10-​year and 15-​year old girls at the table…) But we felt great passion for fine food. We all appreciated his great effort in dessert making.
After dessert, a cup of French press coffee was great with their complimentary assortment of chocolates and macaroon they are delicious…
For ladies only, they gave out some sweets to go. That was very nice.
Overall, we had great time! Hope we will go back again for another special occasion.