The Darkness of Cherbuliez
By Steve Herte
With
the crazy weather we've been having added to the conflicting dress codes for
the restaurant on Friday I played it safe and went NY black - well, you'll see
how that played out. While the new Star Trek cast encourages me I think they
should find some of the old writers (if any are left). All in all, it turned
out to be a very interesting evening. Enjoy!
Star Trek Into Darkness, 3D (Paramount, 2013) Director: J.J.
Abrams. Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Benedict
Cumberbatch, Peter Weller, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, John Cho, & Bruce
Greenwood. Color and 3D, 132 minutes.
Two
hooded figures are running frantically through the red-leafed white trees on
the M-Class planet Nibiru and are being chased by natives in skeletal white body
make-up bearing spears. We hear, “Jim, what did you take from them?!” and see
that young James T. Kirk is holding what appears to be a scroll. The Enterprise
cannot beam them up because it is hiding in the planet’s ocean. The volcano is
about to erupt and destroy the entire civilization, the scroll is dropped and
the two figures jump from an impossibly high cliff into the ocean, accessing
the Enterprise under water. Thus begins the second installment of the new Star
Trek.
It’s
a small sample of the high-action adventure yet to come. In order to save the
developing primitives from extinction, Spock has to detonate a fusion device
inside the volcano but his umbilical from the shuttlecraft breaks and it looks
like the end for him until Kirk breaks the Prime Directive and has Enterprise
rise out of the ocean before the astonished natives to go save Spock. Meanwhile,
the alien race has forgotten their sacred scroll and now worships an enormous
starship-shaped god.
Back
on Earth, Kirk is relieved of his command by Admiral Christopher Pike
(Greenwood), Spock is reassigned to the starship Bradbury and a mysterious man
named John Harrison has just blown up an underground compound critical to
Starfleet Command. Pike has arranged that Kirk now become his First Officer on
board the Enterprise and a meeting is held to decide what is to be done about
this character attacking Starfleet. Kirk notices an anomaly on a video screen
and concludes that the next target for this person is the very same meeting
hall where they now sit. Too late, a small ship explodes the windows and is
firing on all in the room. Kirk thwarts the attack using a convenient fire
hose, jamming the small ship’s propulsion device and crashing it, but not
before Admiral Pike becomes a casualty and the perpetrator escapes to the
Klingon home world.
The
evil doer is later revealed to be none other than Khan (Cumberbatch) and he
wants the remainder of his genetically engineered “crew” (who are now in
cryogenic capsules) back, so they can take over. But Admiral Marcus (Weller)
knows of Khan’s plan and is prepared to manipulate it into a full-scale war
with the Klingon Empire. Is this too complex for anyone yet? How about a
continuing love affair between Spock and Uhura? Or a cameo appearance by
Leonard Nimoy as . . . who else?
There
is enough action and explosions in Star Trek Into Darkness to
satisfy the biggest Die Hard fan (both literally and
figuratively) and the entire cast has grown into their roles beautifully.
Though Pine’s performance in the first movie was a bit rocky, he is much more
believable now. Spock (Quinto), Doctor McCoy (Urban), Uhura (Saldana), Scotty
(Pegg), Chekov (Yelchin), and Sulu (Cho) have got their sea-legs (or rather
space-legs) and are completely acceptable young versions of the characters we
know they will grow up to be. The only character I had a problem with is Khan.
I do not believe he will age into Ricardo Montalban.
The
3D effects in the film are generally well done (I actually ducked a spear) but
there was one effect I found distracting and at times annoying. Whatever the
intent, it appeared that I was watching the movie through a “glass” and there
were reflections on that glass as a part of the the 3D effects. Also at times
the action and the lighting counteracted the 3D to the point of making the
movie look more like a video game than an actual reality. If you like make-up
there are a number of aliens I’ve never seen, including one who works with
Scotty who has a head shaped like a blue Patty-pan squash and another one on
the ship whose skin is like burnished copper. There are a number of “gifts” in
this Star Trek, such as the Café Kelvin in one scene and the two beautiful
girls Kirk wakes up with in another (until you see their lion-like tails).
Star Trek Into Darkness is a fun movie with several white-knuckle moments and the
typical Star Trek humor (“I once performed a caesarean section on a pregnant
Gorn – octuplets! – boy, they can bite!” – Bones), although I expected more of
that than there was. And yes, it’s science fiction but Isaac Asimov would have
had fits about the temporal anomaly in it, that and the starship Enterprise
looks more modern than the television version (until you see the warp core,
that is). Are the Academy award possibilities to be had? Maybe, just maybe, in
the special effects, make-up, or costume departments. Rating: 3½ out of 5 Martini
glasses.
Chateau Cherbuliez
47 West 20th Street (6th Avenue) New York
When
choosing a restaurant on OpenTable.com, I was immediately attracted to the
photo of the interior of Chateau Cherbuliez and the formal French name.
Interested in the dress code I was shocked to see merely “Smart Casual.” Hmmm.
I made the reservation anyway. When the confirmation notice came up on my email
I saw the request to “please respect our dress code of elegant chic.”
Now I was really confused. The second made sense with the photo and the first
made no sense at all.
The
building is a de-consecrated gothic-revival Episcopal Church built in 1840
(originally The Church of the Holy Communion) which was revamped into a disco
club called “Limelight” and later the name was changed to “Avalon.” A fancy
French sign hung over the entrance to the “Biergarten” (not French), which was
the church courtyard. I was definitely overdressed compared to the Greenwich
Village motley group assembled there. I stood by what appeared to be the
Captain’s Station until someone who seemed to know what was going on noticed me
and I announced my reservation and was led inside.
The
room in which I was seated alone was a little smaller than my living
room/dining room space at home and supported a bar and - at most - eight bare
slate pedestal tables, open brick walls, a very large mirror on one wall and
the “wine cellar” behind French graffiti-ed glass forming another wall. The
sconces and the chandelier were elegant works of glass and bronze artistry had
not someone tastelessly hung strands of faux pearls from them. The two patterns
of the tiled floor told me that this room was sectioned off differently at one
time.
My
waiter, William presented me with the menu and asked my water preference. “Tap”
is always my answer in New York. When he brought the water I had time only to
view the cocktail part of the single card, two-sided menu and he asked if was
ready for an appetizer. I started worrying. I told him I would like a cocktail
and that the one entitled “Limelight” – Alacran Tequila, Angostura bitters,
fresh lime juice, pomegranate and soda water - was appropriate considering this
building’s former incarnation. He was delighted and noted it down and was off
to put in the order.
Shortly
thereafter he was back to take my food order. I asked for a wine list. He said
he had Chardonnay, Rose, and Montepulciano. I asked if that was by the glass or
by the bottle and he said, “both.” And indeed, when I inspected the “wine
cellar” there were only the three colors of wine behind the glass. I chose the
Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, Colli Bruni vineyards (sorry, I didn’t see a year on
the label) and it was brought out promptly. The taste was satisfactory and
William poured a glass and let the bottle breathe. I chose my appetizer so that
he could have something to work on. (Meanwhile, just outside the door, the
courtyard was bustling with activity and sound.)
The
Slow-Cooked Duck Confit salad arrived in a simple white ceramic plate covered
in fresh wild arugula and shaved Romano cheese. Underneath was the tasty,
slightly shredded warm duck meat on a bed of goat cheese with cubed beets and a
mushroom dressing. I was enjoying this with my wine when William returns and
apologizes for the bar because they have not finished making the lime juice for
my cocktail, and wondered if I would like a different cocktail – maybe a La
Fontaine? I agreed on the cocktail change and thought, “What a silly place.”
The
experience thus far changed my main course choice much as it had my appetizer.
There was no way I was going to order carpaccio or steak tatare here
– nothing uncooked – because I now didn’t trust anyone, including the chef. The
White Veal Ragu looked promising but it was over rigatoni,
which is one of my two least favorite pastas. When I mentioned my dislike of
rigatoni William did not suggest a substitute. I decided to go basic and order
the Boeuf Bourguignon.
The
La Fontaine arrived with much effusion from William (“it’s my favorite
cocktail”) looking like a bubbly pink tutu in an old-fashioned champagne glass
(the one you see in all the old black and white movies, not a flute). It was
indeed Prosecco mixed with raspberry syrup and Grey Goose Cherry-noir. By now
my tastes were not ready for something that sweet but I tasted it, suppressed a
gag and smiled up at William. He had already put in my order for the main
course and I noted that I had forgotten my side dish, Brussels Sprouts with
Bacon. A quick jot on his pad and he was off again.
I
took another taste of the happy little girly drink when the side dish arrived
via a different server. What the? The Brussels sprouts were fairly large and
halved, a little crunchier than I might have liked but liberally coated with a
garlicky bacon mixture which I eventually finished. William was back. “Would
you like bread?” Thoughts of Disney cartoons flashed in my mind. “Yes, bread
always goes with a meal.”
The
breadbasket came next, the main dish still in the wings. It was similar to the
wonderful crusty bread I had at Landmarc TriBeCa except this was not quite as
fresh and was toasted rather than just warmed. Nevertheless it became useful.
While I was mopping up the bacon sauce in the Brussels sprouts, William
remembered the olive oil that should have arrived with it. (This must be a
cartoon!) The main course finally made its appearance, an enormous dish
with a soup-bowl sized depression in the center, wherein resided the finely
riced mashed potatoes with the dark rich beef cubes on top. The plate was
definitely hot and it maintained that heat until I finished the sauce with the
bread.
The
dessert menu, like the wine list was all in William’s head. Hey, there were
only two choices. I chose the Peanut Butter Molten Chocolate Cake, and a double
espresso. If you read my reviews, you might recall the excellent volcano cake I
had at 12th Street Osteria. This wasn’t it. It did not ooze
chocolate and the limp beige sauce tasted nothing like peanut butter. Then I
complained (probably to no avail) but at least I let them know.
Being
a demon for punishment I asked William about an after-dinner drink and got a
blank stare. “How about the cocktail you wanted at the beginning?” Sure, why
not. It was the strangest, backward meal I ever had. The “Limelight” was
delicious, the food was definitely good but for four months in the business the
organization could be much, much better. Especially considering that only one
other table in the room was occupied the entire time I was there no matter what
was happening outside.
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