La Bouillabaisse

Photograph: Christian Hartman

Chef Neil Ganic was a pioneer when he first opened his much-praised La Bouillabaisse on Atlantic Avenue in 1993, shortly before Brooklyn became an eating destination. He later relocated to Carroll Gardens, but a spat with his partner led to yet another move. Now in Red Hook, the third version of the seafood eatery lacks much of the originals’ appeal. Whereas the first two offered inviting, antique-decorated interiors, the new place has a prefab design, with generic furniture that looks straight out of a restaurant supply catalog.The menu, meanwhile, gets old fast, with too many repeated ingredients: Two crabmeat starters (one was a dull mayonnaise-dressed puck atop underripe tomatoes, overripe avocado and greens); the soup of the day was lobster bisque (in addition to two other shellfish soups); and a surfeit of entrées played on the seafood-with-tomato theme—another fish stew, shrimp with garlic and tomato, and the bouillabaisse. The latter featured funky-smelling shrimp and mussels—hardly a good showing for the namesake dish. By the time dessert came around, the kitchen had run out of every one—except for a lumpy chocolate pudding—despite the empty dining room. Service didn’t fare much better (our rookie waitress was a pinch hitter from Ganic’s bar next door). Amazingly, the best thing we ate was a juicy skirt steak with crisp fries. Maybe it’s a sign that Ganic should try a different concept. As in politics, sometimes what a restaurant needs is change.