Last night my main gal pal and
chefwife J and I went to
Borough in the East Village on 22
nd and Broadway and were mostly just weirded out. Borough's hook: "Showcasing the diverse food and drink of New York"
I do have to remind myself sometimes that not every restaurant in the city is going to be an A+ experience. As much as I reminded myself of this, I was still annoyed most of the time. And I was double annoyed when I dropped a sausage and it landed on my jacked and totally ruined it. Even J's
Tide Stick couldn't save the day. But that I know, was completely my own fault.
So, I walk in the door and love the decor right away, comforting, comfortable, and cool. The wood all over the places make you forget your floating on a concrete island. I approached the podium and to me, when a patron approaches the podium any conversations between the staff should end until I'm seated when they can continue to talk about Justin Timberlake and the sale at Macy's. BUT, that's just me. So besides being ignored for a moment several other oddities occurred. Oddly enough there is one for each borough of NY.
1. The hostess wasn't really sure if I should pay my lounge tab at the lounge or if it could carry over to the table. She told me she was worried that I wouldn't pay. Makes me think I shouldn't have.
2. We were approached twice with food that was soon realized to have belonged to another table.
3. The waiter asked us twice within a few minutes what kind of water we wanted, then a busser came over and asked us again.
4. While the server was explaining the specials another server interrupted him and forgot the wise teachings of Molly Manners: "excuse me".
5. After I paid my lounge tab (in cash) the waiter came back and asked for the bill back. (?)
The food was good, the sausage was a little greasy (hence my irremovable stain), but very very tasty. So, not a horrible experience-just odd and unusual. I hope I don't sound like a food snob but every wife knows that being married to a chef you are exposed to so many amazing dining experiences that you know what restaurants are capable of.
The night wasn't a total bust though. J and her chef and my chef and I got together at our local spot Dublin. (which I love more and more every time I go)
DCW_NYC
-H-