A couple of years ago, I attended a conference outside Toronto, and spent a little time in the city, where I had the pleasure of stumbling onto a truly excellent restaurant on Yonge St, named Marche. Do not have the address, but it is near the lake and in the same building as the NHL Hall of Fame. Marche was, and is, excellent despite the fact that there are not waiters/waitresses. You are given a ticket upon entry, and shown to a table. Its your responsibility to serve yourself. They stamp your ticket, as in a dim sum place in NY's Chinatown. But what food! The restaurant is a series of food stations: a chef at one station will be making pasta, the next will be making sushi, the next grilled fish, the next will be making fabulous simple potato dishes from Switzerland, another will have to-die-for desserts. And when you walk out, the tab is about one half of what the food is worth. Early in 1999, signs appeared in the northeast corner of New York's World Trade Center, stating that a Marche would open at years end. I felt like I had won the lottery three days in a row. Thats how good this place is. It would be open from 7 am to 1 am. My cronies and I went up to Toronto last summer to see a ballgame ( another story ) and the food at that Marche was as good as the year before. Couldn't wait until the NY location opened. Well: summer and fall of 1999 passed by. So did the winter. And never a sign of life at the vacant corner of the World Trade Center that was to be home for the Big Apple Marche. This spring, even the March advertising signs were down. Last week, I spoke to a member of the WTC staff. He said that the Marche people never had their act together, and that when they did come up with a plan, it used Canadian codes, not a good idea in New York. Everyone's time was wasted, and Marche looks like it will never come to New York. I am not happy. But if you are in Toronto, I recommend that you go down to Yonge St and check this place out. There are Marches in Montreal, Boston and other places, but I can only vouch for the Toronto location. It is worth a journey on foot from Miami.
Toronto, Canada
No Marche In New York
Yikes! Le Marche is probably the worst restaurant in the whole city. If you like to line up, this is the place to come. Massive lineups just to get in the place, then you line up to get your salad, your drinks, your main course, your bun. And it costs twice as much as it should for mediocre food. I just read an article in the Globe and Mail about Le Marche/Movenpick's expansion into the US. Apparently they had insufficient capital to expand as fast as they were trying to do, and have ended up cancelling or postponing indefinitely most of their projects, including the one in New York. By the way, the posting below includes the comment that Le Marche's plan "used Canadian codes, not a good idea in New York". What in the world could that possibly mean??? The food at Le Marche is fake Swiss, with a smattering of "international" cuisine - I don't know what Canadian codes have to do with it. /Phil Someone wrote: >A couple of years ago, I attended a conference outside Toronto, and spent a >little time in the city, where I had the pleasure of stumbling onto a truly >excellent restaurant on Yonge St, named Marche. Do not have the address, but >it is near the lake and in the same building as the NHL Hall of Fame. > >Marche was, and is, excellent despite the fact that there are not >waiters/waitresses. You are given a ticket upon entry, and shown to a table. >Its your responsibility to serve yourself. They stamp your ticket, as in a >dim sum place in NY's Chinatown. But what food! > >The restaurant is a series of food stations: a chef at one station will be >making pasta, the next will be making sushi, the next grilled fish, the next >will be making fabulous simple potato dishes from Switzerland, another will >have to-die-for desserts. And when you walk out, the tab is about one half >of what the food is worth. > >Early in 1999, signs appeared in the northeast corner of New York's World >Trade Center, stating that a Marche would open at years end. I felt like I >had won the lottery three days in a row. Thats how good this place is. It >would be open from 7 am to 1 am. > >My cronies and I went up to Toronto last summer to see a ballgame ( another >story ) and the food at that Marche was as good as the year before. Couldn't >wait until the NY location opened. > >Well: summer and fall of 1999 passed by. So did the winter. And never a sign >of life at the vacant corner of the World Trade Center that was to be home >for the Big Apple Marche. This spring, even the March advertising signs were >down. > >Last week, I spoke to a member of the WTC staff. He said that the Marche >people never had their act together, and that when they did come up with a >plan, it used Canadian codes, not a good idea in New York. Everyone's time >was wasted, and Marche looks like it will never come to New York. > >I am not happy. But if you are in Toronto, I recommend that you go down to >Yonge St and check this place out. There are Marches in Montreal, Boston >and other places, but I can only vouch for the Toronto location. It is worth >a journey on foot from Miami. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule. Text added to get around trn "new text must exceed included text" rule.