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July 23, 2014- The Eater blog sent 80-year-old Gael Greene to review Drew Nieporent’s newest restaurant, Bâtard, and she complained that it was too noisy. I can imagine it now, her sitting there screaming, “Hey kids. Turn down that rock and rill music”. Her comments must have made an impression because the restaurant team apparently consulted with architect David Rockwell and added some soundproofing material to the ceiling.
Bâtard is Nieporent’s third attempt at this same space at 239 West Broadway. The first restaurant in the 1990’s was called Montrachet, and put on the map by its first chef, David Bouley. After he left and the restaurant closed in 2006, it sat empty until they opened Corton. That place closed after the chef got into a squabbled and started his own place in Brooklyn. Bâtard recently opened, and is run by Austrian-born chef Markus Glocker.
By the way, Gael Greene used the world’s worst camera to take photos, and did a real disservice to the chef. It looks like she used a 1999 Blackberry camera with very low resolution and no flash. Comically, she warns at the end of her review that her photos cannot be used with permission, as if anyone would want them.
Restaurants should ban cameras. Instagram and smartphones are unacceptable for any sort of reporting.