Stulman's Sixth Gets Two

[Sasha Maslov for the Times]When Montmartre first opened, people anticipated casual French fare (as advertised), bistro food kissed by chef Tien Ho's delicate Southeast Asian touch. Ho, who's worked for Daniel Boulud and David Chang, has been touted as one of the city's finer chefs. Expectations for Montmartre were high, but Gabe Stulman's latest Little Wisco endeavor seemingly left little to be desired out of the gate. A month and a half after opening, the team revamped the menu and today Pete Wells refers to Montmartre as "the most improved restaurant of the year."

"Prizes seemed unlikely after I ate there in April," Wells writes early in the review. Menu items like veal blanquette, skate wing, and raw kale salad seemed good on paper, but the critic found the execution, and some of the food, a bit bland.

The new, improved menu came sometime at the beginning of April. "The effect was transformative," Wells writes, "as if National Grid had finally turned on the gas." A synergy was found between Stulman's vision and Ho's creativity in the kitchen. According to Wells, "Once in a while, Montmartre still gets a case of the blahs," but he awards the restaurant two stars.

For Montmartre, like Perla, Stulman brought in a chef from outside his Little Wisco empire. At his other restaurants (Joseph Leonard, Fedora, Jeffery's Grocery, and Chez Sardine), growth happened organically so to speak. At those restaurants, front and back of house staff shuffled around to grow the brand. At Perla, Stulman took a chance on chef Michael Toscano's forward-thinking Italian comfort food. It was an instant hit. Chef Tien Ho's tightly-bound talent and extensive knowledge of worldly cuisines took some time to hit its stride. Now that it has, Stulman has another hit on his hands. [NYTimes]

Chez Sardine Gets Ichi Star

[courtesy chezsardine.com]Gabe Stulman opened Perla at the beginning of 2012. Former Babbo chef Michael Toscano commands the kitchen there, and in May last year, Pete Wells filed a two-star review on the restaurant. Chez Sardine, Stulman's fifth, opened in November, and today Wells gives the restaurant one star.

Chez Sardine is the restaurant group's first Asian restaurant, loosely inspired by Japanese izakayas (restaurants we love to eat in). Mehdi Brunet-Benkritly is the chef, and he's got four years at Au Pied De Cochon on his resume. Between there and Sardine, he created a menu with American and bistro leans at Fedora, another restaurant under Stulman's umbrella.

Pete Wells' review has more than one reference to "Asian Stoner Food," but the menu is not without well-executed food. "Hamachi with chicharrones reads like a declaration of war," Wells begins, "but no. The pork skins add crunch and a savoriness that deepens as you chew and that is kept in check by pickled ginger. And Arctic char, cured with sugar and lime zest and smoked, makes for sushi you could happily eat for breakfast." "And there are lovely little grace notes," he continues, "like the brussels sprouts in brown butter with apple purée, good enough to make you wish Mr. Brunet-Benkritly would take an interest in vegetables more often."

Despite snack, sushi bar, small and large plate options on the menu, "There are, in fact," Wells writes, "very few ways to put together a balanced meal at Chez Sardine." But Stulman's Little Wisco empire has grown even since Chez Sardine. Montmartre opened in Chelsea just three months later; proving, if there were any doubts before, Stulman's got his formula down to a science. Maybe Wells will check in on Montmartre and find more to like on Tien Ho's menu. [NYTimes]

Show Me a Sign: Montmartre

Gabe Stulman and Tien Ho announced they were opening a project together back in September. It was learned later that the project would be called Montmartre, and at the end of last week, an awning went up outside the restaurant's 158 Eighth Avenue address.

Monmartre will be Stulman's first venture outside the boundries of the West Village, where his Little Wisco empire has quickly grown to include five restaurants. The Chelsea restaurant's name is inspired by where Stulman worked in college; Cafe Montmartre. It was here that he got his first taste of the "neighborhood vibe," and that same feeling is what's come to define his vision.

Tien Ho is creating a French-American menu for Montmartre and the restaurant will be his first full-time gig since leaving Ma Peche at the end of 2011. Ho worked at Cafe Boulud before joing the Momofuku empire at Ssam Bar. From there, he went on to open Ma Peche in the Chambers Hotel as the executive chef. He has an affinity for unique wine and obscure wine-growing regions and we will likely see that passion on the wine list when the restaurant opens in the following weeks.