Le Bec-Fin

Le Bec-Fin is a French restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which opened in 1970. Owner and founder Georges Perrier named the restaurant after the French colloquialism for "Fine Palate". The restaurant has been rated as America's finest French restaurant and the Mobil Travel Guide has traditionally rated it as five stars.

History

Perrier trained at La Pyramide in Vienne, France and started working in Philadelphia in the late 1960's. After its opening in 1970, Le Bec-Fin soon established a reputation as Philadelphia's finest restaurant with Perrier's Galette de Crabe and Quenelles de Brochet as signature highlights. By 1981, Le Bec-Fin was known as the leader of the "Philadelphia restaurant revolution". "Esquire" described it as the best French restaurant in America and a 1994 "Condé Nast" reader's poll ranked it as the best restaurant in the country.ref|ESQ

Le Bec-Fin signature crab cake recipe can be found online, but is also featured in Georges Perrier's 1997 book, titled "Le Bec-Fin Recipes". Perrier's cuisine favors traditional French ingredients with high quality produce from throughout the world. ref|BOOK The wine list favors selections from the borders of France and some standouts from the new world. Christophe Tassan is the master sommelier. [cite web |url=http://www.gayot.com/restaurantpages/info.php?tag=PHRES9966 |title=Le Bec Fin |accessdate=2008-10-06 |work=Restaurant Review |publisher=Gayot |date=2007-11

]

Perrier made extensive changes to the restaurant after the Mobil Travel Guide reduced it to four star status in the 2001 Mobil Travel Guide. The interior was remodeled, the wine list expanded, and Perrier relinquished command of his restaurant to the head chef. Said Perrier to his staff, "Change everything but the chandeliers." In the 2003 guide, the fifth star was restored. In 2007, it trumped another Philadelphia restaurant, Verti, to make the [http://www.gayot.com/restaurants/restaurantissue/top40/le_bec_fin.html Gayot Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S.] It was given a rating of 17/20, or "Excellent."

On April 4, 2008 Le Bec-Fin gave up its 5 star rating in favor of a more relaxed atmosphere. This loss drops the number of American 5 star restaurants to 16. The change to a more relaxed atmosphere includes à la carte dining as opposed to a price fixed menu with strict seating schedule. [citation|date=April 4, 2008 |title=Georges Perrier lightens up Le Bec-Fin |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20080404_Georges_Perrier_lightens_up_Le_Bec-Fin.html |first=Michael |last=Klein |publisher=Philadelphia Inquirer |accessdate=2008-04-04]

References

#"Esquire", "The Best French Restaurant in America" September 1993, Volume 120 Issue 3 page 62
#"Resolutely sticking to French tradition" "The Dominion Post" February 3 1998

External links

* [http://www.lebecfin.com/ Le Bec-Fin Restaurant]
* [http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:gGZlkGiBSzgJ:www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0762401702%3Fv%3Dglance+%22Le+Bec+Fin%22&hl=en&lr=lang_en Amazon.com page for "Le Bec-Fin Recipes".]
* [http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/putting-le-bec-fin-to-the-test "Food and Wine" "Putting Le Bec Fin to the test"] July 2005 retrieved 18 December 2005
* [http://cwm.classicwines.com/restaurant.php?restaurant=Le-Bec-Fin Le Bec-Fin 2 Part Video Series at The Classic Wines Minute]
* [http://www.restaurantreport.com/features/ft_perrier.html/ Restaurant Report Interview with Georges Perrier]
* [http://blog.typeadiversions.com/2008/06/le-bec-fin-philadelphia.html Recent Review with Pictures]