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Tony Esnault is the restaurant’s third chef in five years, and although his clean, very Continental cooking hovers well above two-star status, you can’t help but think that Mr. Ducasse’s New York adventure is doomed. The room is gloomy and overwrought, the flowery menu feels suddenly dated, and the prices are, frankly, insane. Still, with grand French cooking in decline all over town, this is one of the few places where you can still obtain a proper soufflé or a shellfish veloute so rich and refined it seems to have been beamed straight from one of the chef’s more famous kitchens on the Côte d’Azur.  — Adam Platt

Three courses, $150; four courses, $185; seven course tasting menu, $235

Dress code
Jackets required for men

Related Stories

New York Magazine Reviews

• Adam Platt's Full Review (9/20/04)

Best of New York Awards

• Sweet Successes (2005)
• Dream Meals (2005)
• Best Amuse-Bouche (2004)

Featured In

• 101 Best New York Restaurants for 2006 (1/9/06)

Recipes at Alain Ducasse at the Essex House

• Black-Truffle Crushed Potatoes (2005)
• John Dory Provençal (2001)
• Green Asparagus With Parmesan Shavings (2001)