Disappointing, Alan. I last ate at Les Halles about a year and a half ago. The food was good (not great) but the service was at least friendly. This isn't Tony's fault though. Like he said, he hasn't worked there in 8 years. He seemed flustered by the number of tables as well as the changes on the menu. Give the guy a break, it's not his fault. I know they called him a consultant - but think about it, if you owned a restaurant and could associate yourself with a celebrity, wouldn't you do it too? Blame management.

Wow, you really are the pettiest of the bunch. Seems like the award for DOUCHEBAG was rightly deserved.

yup, still a douchebag. confirmed..

Wow! You sir are such a tremendous, vindictive douchebag that you should win an award to that effect.

...oh... too late.

what's wrong with your eyebrows?

I took my N.Y.C. residing kid brother and
my wife to Les Halles about 3 1/2 years ago.
The steak frites were just so-so. My wife's
duck breast (a special) could never have been attached to a duck's body. Service was
almost non extistent. I live in So Cal so I don't have to sweat going back to that dump.
Alan is right on as usual! I'm also familiar with Paris greasy spoons and the Park Ave Les Halles would fit right in the collection of "dangerous Paris eateries".

I didn't know Chuck Rangel had a blog...

Gotta disagree whole-heartedly. Wife and I went just 3 weeks ago. Service was friendly without being overbearing. Creme Brulee was delightful (no hint of being in the walk-in for days) and the Boudin Noir was amazing.

And yes, I know Bourdain is not in the kitchen. I don't expect him to have a grand influence on Les Halles anymore. Whoever cooked for us that night deserves much kudos.

Enjoy your Golden Clog.

Listen,
On Bourdain ...
This dude is every cook who worked for the big name chefs & love food but got gobbled up by the businesses' hero. (There is a lot !)
He would still be hacking it out in some crap hole if he didn't write a book and get famous.
Plus he is the first dude to admit that he went for the cash and didn't give a fU** .
The thing to love about him is that he shoots straight from the hip.
He is a pretty likable mo-fo..... unlike Richman who is an uberdouche!

The thing that disgusts me most about this post is the sheer lack of professionalism and ethics. I have no problem with someone giving a little back when they’ve been attacked; but Richman didn’t do it in the open. He hid his attack on Bourdain in what was supposed to be a restaurant review. Let’s be honest, there is absolutely no question that this was a personal attack on Bourdain. The whole post referred to him personally and little to do with Les Halles. Why not do the honest thing and trash Bourdain in the open? Why try to hide it?

This person is supposed to write reviews of restaurants that consumers can trust, at least to some degree. How can anyone trust any review that he has written or will write, after knowing that his reviews are directly related to personal feelings he has towards ownership? Will Le Bernardin get a bad review now because Ripert was on No Reservations? What about Per Se because Ruhlman wrote books for Keller? His poor attempt at subtly is not only unethical, but leaves him and GQ open to libel lawsuits.

I’m not saying the guy is Jayson Blair, but this certainly isn’t good journalism. GQ should retract the post in my opinion.

BrandonPHX nailed it, much along what I was mentally composing, but verbalized so much better.

Tony Bourdain still epitomizes the heart and soul of the of the back of the house, even if he doesn't work at that particular restaurant anymore, and has no control over the day to day runnings of Les Halles. His attempt to go back where he once worked touches a nerve in all of us who are older and wondering if we can still go back and make it work. He also doesn't claim to be of the caliber of a Michelin chef. Don't overlook these distinctions in your review of the present incarnation of the establishment.

Alan is a hack.

Bourdain hasn't been involved in Les Halles in almost a decade. This is a hit job. GQ should fire this guy!

douchie of all douchebags -- you should be canned

the place is a good hearty bistro with no pretensions . . . the City needs more of these . . . forget Bourdain. I eat here (the downtown Les Halles) about 1x a month and never, ever am disappointed. They stuck it out through the nightmare that downtown has become since 9-11, support the neighborhood and even if the food sucked for that they deserve kudos.

Amen, Brandon - this is unethical journalism from an award-winning douchebag.
Have fun making lemon bundt cake with Mr. Mufflesworth, Richman. Douche.

Two things: The timing of this post is highly questionable, given the recent DOUCHE award.

And Alan's right: the food at Les Halle sucks. Whatever they pay Bourdain is worth it because it keeps bringing the suckers in. I went a year ago and had the worst dining experience of my seven years in New York.

how about all you detractors eating there before you trash the author.

i dunno... i love bourdain and i've wanted to go to the restaurant for some time now. no reservations is a favorite show of mine and i even watched his kitchen confidential sitcom for its short run years ago.

i will try les halles anyway but maybe not the park avenue location. the other 1 might be better.

either way, alan's post made me curious. whether the food really did suck is irrelevant to him making attacks on tony, so we all must try the food ourselves...

Bourdain is the hack and Alan (despite his apparent grumpiness) is a mensch. Props to anyone who can catch lightning in a bottle with as minimal a talent as "chef" Bourdain has (see also: Spears, Britney, and Bush, George W.), but calling Richman's accurate description of the dreadful food at Les Halles a personal attack or hatchet job on precious little Anthony is ridiculous. Sometimes a spade must simply be called a spade, or the emperor must be shown to be wearing no clothes or some other (truthful) cliche must be brought to the attention of the star-f*cking public, so they'll wake up and smell the coffee. John Curtas Las Vegas, Nevada

If it weren't for those James Beard Awards for writing, I'd say that you were a pompous idiot. Tony has spent 28 years in the Industry and has been out of the kitchen for eight years. How on earth do you think someone like Eric Ripert would volunteer for a shift on the line? There must be a level of respect between the two of them.

I worked in the Industry for fifteen years and am drawn to Tony's intelligence, sense of adventure and his sarcastic personality. Unlike you, he seems to experience the culinary world with an appreciation for those who prepared his meal. You may have had a less than stellar experience at La Halles but don't blame Tony for it.

Anthony Bourdain is the biggest douche actually.. The guy is a shitty cook and a fucking drug addict.. Yes Kitchen Confidential was a good book but, non of his other books are good..

He is uncomfortable in front of the camera and thinks he is a lot cooler then he is.

Honestly, its upsetting that he represents the culinary world.. He is a no nothing hack that is one step up from Rachel Ray.. Though Rachel Ray has actually cooked more then he has..

The asshole worked in a steakhouse for christ sake and it sucks.. Allan Richman is right to have slammed this place..

Bourdain is a whore.. Did anyone remember him at Rocco's restaurant praising the food? He shows up wherever this is a free meal.. He is the biggest sell out of them all because he claims to not be a sell out..

Fuck Bourdain..

Pretty lame Richman. I'm a food critic. It's my job to review the food, the atmosphere and the over all experience. This is a direct attack on Bourdain and because you couldn't find anything else to bitch about, you made his former haunt the victim.
It's obvious you have NEVER worked in a kitchen. Bourdain exemplifies the real line cook. That is why he is so popular. He says what he wants, has a pretty defined palette and doesn't care who he offends. He's never claimed to be a great chef and often makes fun of how he became a household name.
He too, is a critic. He judged you and it looks like he judged you accurately.
To sum things up: Richman got cranky because two food guys called him out on being a douchebag. Now lil Richman is ANGEEEE and wants to get even. Hmm. I wonder if all of the chefs over the years youve publicly insulted want to get even with you. Oh, thats right. Looks like they did.

Tonysux- before you make some pretty petty claims, why don't you get the facts straight. Anthony to this day acknowledges that Rocco when he cooked at Union Pacific was a great chef- his criticism is not on his food, but based on the fact that rocco seemed to have traded off his inspiring culinary career for a celebrity one (something anthony admittedly did too, but remember, anythony was never considered the very talented young chef Rocco was)

The statement Rachael ray(someone i don't like, but i definitely don't have anything against her at all)cooked more than he has is just silly.

ultimately the food may not be to someone's liking- that's completely valid, but i just wonder if we're trying to falsely compare the restaurants food to the standards that a celebrity food enthusiast should have( i don't think anthony "sells" the restaurant as harryst suggests, nor do i believe anthony has any current connections to the restaurant, APART from the fact that he used to be a chef there).

and finally...before anybody continues to falsely criticize anthony, he doesn't call himself a chef, cause he no longer is one.(he no longer runs a kitchen) So stop making suggestions as if Anthony Bourdain thinks he's some super-chef. There's a reason his "no reservations" introduction, says he's an eater and a traveler-he never once mentions hcedf

Again the restaurants food may not be hte best...(or maybe not be the best compard to what one may misguidedly expect from a man who is famous because he used to be a chef...) but undoubtedly the review was written out of spite.

This person is supposed to write reviews of restaurants that consumers can trust, at least to some degree. How can anyone trust any review that he has written or will write, after knowing that his reviews are directly related to personal feelings he has towards ownership? Will Le Bernardin get a bad review now because Ripert was on No Reservations? What about Per Se because Ruhlman wrote books for Keller? His poor attempt at subtly is not only unethical, but leaves him and GQ open to libel lawsuits.I’m not saying the guy is Jayson Blair, but this certainly isn’t good journalism. GQ should retract the post in my opinion.

-you're exactly right, Brandon PHX...
though i do believe Richman has more integrity than to call our PER SE...(i may be wrong). It wouldn't be an unreasonable that we should start to consider the integrity of Richman's reviews, when this review seems so hard pressed to attack a man who has been critical of Richman-

Alan Richman, in addition to being petty, vindictive and adolescent, is a fraud. This is a man who couldn't find a decent place to eat in the entire city of Naples. This is a man who viciously blasted New Orleans, not so much for its food, as for the faults he claims to have found in its cultural history, less than a year after it was struck the worst hurricane country in almost a century. His ignorance and lack of integrity were displayed when he wrote that he didn't know, and essentially didn't care to know, what a New Orleans Creole was, after conversing with Leah Chase, one of the icons of New Orleans's two-centuries old Creole culture.
What an ass.