Adam Platt takes a first stab at the new Le Cirque, awarding it two out of five stars in New York Magazine this week. He's certainly not wowed, but not thoroughly disappointed either. Some excerpts to whet your whistle:

- On the space: "a great, polished, cruise ship of a restaurant"
- On the crowd: "assorted aging contessas and paleo-billionaires dressed resplendently in their charcoal suits and pastel (occasionally pink) summer ties"
- On the menu: "conflicts between old and new are evident" "The best entrées at the new Le Cirque tend to be the safe and stolid ones as well, the dependable kind of big-ticket items favored by elderly plutocrats with settled tastes and fat pocketbooks."
- Overall: "[E]dginess is not what the new Le Cirque is all about. During the course of his long career, Maccioni has employed his share of diva chefs and engaged in all sorts of culinary innovations. But he seems content now to take a kind of victory lap, to serve the food he himself enjoys, to mingle among the tables with his friends. This approach may find a new audience, but for now the old one is out in force."

Since we weren't particularly close with Sirio for the last incarnation of Le Cirque (not to mention the fact that our pocketbooks are not fat in any way, shape or form), we think we may not be rushing there anytime soon.

Le Cirque, 151 E. 58th Street at Lexington Avenue. 212-644-0202

Photo courtesy of Le Cirque