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Starck's Eatery Disappoints
By Patricia Wells
PARIS - With a great deal of fanfare and more grand
plans for the future, the omnipresent designer Philippe
Starck opened his first restaurant, Bon, on the first
day of spring in Paris's 16th arrondissement.
Situated in a huge, 700-square-meter (7,500-square-foot)
space along Rue de la Pompe, Bon personifies everything
that is wrong with internationally aimed restaurants
today.
For starters, the multipurpose space is uncomfortable,
the place is so dark and the type on the menu so small
that you cannot even read what you might want to eat.
The food has a proper organic-vegetarian approach, but
fails miserably in flavor, presentation and satisfaction.
And on a given night one risks total asphyxiation as
this bio-healthy-wholesome crowd smokes up a veritable
storm.
I admire Starck's energy and commitment to a healthy
lifestyle, but I wish he had stuck to toothbrushes,
chairs, buildings and sofas and stayed clear of creating
menus for the restaurant world.
Along with his partner, Laurent Taieb (of Lo Sushi
fame), Starck has attempted to put together a restaurant
for everyone at all times. Bon is designed to fill the
needs of a single person for breakfast - organic sweets
from Laduree can be grabbed from the revolving belt
that serves to deliver your sushi at lunch and dinner;
a single for lunch - who can join one of the several
table d'hote in the first dining room; a romantic couple
for dinner - there's an intimate dining room in one
section of the restaurant, or a group meeting-dinner
in the video room fully equipped with the latest technology.
There is, as well, a large room decorated with giant
white sofas, the idea being that people can feel as
though they are dining at home. And there is a brasserie-style
area for those who like being elbow-to-elbow.
The place has many brilliant Starck touches - the giant
marble-top table d'hote that is lighted from underneath
and topped with candelabras, and a lovely outdoor space
decorated with ''walls'' of thyme set in giant picture
frames. There is also a small boutique where you can
purchase Bon's tableware; kitschy objects such as a
faux-mink cover for your soft-boiled egg; Laduree's
macaroons prepared with organic ingredients, and the
designer's own line of organic products, from spaghetti
sauce to champagne.
The menu, alas, is just plain silly, and about the
only edible things our group of four diners found were
a few meager pieces of sushi thrown into the ''menu
dietetique,'' which included an unsavory compilation
of sushi, miso soup, a mishmash of vegetables and a
naked chunk of iceberg lettuce. What could Starck be
thinking? The food was served TV-dinner style: all at
the same time on an awkward platter.
Everything at Bon is not good for you. One small section
of the menu is entitled ''I Am Bad,'' and featured steak
and potato chips that, on our visit, emitted an odd
flavor, like rancid oil.
The Paris Bon is the first of a chain, with plans for
others in New York, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Madrid and London.
Heaven help us.
Bon
25 Rue de la Pompe
Paris 75016
Tel: 01-40-72-70-00
Fax: 01-40-72-68-30.
Open daily 8 A.M. to 2 A.M. About 150 francs ($22) a
person, including service. All major credit cards.
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