After reading, Anthony Bourdain's first book, Kitchen Confidential, I felt like I knew Les Halles intimately. It felt odd that I was so familiar with the inner workings of this New York restaurant without having ever tried it's food. So, after my trip to the Met, Elissa and I got all dressed up for our French bistro style dinner.
Although Les Halles also had a restaurant week special, we decided to order off the regular menu. I got the waiter's suggestion of the pepper steak frites while Elissa got a lovely salmon dish. It was so great. I'm not the biggest fan of a ton of pepper so I probably should have gotten the regular steak but it was still incredibly tasty. I definitely have a French food crush on steak frites after reading a travel book before my first visit to Paris so it was nice to have some again. I forget how it happened, but somehow the two of us fell into conversation with our waiter and, of course, I dropped the "this is my first time in New York line." So he asked me about San Francisco and insisted that I make him a list of restaurants that he should eat at next time he travels here. He also gave me a business card that told me which episodes of No Reservations he was on. He was also helpful with wine pairings... so helpful that he gave us a full glass "taste" of something he had recommended.
As we were finishing our dinner, he surprised us with a bowl of different sorbets. I swear to you - if it is your first time in a new city tell people!!! I think if you're a nice person who is generally interested in the place you are visiting, the worst thing is that people will be nice back to you and the best is that they may leave you a few treats with your dinner.
I loved the food at Les Halles and even though Mr. Bourdain doesn't work there anymore, the food is still fantastic. I highly recommend it to everyone.
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