New York gets second Ducasse restaurant

Three-Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse last week opened Mix, his second restaurant in New York.

The 90-seat restaurant at 68 West 58th Street in Manhattan is a less formal affair than the four-star Alain Ducasse at the Essex House and is a joint venture between Ducasse and Jeffrey Chodorow of the China Grill Management chain.

"Mix in New York brings the cuisine of the east coast of North America and the European Atlantic coasts together," said Ducasse. "The restaurant is a culinary bridge between the French and American continents."

Chodorow added that the pricing at Mix would make Ducasse's cooking more accessible to New Yorkers and visitors. Average spend per head at Mix will be $100 (£62) including wine, compared with $250 (£156) per head without wine at Alain Ducasse at the Essex House. The pre-fixed lunch menu at Mix costs $36 (£22.50) for two courses and $45 (£28) for three, while the dinner menu ranges from $58 to $69 (£36 to £43).

Douglas Psaltis is chef de cuisine at Mix. Psaltis has been a professional cook since he started work in his grandfather's New York diner at the age of 10. He has worked in the USA and abroad serving a wide variety of cuisines, from haute French to refined Japanese and traditional Spanish. He was part of the original team at Alain Ducasse at the Essex House and has studied at Ducasse's three-Michelin-starred Le Louis XV restaurant in Monaco.

The general manager is Frank Kawecki, who comes on board from China Grill Management.

Mix was designed by Paris-based Patrick Jouin. The concrete facade has been transformed into a 27ft-long undulating metal curtain of woven stainless steel, and passers-by will be able to glimpse the activity in the kitchen on a small monitor set into the entrance. Films showing the preparation of meals will also be projected on to the six-seat, special-event chef's table.

Ducasse is also planning to open three new Spoon restaurants this year, in Hong Kong, Carthage in Tunisia and Gstaad in Switzerland. Next year he intends to open a 22-bedroom hotel in French Basque country and a 37-bedroom hotel in Tuscany.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 18 - 24 September 2003