Lisa F.
Yelp
Amazing restaurant with a beautiful (safe and distanced) outside seating area, outstanding food and impeccable service.
Ambiance. I was meeting a friend I have not seen in over a year, and being one of our first dining experiences in "forever," I scouted restaurants in advance that had safe, distanced, pretty outside dining areas. Their outside dining set up is beautiful, with draperies between tables for distancing which are not only effective for safe dining (even by my friends' standards who is a Nurse Practitioner), but are also very pretty. I love this creative distancing.
Both being enthusiastic yet cautious and apprehensive about dining out, my friend also scoped out the restaurant before meeting, and asked if she could bring her pup. (Well, we all need to do what we need to feel comfortable as we venture out of our post pandemic bubbles). Outside the enclosed seating area are sidewalk tables, and the one where we were seated for the benefit of the pup was across from a bodega with its flower selection, which my friend said reminded her of being at a cafe in France.
Food. All of the food was outstanding.
- Portobello mushroom (special) appetizer. I had a couple bites of this appetizer my friend ordered, and it was excellent.
- Beef carpaccio. One of my favorite appetizers, and it was fantastic.
- Fish of the day special. The trout was grilled perfectly and beautifully presented, with zucchini and squash on the side. Both my friend and I ordered this, and it was divine.
- Tiramisu. Delicious.
Impeccable Service. The attentiveness of the host and servers, especially given our enthusiastic yet apprehensive slightly nervous first time out of our bubbles in forever, could not have been better. I like what I like and am particular, but am not typically "that" high maintenance customer causing servers to eye roll. However, on this first outing, I admittedly started to feel a little like "that customer", but the servers were wonderful, accommodating, and took our requests in stride. It played out like this:
- I arrived before my friend and gave my name, mentioning my friend would be bringing her pup. The host knew this since my friend had stopped by earlier; and they had a table for two on the sidewalk prepared for us.
- Realizing there was a meter that could obstruct my picture taking, I asked if there was another sidewalk table we could have instead. As the host happily accommodated and started clearing another table, I realized the table he was clearing was only (the required) 6 feet from other patrons, while I prefer 12 - ish plus feet away from people to feel comfortable at this point, so I approached him and said thank you, but we will keep the original table.
- The server arrived to take my drink order; I wanted a dirty martini, but having a limited bar menu he said they do not have martini glasses, which was fine, but when I asked about the giant olives I like, he said they did not have them, so I paused and said I would think about it. He returned and I decided I would have the martini; when he asked if I wanted it on the rocks or chilled, I wasn't sure. All these decisions I was not accustomed to making in so long! So he, without missing a beat, brought me a chilled martini with ice on the side. Perfect.
- I was trying to settle comfortably but had a bag from my shoe shopping trip on my lap, and with no where to put it. (What did we do with bags and shopping bags before the pandemic... I can't even recall.). So I asked the server if I could please have an extra chair, and without hesitation, he said "Sure... Is this for the dog?" Laughing, I told him the dog would not require a chair; it was for my bags.
Despite all the newness and indecisiveness, the servers treated us and our requests with respect. They later moved us to a table inside the enclosed area when my friend (who decided the pup would stay home) and I realized how windy it was outside. The host and servers were wonderful, patient, attentive and amazing at making us feel comfortable- and by the end of our dinner - shared wit and a great sense of humor. It was an amazing dinner and night.
The impeccable service, ambiance and food made for a perfect and memorable first girls night out in over a year. Highly recommend.