I haven’t confirmed this firsthand, but Index.hu editor/blogger/critic László Szily has broken the news that the Stand Bistro (click for our earlier review) looks set to call it quits sometime within the next month. According to Szily, he was clued in to the pending shut-down by a member of the staff at the close of a meal last Friday during which he had some tasty dishes of chicken breast with gorgonzola pesto and green asparagus risotto and beef cheek with red wine, puy lentils and polenta fried in butter, but suffered from service that was “nihilistic” for reasons other than a waitress telling a customer they should pay up and leave and probably never come back.
I’ve enjoyed the place, but from the start had the feeling it would have a tough go of it, as it only seemed to draw a critical mass of patrons during the usually unprofitable lunch hour. As for what_it_all_means, the obvious answer is: not good news for anyone.
Meanwhile, a commenter on the post had the following tart thing to say about the recently-opened Mák Bistro (link to review), which at least to me belongs to the same class of eatery:
By the way I think the next [to close] will be MÁK Bistro, which opened in place of Loulou. Minimalistic portions at impudent prices (or rather impudently small portions at prices which seem normal), unnecessarily overstretched kitchen technology solutions, shitty, loud music, kind but clumsy waiters. All in all, a big fail, even if the opening hype and a circle of friends continue its kind marketing for a while. Ugh.
Ugh indeed.
another one bites the dust . . . . . another one bites the dust
hmmmm how many restaurants has segal had a hand in and how many have failed. . . . time to retire i think segal!
It would be a great pity if Stand did close down as its lunch menus were generally fantastic. Its evening menu was similar quality for double the price, so it was always a bit suspicious. Mak would be less of a loss. The design and atmosphere is great, but the portions are shockingly small and expensive.
Segal used to be a great chef back when he was working at Baraka, but recently his own projects were just uninspired (or to put it bluntly I just haven’t enjoyed his dishes and have sampled them at all three of his ventures since).