PrintLe Fooding Hits Le New York
"Do we need to enlist in a movement if we've already been moved?"
[Photographs: Erin Zimmer]
The folks of the French culinary organization Le Fooding brought their food, art, and design to New York this past weekend, and we were there for the Friday night portion of the weekend event at P.S. 1 in Long Island City. A couple of observations:
Le Fooding was founded in France to democratize, demystify, and take the snootiness and pretense out of French "cuisine." This makes lots of sense in France. But in New York and the rest of America for that matter, restaurateurs and chefs have been doing that for years, starting with Drew Nieporent, Danny Meyer, and Alice Waters, and continuing right up to the present day with Tom Colicchio, David Chang, and Wylie Dufresne.
Wylie Dufresne's grilled chicken necks with yuzu marmalade.
So here's my question: Do we really need a Le Fooding in New York City to bring us something we already have an abundance of? Put another way, do we need to enlist in a movement if we've already been moved?
Yves Camdeborde's soup.
All right, enough with the philosophical analysis.
What was most interesting about Le Fooding was how cheap it was. Thirty bucks to taste food cooked by well-known French chefs like Yves Camdeborde, Christophe Pelé, and Inaki Aizpitarte alongside dishes from great American chefs like David Chang and Wylie Dufresne? That's a good deal, especially when you get to taste it in the cool creative confines of P.S. 1.
David Chang's bo ssäm.
Camdeborde's soup with chicken, pork, veal, vegetables, tapioca pearls, and creamed cow's cheese was wonderfully meaty (the broth was seriously delicious), and Chang's bo ssäm was its typically crowd-pleasing delicious self. But I was puzzled by some the French chef's offerings. On Friday night, Pelé served two tender but otherwise unremarkable cubes of steak, and the pork ribs made by William Ledeuil were equally tasty, but also unnoteworthy.
The artwork was glorious, the food good enough, and the vibe was good—very French and almost egalitarian—so we would say the first Le Fooding in New York was a success. I just don't know how essential it is.
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