Winner: The traditional Jewish method (chicken!) beats the fancy French one (duck!).

Although Chef Orfaly’s duck consommé was a mouth-watering display of culinary deftness, its preparation necessitated far too many hands for a home kitchen, especially with an amateur chef. If I lived in Boston, I would go to Pigalle or Marco and order it from the chef himself.

In fifty years, if rent inflation should force Mr. Orfaly out of his eateries (as it did Ms. Lebewohl), perhaps his will be the matzah ball–studded duck consommé Bostonians mourn. But unless mourners are trained chefs with two free days to spend making four bowls of soup, they won’t have the comfort of knowing that they can make it at home. Almost anyone can throw the Lebewohl ingredients in a pot and simmer. It won’t be exactly the same as the Second Avenue Deli’s, but most households will come pretty damn close.

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