October 23, 2008 |
Short Order
Christophe Bellanca, the French-born chef from California who led Le Cirque’s kitchen to three stars in the New York Times just this past February 8 has picked up his knives and departed. Did he leave or was he pushed? Sirio Maccioni says he learned Bellanca was flirting with a backer for his own place and, already unhappy with the chef’s style of running the kitchen, let him go last Saturday.
“He’s a good man. He’s French. He takes everything too personal. He’ll be fine,” said Sirio.
Chef wrangler Elizabeth Blau, the consultant responsible for the new look at Le Cirque, is already on the case. “I am looking now for the best chef in the world,” Sirio continues, "And calls have been coming in.”
In his review, Bruni credited Bellanca with providing “the injection of energy and discipline that Le Cirque needed...The menu nimbly straddles the line between predictable decadence…and creative flair." He went on, "The foie gras ravioli are new, and they’re not merely a triumph of luxury ingredients...The cabbage’s faintly sour notes are a terrific foil for the fatty intensity of so much else in the dish. New, too, is an entree of sautéed John Dory with a mustard sauce that’s zippier than the stolid ablutions with which proudly archaic restaurants like Le Cirque often content themselves...”
“It’s a friendly divorce,” Sirio repeated, as he interrupted a typical Maccioni rant about tension at the stove. “We served 250 people Saturday night after the chef left and everything was wonderful. We’ll be fine... Everytime we make a change, we just get better.”
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