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The Meatpacking Tiara Gets A New Jewel
The opening buzz for Sascha Lyons’ new eponymous food & drink destination (Sascha, 55 Gansevoort) has been mixed. Part of this can be attributed to the PR materials, which could have been better, but hey, that's business. I don't care about PR - I on;y care about the food and the vibe.
Some hardliners grumble that this is just another McNally-like attempt to infuse NYC with more French fare. First of all, if French flare and fare were not good, no one would go to Balthazar or Pastis or Daniel or Jean-Georges. The fact is that people like such places. But that doesn’t really matter in this case because Lyons is not attempting to re-work Balthazar for the Meatpacking glambots with their orange tans and straw-like hair, nor even for the silicon-injected Babettes who only care about being spotted by photographers. Lyons’ approach is New York in the glamorous age of Empire. And why not? If Mario Battali can serve up a rack of veal why can’t Sascha Lyons serve up a great dish like beef Stroganoff? BFD.This is not about glam - it's about glamour (two distinctly different things in this city).
The biggest complaints have been that he is adding a bakery – with sticky buns! I am sure that the same grumpy so-called food gurus around town all bitched and moaned about Balthazar’s breakfast and bakery. And since bakeries are now back on the radar and in a big way, as the cream puff can attest, why would anyone fault a new venture for wanting to capitalize on our newfound love of our old favorites?
For those out there who have never taken a risk, who feel like some all-knowing food master and who pretend to know how a business actually operates – raspberries to you. Let’s just see if the Meatpacking District can absorb another big-box venue, and if the food & drink are enough to create the loyal crowd that Sascha hopes to garner. And please, let’s all just wait until a new venue opens and has a week or so to get on its feet before we start pretending that we know anything about it.
Thanks
Tags:
buzz, empire, glam, meatpacking, nyc gossip, sascha lyons, steak
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Posted on 3/14/2006
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