Let me preface this by saying… I don’t usually write about places I don’t like on this blog. I visit a lot of ho-hum spots, but there’s enough vitriol on the Internet, and I’d much rather write about places that I like than detail the places I don’t. (If you ask me in person, I’ll tell you, but I’ve also been blessed with the selective sort of memory that allows me to forget most bad experiences, so I might not remember right off the bat. Except for one. Ask me about that one.)
All that to say, I’m not writing about Le Mary Celeste now because I hate it. On the contrary, I have loved Le Mary Celeste in the past. After first visiting when the restaurant was helmed by Chef Haan Palcu-Chang, I loved the innovative, international spins it offered on different dishes from its famous deviled eggs to cocktails boasting spice and herbs long before the trend had really kicked off in Paris. I loved its cozy, stone-lined dining room. I loved that it was open on Monday nights, when almost nowhere else is.
But after several years of being a Le Mary Celeste stalwart (and even celebrating my birthday there!)… I’m starting to wonder if it isn’t aging a bit poorly.
It’s not the food, which is still delicious. This dish of peaches and tomatoes was fresh and fruity, with just the right sprinkle of salty cheese to set off the seasonal flavors.
This tentacular dish of mushrooms with egg and breadcrumbs, meanwhile, was umami-rich and savory.
And there is, of course, the perennial pleasure of the deviled eggs — a menu stalwart since the beginning — cured in soy and sesame and topped with pickled eggs and toasted wild rice. All of those components are still there.
No, it’s something about the ambiance, and perhaps the service. It’s a place that was on the tip of a trend when it first opened but that maintained, for such a long time, a neighborhood feel. It was friendly and easy. Now it feels stilted and tourist-focused. The service is perfunctory at best and inept at worst.
I don’t want to denigrate it entirely; I still have hope that my last few visits were just off nights. But I can’t recommend this once fave as wholeheartedly anymore, and for that reason, I had to write about it. I hope this changes soon!
Le Mary Celeste - 1, rue Commines, 75003