We may always have Paris, but we no longer have L’Espalier, even after holding strong as a staple of French-meets-New England cuisine for 40 years. According to Atlantic senior editor, food writer and Boston Public Radio contributor Corby Kummer, the closing represents a larger trend in the restaurant world — upscale elegance in the restaurant world is becoming less desirable.
“L’espalier is kind of a victim of its own success, but it’s mostly style,” Kummer said. “It’s white tablecloth, it’s really fancy. What you go there for is the service and the cheese courses … and that’s why I tell people to go if you want a special occasion, you want to be treated beautifully, and you want this fabulous cheese cart — that’s why we went to L’espalier. It wasn’t particularly the food, the food was ... just fine.”
But diners now prefer quality food over flourish, Kummer said. Le Sablons, which closed this past summer after a little over a year in Cambridge, “tried to take on a very formal way of dining,” Kummer said.
“It was [owner] Garrett Harker whose hospitality lives on and reigns supreme at Eastern Standard, Row 34, Island Creek Oyster Bar and Branchline, those are all going strong, those are fantastic restaurants,” Kummer said. “But Le Sablon tried to take that kind of elegance and narrow weirdness of the room in Harvard Square did it in. I think it’s style.”
