Monthly Archives: December 2011

Le Veau D’Or, New York City – CLOSED

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I first heard about this classic French restaurant on Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservationsssaaah” show, Disappearing New York episode. After seeing the show it became my no. 1 must-visit restaurant on my next visit to New York. This year I made it, and I loved every minute of my visit and meal.

The 55-seat restaurant opened in 1937, four years before the world famous Le Pavillion was opened in Manhattan by Henri Soulé, introducing America to haute French cuisine. In the 1950s Robert Tréboux, who was born in France in 1924, worked as a waiter at Le Pavillion. He later operated five French restaurants, culminating in him taking ownership of Le Veau D’Or in 1985. He lives above the restaurant and is the maître d’, helped by his daughter Cathy Tréboux. The menu is a trip back in time as much as the restaurant itself, offering classics such as escargots, coq au vin, beef Bourguignon, vichysoisse, and grenouilles (frog legs), mostly unchanged since the place opened. Prices are reasonable considering the menu is table d’hôte (includes appetizer, entrée, and desert), and lunch is a bargain at $22 for three courses.

Escargots

The food was delicious, especially the rich beef bourguignon. But the desserts were just fair. The service was excellent and attentive, and the atmosphere was relaxing and quiet, a perfect getaway from the noisy streets of midtown.

Beef Bourguignon

Le Veau D’Or
129 E. 60th St. near Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10022
Open Mon-Sat, noon-3pm and 5:30pm-10pm; closed Sunday
(212) 838-8133
No website found, but the menu is here.

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Kane’s Donuts, Saugus, MA

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To continue our Boston area tour, just north of Boston on U.S. Highway 1 lies Saugus, MA. The highway is a crazy, hair-raising stretch through Saugus. Six lanes wide, but with driveways and cross-streets, and the traffic moving at 50 to 60mph while cars are trying to make left turns across the highway! The stretch is lined with neon signs that make it well worth the drive at night, including the famous Hilltop Steak House’s huge neon cactus (erected in 1964), the spectacular Kowloon Polynesian restaurant, and the Prince pizzeria with a neon leaning tower of Pisa. For dinner I skipped the Hilltop because the interior is updated and nothing special, and instead headed for the Kowloon with much excitement. Unfortunately, it was a real letdown. Greasy, bland food, watery tropical drinks with cheap rum, and inattentive service. The decor is a mishmash of cheesy, cheap decorations, ugly art, and the lighting is too bright for a tiki establishment. I’m a big fan of tiki bars and Polynesian Pop restaurants, but despite my usual lowering of standards I was disappointed.

I felt better just walking in to Kane’s Donuts, in the old part of Saugus since 1955. In 2010 Bon Apettit magazine put Kane’s on their list of the top 10 best donut places in the U.S., one of only four older donut shops on the list (the others are in St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Round Rock, TX). I ordered up one of their famous honey dipped raised donuts and a PB & J donut, frosted with peanut butter glaze and filled with black raspberry jelly that was better than any jelly in a donut I’ve ever had (more like a jam consistency instead of the usual cornstarch-filled, gummy texture). Both donuts were super delicious!

P,B & J donut

Kane’s Donuts
120 Lincoln Ave, Saugus, MA 01906
(781) 233-8499
Open Mon-Fri 3:30am – 8pm, Sat 3:30am – 5pm, Sun 3:30am – 1pm

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