Sean G

Review of Thomas Keller, Per Se

I decided to come to Per Se knowing that its reput...

I decided to come to Per Se knowing that its reputation was not what it once was. Unfortunately, Per Se lived up to my lowered expectations. I will start with the good; the service was excellent. As soon as you enter the restaurant you are warmly greeted, show directly to your table and pampered from there on. The wine selection is robust and the sommelier will help you find the best pairing. The ambiance is perfectly lit to set a semi-sultry mood, but not overly-romantic so that a group dinner would seem uncomfortable. However, the biggest reason to go to Per Se is the food, and this is where Per Se falls short. The tasting menu is mostly pre-selected. A few dishes can be exchanged for a fee. For instance, I chose to go for a lobster roll instead of the oyster dish, which ended up being a huge mistake as the lobster roll was little more than a tiny bit of tasteless shredded lobster on what seemed to be a tough, chewy hashbrown. But, there are 7+ courses, so you would think that one failed course shouldn't ruin a meal (even if that meal costs $230+). But every course continued to disappoint; the pork belly was uninteresting, the bread was tough and even the accoutrements (the small dishes between courses) were absurd (at one point, they brought out was could only be called a fancy Ritz Bits cheese cracker). Even the desert was lackluster (but there is a lot of it). Luckily, work paid for the dinner, so I was not overly disappointed. I am glad I went to Per Se (just to say I have been there), but I have had much better meals for 1/4 the price.