Aquavit $35.00 RW dinner

[City Kid]

Went to Aquavit last night and had the $35.00 RW Dinner, which is served in the both the cafe and dining room, where we were seated. A few observations:

The ambiance: Beautiful, soothing stark modern, handsome dark wood with elegant fresh flowers everywhere. Cozy and comfortable lounge/bar area.

The food: Really good food and substantial portions (not RW-size), 3 courses with 2 choices per course. Started with the flight of 3 Aquavits for drinks (drinks not included) - delightful with interesting flavors (one blueberry, one caraway, one coriander). Nice amuse of toasts and salmon pate. Wonderful herring sampler first course, excellent crispy skin smoked (hot) salmon with beets and potatoes, as well as very intense chocolate "cake" with walnut ice cream. Husband had a delicious, not too sweet, goat cheese parfait. Fabulous assortment of breads served, including fresh Sandinavian flatbread and cranberry nut bread.

The service: HIghly professional and cordial, but a couple of my pet peeves: An open menu presented as soon as we sat down (before we ordered drinks and before they knew we were ordering from the special RW menu). After we ordered from the RW menu, service, that was much too quickly paced (in contrast to those around us who were not ordering off the RW menu) and the check presented right after we finished and before we asked for it. We finished the 3 courses and paid the check in a little over an hour! In other restaurants where we have had RW dinner (Nougaine, Toqueville) we have not detected any difference in service and pacing between regular and RW patrons and been able to linger.

Assessment: An excellent, albeit not leisurely meal, very reasonable. If you want it to be the evening's main attraction with leisurely pacing and service you may be disappointed.

[RGR]

Thanks for this report, City Kid!

I'm not surprised to hear the food at Aquavit was delicious because we were blown away by the lunch we had there a few months ago and really enjoyed the Sunday smorgasbord a few weeks ago. It is nice to know that they have not dumbed down the quality of the cuisine or skimped on the portions for the RW menu.

One of *my* restaurant peeves is *not* being given the food menu as soon as we are seated. Instead, too often, we are given only the drinks and/or wine list. I don't drink and my husband doesn't drink cocktails, and he doesn't like to decide what wine he will order until we've decided what we are going to eat.

However, I totally agree with you that there should not have been any difference in the pace of service just because you ordered the RW menu. Nor should they have presented the check until you asked for it. Sounds as though they were a bit too interested in turning your table. If you thought the pacing had become too fast once your main courses were served, you could have slowed it down by mentioning it to your server and requesting a longer break between the main course and dessert. Also, after dessert (and coffee?), did your server ask you if you wanted anything else, or did he or she just present the check? In any case, if you did want to relax and linger a bit, you could have taken your time before settling up.

[City Kid]

Hi RGR: Interesting, different perspective you offer. In a really good restaurant they should be attentive to the wishes of patrons -- those who want to see the menu immediately vs. those who want to relax over a drink first -- and be able to pick up on signals quickly.

I agree about asking them to slow the service up, but in this case, we didn't really want to linger longer. I just thought it a RW-related deficit and one that should be conveyed to others. The server did not ask if we wanted anything else before deposting the check and, oddly, the place was not nearly filled so no need to turn the table over.

Still a very pleasant, if a bit too efficient experience!

[bklynbiker]

Had a similar RW lunch there, first the waiter didnt offer to take drinks or wine orders (which as it happened, we wanted), forcing us to say 'could we order some drinks first?" then after opting for still water (one in our party ordered sparkling), the entire table was brought bottled water, which was refilled without our ordering more, all of which was charged for. Finally we werent offered coffee after the dessert, just brought the check. It was sufficiently off-putting that I wrote the mgr/owner a personal note about the experience, which was not at all angry or snippy, just letting him know the experience was less than optimal. I never got a reply. Dont think we'll be rushing back anytime soon. (P.S. the food was just fine, but plenty of other places manage to do that and provide stellar service during RW week, so there ya' go...)

[hkhungry]

Wanted to jump in and say I had an almost completely opposite RW experience at Aquavit a week ago on a Thursday night. I thought the service was very good – did not seem rushed at all. The food as the original poster said was very good.

Herring Sampler- Huge amount of herring in four different portions – well flavored.
Salmon Dish- Excellently cooked and a big ole’ piece.

We also ordered the vodka tasting (3 vodkas for 17$). These were excellent and actually went well with the food and I am not a big fan of vodka. Had the Dill, Horseradish and Mango/Chili flavors.

The service was very good and we did not feel rushed. The dining room (formal) was about ¾ full and from spying on other peoples food it looked like most people were not have the RW dinner which I thought was weird since it is such a good deal.

[City Kid]

This is good to hear because it was such a good deal -- the quality and quantity of food and the price in such an elegant setting -- that I would love to give it another try. And perhaps feedback such a bklynbiker's will have a chastening effect.