New York City: Le Bernardin (July 2010)

My spouse and I dined for dinner at le Bernardin in July 2010. We felt like we had a substandard table, yet we had an amazing meal. I never knew that I liked fish before! The food was amazing; each dish was sauced at the table. One sauce even made the fish taste like beef. We had read some reviews of the restaurant beforehand, which led us to request the special "Laiskonis Egg", which was an additional dessert course that other diners did not receive. Le Bernardin is a Michelin Guide three star, Zagat-rated French seafood restaurant started in 1972 in Paris by Gilbert Le Coze and his sister Maguy Le Coze under the name Les Moines de St. Bernardin and moved to New York in 1986. Gilbert le Coze died of a heart attack in 1994, and Eric Ripert succeeded him as the head chef. Signature dishes include kindai maguro (sustainably raised Japanese bluefin tuna), Kobe beef and escolar. In 2009, Le Bernardin was voted 15th best restaurant in the world in the Restaurant magazine Top 50. Le Bernardin is one of only seven restaurants in New York awarded three Michelin stars, and is the restaurant that has held four stars from The New York Times for the longest period of time, having earned the ranking in early 1986. It has received James Beard Foundation Awards such as Outstanding Restaurant 1998, Outstanding Chef Eric Ripert 2003, and Outstanding Pastry Chef Michael Laiskonis 2007. Regarding the famous "Laiskonis Egg", where some chefs might see trash, Michael Laiskonis sees a dessert. Most chefs wouldn’t think twice about cracking open an egg and throwing out the shells, but that’s not the case with Laiskonis. One of his signature desserts uses humble brown egg shells to hold a delicate custard-filled dessert.