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Story by Marian Betancourt
Photography courtesy of Le Perigord
WARM AND WELCOMING
LE PERIGORD SHOWCASES CLASSIC FRENCH CUISINE
As soon as you walk into Le Perigord on New York's upper east side, you know that you want to stay for awhile in this elegant environment of warm gold and greens, soft lighting, fine linens, and fresh roses, where you can enjoy great food and wine and still be able to talk with your friends as if in your own home. Owner, host, and wine steward par excellence, Georges Briquet, a big, affable man, has been welcoming his guests here with obvious pleasure since 1964 and shows no sign of growing tired of it.
"I love people," said Briguet, who was born in a vineyard in the Rhone Valley of Switzerland. Coming from a family that spent their days growing grapes and making wine, it was only natural that Briguet got involved with the hospitality industry. After a stint in Zurich, he came to America when the Waldorf Astoria asked him to open the Marco Polo Club. From there he moved to La Grenouille,  and then opened LePerigord on East 52nd Street near First Avenue in 1964.
"It was very simple," Briguet said, adding that Craig Claiborne came to dinner with Julia Child as his guest, and gave the restaurant a four star review in The New York Times. "From there it was smooth sailing," he added. And speaking of sailing, there is a silver serving buffet from the luxury liner, Normandie, in the front of the restaurant. Briguet bought it from the former La Potiniere restaurant and it is used today to carve large pieces of meat.
"We do a lot of tableside service," Briguet said, noting that his is one of the few remaining restaurants that serve food this way. "For 45 years we do this in front of people."
Like Briguet, maitre d' Alex Hary and the waiters wear tuxedos, creating an environment that while formal is also very congenial. After all, they are celebrating fine food and wine here. Waiters take the time to discuss the menu and the wine list, and offer you a baguette or brioche, while you decide. There is room for 100 diners yet Le Perigord feels intimate, offering a welcome respite from New York City's big and noisy restaurant "scene," where one often rubs elbows, if not cutlery, with one's neighbors.
Chef Joel Benjamin, a wiry man who prefers a baseball cap to a toque, came to Le Perigord after nine years at Lutece. He, too, comes from a family --in Brittany -- in the hospitality business. His grandfather and father were maitre d's but Benjamin decided the kitchen was where he wanted to be. After culinary school in France he worked as a sous chef until coming to the United States in 1975. Of those years, he recalled, "I was always ready to go back to France, but then El Morocco called." Then, no sooner did Benjamin return to France when he got a call from Tavern on the Green to "get back here as quickly as possible." Then it was a Mortimor's opening, then the Ritz Carlton. By now the chef had met his wife, married and had a family, "so I did not go back to France."
Le Perigord is named for the region in southwest France known for supplying more than half that country's foods especially produce such as duck, goose, and truffles. The menu cover depicts a goose heading toward a French castle—clearly unaware of the fate that awaits within. At Le Perigord, Chef Benjamin makes that goose liver into a delicate and tasty cold foie gras served in an aspic of Sauternes. The best French classics, such as escargots in hazelnut butter with wild mushrooms, beef bourguingnon, and Dover sole with lemon butter sauce, are on the menu, but Chef Benjamin puts his own modern spin on them. A perfectly cooked black sea bass, for example, was prepared with spring morels and jumbo white asparagus in dijonaise sauce. For lamb Provencal "en croute," the eye loin is trimmed of all fat, seared at high heat, bundled with vegetables and rolled in pastry dough.
Briguet likes to brag that his is the only restaurant in New York that first enjoyed all the different kinds of wine. "I enjoy each wine," he said and cited Staggs  Leap as one of his favorites from California. Of French wines, which dominate the list, he said, "Oh, I love them all."
Le Perigord is also a family affair. Briguet's wife Marie Therese comes in to arrange the fresh flowers. The restaurant was recently redesigned by their architect son, Jean-Luc, who also designed the family's summer home in Montauk and also worked on Mayor Bloomberg's Bermuda home among others. Daughter Marielle and her three children visit the restaurant often. Another son, Christopher, "runs the whole place," says Briquet. "He grew up in the restaurant. He began by hanging up coats. I tried to push him out, to get a life," he laughed , "but he is like me, he loves people and the restaurant."
Briguet recalled a friend who recently told him, "you cannot retire, you have no hobby. I told him I live in a social club." Retirement is unlikely for Briguet. "We just signed a new 20 years lease."
Le Perigord, at 405 East 52nd Street, is open weekdays for lunch and dinner, and weekends for brunch and dinner. A three course prix fixe menu for lunch is available for $32.00 and a dinner is $65.00. An early dinner special is also available. There is also a full service bar.
For information call 212-755-6244 or go to www.leperigord.com.
© July 2010 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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