The adage “if it ain”™t broke, don”™t fix it” surely applies to L”™escale, the popular 20-year-old Provençal-style restaurant and bar at the Delamar Greenwich Harbor hotel. As we previously reported, the plan called for the restaurant to close for about three months after New Year”™s Eve for a refresh. Instead, the restaurant ”” now owned by Charles Mallory”™s Greenwich Hospitality Group, https://www.wagmag.com/shipping-scion-charles-mallory-sails-the-seas-of-hospitality/ whose holdings include the Delamar Greenwich Harbor ”” was closed only about two weeks, no doubt to the delight of eager locals and other fans, who have always viewed L”™escale as a kind of club for all.
On a recent visit, any number of tables celebrated milestones, complete with the restaurant”™s signature sparklers at dessert, their fizzy charm contrasting with the deeper warmth of a fireplace that was most welcome so early in the spring. The celebratory atmosphere will only be more full-throttled on Easter Sunday (April 9), as the restaurant welcomes 700 guests, who will spill over into the banquet room, said David Fletcher, director of operations. That space has been completely redone, with new paint, flooring, chandeliers and furniture.
But the restaurant itself has had only cosmetic changes. The bisque-colored paint has been touched up in certain areas. The comfortable, new bisque wicker chairs will soon be headed out to the terrace ”” which overlooks the harbor ”” to be replaced by the regular dining chairs, which have been reupholstered in cream fabric. A tranquil boating scene from Mallory”™s art collection graces one corner of the dining room, while new vases, sculptures, framed miniature paintings and other objets d”™art in white and other neutrals fill the cabinets of curiosities that make up the back wall. Peachy-pink drapes enhance the radiance of white tablecloths set with yellow flowers. It”™s a scene that Vincent van Gogh might”™ve admired.
The menu, too, is substantially the same with subtle differences. We began with the Georgette Salad. (How could we, a Georgette and the granddaughter of a Georgette, who was a Frenchwoman, not begin with this light yet zesty concoction that has been reimagined with kale, fris̩e, radishes, capers, chickpeas and avocado chunks in a vinaigrette? Alas, it was named not for us but for MalloryӪs wife.)
We went easy on the French bread, accompanied by a round pad of cold, salted butter, and drank only ice water with lemon so that we could indulge in a returning favorite ”” the Maine Lobster Fra Diavolo with fettucine, cherry peppers and roasted tomatoes. It”™s a Goldilocks, “just right” dish, the diavolo hot but not too spicy, the fettucine al dente but not chewy, the plentiful lobster meat never fishy. We doggie-bagged a small portion of the meal so we could save room for a latte and Citrus Crème Brulée, adorned with three berries and a flaky puff-pastry cookie. (There were also two complementary petites madeleines, warm and dusted with powdered sugar.)
“How was the crème brulée?” asked one waiter, a bit tongue in cheek as there was not a crumb of crème left in the scalloped dish. Service, like the food, is as ever — warm, chatty even, but never intrusive. When we asked the staff if we might linger a bit, seating permitting, as we were working through lunch, we were told to take all the time we wanted ”” and seated at a table for two near a sideboard that served as a kind of desktop. Heaven.
Change will, of course, come to L”™escale just as surely as the delicious anticipation of spring in March ”” a magical time when it”™s cool enough to enjoy the snuggling sensations of winter but too warm for snow ”” will give way to April warmth. Next year L”™escale and indeed all of the Delamar Greenwich Harbor will close for a while to undergo a major renovation that will bring a rooftop pool, a revamped pergola and new hotel suites, Fletcher said. The restaurant also hopes to create a wine cellar worth $1 million to compete for Wine Spectator”™s Grand Award.
In the meantime, L”™escale continues as it was, because why tamper with excellence?
For more, visit lescalerestaurant.com.
