The Circus is Not in Town

Le Cirque is going to have a hard time recovering from the beating Pete Wells gave it in this weeks review.  He had been visiting Sirio Maccioni's home away from home since late spring.  He found, "The kitchen gave the impression that it had stopped reaching for excellence and possibly no longer remembered what that might mean."  Many of the dishes were lacking in three categories: "conviction," "rationale," and "seasoning."  Wells noted that, "Anyone with a bottle of olive oil and access to a supermarket produce aisle might easily prepare an heirloom tomato salad that surpasses the one I was served at Le Cirque in August."

Service was the saving grace, "So accomplished that I could almost believe it was all worthwhile up until the minute the check arrived."  The restaurant opened in 1974 at the Mayfair Hotel.  Le Cirque called the New York Palace Hotel home from 1997 to 2006 before settling at the Bloomberg building on East 58th Street.  Le Cirque's nearly forty year relationship with New York City certainly helped with Wells' decision to stamp at least one star on his review.

The Le Cirque experience may not be what it once was, but Maccioni's charm is unchanging.  He turned 80 this year and continues to be a presence on the dining room floor.  His gracious smile shines from a face Wells refers to as "a comic pantomime of constant suffering that instantly made clear why he has long been called one of New York’s most charming hosts."