Pure Food and Wine

10/03/09

Did I just ate a dinner?

by heidi2002nyc at Citysearch

Than was my first and last time there. I can pay a chef to make this meal from farmers produce at my home-or better make it myself.

It was sooo laud me and my husband could not hear each other at all!!! The sound was bouncing off all walls. Too many people.

We got testing menu. What a bummer, I saw people (next to us) paying less than us and having more to eat. Portion control??? this place is more like the teaser to my poor empty belly! so for that I call it overpriced. Considering that you have to eat something after this.

if you are going to have such a meal, don't finish it with big fatty and sweet dessert! Thats silly to try to fill us up with the last course!

WE ARE NOT COMING BACK!!!!

• Pros: good tasting
• Cons: beyond small portions, toooo laud

09/03/09

Great Place for Raw

by ts123 at Citysearch

I have eaten here a handful of times and really enjoy the uniqueness of the food. I eat a mostly raw diet and to have this dining experience available to me is amazing. I have tried other raw restaurants but they don't compare.

Yes, it is expensive. I do understand what goes into a raw meal. It is a very time consuming process and the quality of the ingredients must be top notch. In this case, I understand but I still think they can do better by offering a few menu items that mey not be as time consuming. Also, the wines are on the pricey side.

Another option is to try Pure Juice and Takeaway which is the same owner and kitchen right around the corner.. a little more economical but very casual, not much seating...

I am giving it a 5 because I love the food and 4 would be too low a rating.

• Pros: I love the food here, garden is pleasant in nice weather
• Cons: pricey, a little bit too dark inside

05/29/09

How to make a great meal? There's food involved!

by Lobsterman27 at Citysearch

Went here for an anniversary dinner with my wife--I should have read further into the reviews on this site before making that mistake.

We arrived enthusiastic and ready to have a great meal. The waiter recommended the tasting menu, telling us that it would be a "very filling experience." The first course on a "5-course tasting menu" was literally one bite! I'm no glutton, but I'm not anorexic either. Honestly, a one-bite course (no exaggeration) is just insulting.

While waiting for our next famine-sized portion, the wait staff seated another couple literally elbow-to-elbow with us. When I made the reservation, I had mentioned that it was our anniversary and specifically requested a romantic setting. We then proceeded to watch our neighbors get much larger portions of food, and snack on a huge bowl of olives, even though they did not order from the tasting menu and surely paid less than we did!!

Seriously, we sat there green with jealousy watching other patrons in the restaurant eat larger-than-elf-sized portions--served much sooner--and all the while I was thinking "this must be the most expensive snack I've ever had."

We waited at least 20 minutes for the next few bites. I know some restaurants think that slower service is good because they are not hurrying their customers out the door, but how hard is it to leave something on the table to eat? If you can't do bread, because you're a raw-food restaurant, just leave some olives like you did for the couple sitting two inches to our right. At any half-worthwhile restaurant, this would just be automatic, especially with the tasting menu.

And forget the wait staff. At a restaurant with a $70 tasting menu, you should get excellent service from experienced and attentive waiters. These guys seemed like they were just plucked from Frat Boys R Us. We didn't know what we were being served, because the kitchen picks your courses for the tasting menu. This would have been fine, except our waiters mumbled the descriptions of the food, leaving us totally in the dark.

Also, they served different menu items to my wife and me with each course. This would have been OK, too, except the courses they chose for my wife were typically about half as much food as they served me.

The tiny portions separated by interminable waits continued for over an hour during which we literally got about 7 bites of food.

Finally our last course arrived--a huge dessert. Now, why would I go to a raw food, health-oriented restaurant just to fill up on sugar and fat? But that's exactly how they structured it. So the vast majority of calories at our meal were devoid of nutrients.

If you must go here, DO NOT ORDER THE TASTING MENU!!! It is a total rip-off. Also, make emphatically clear to the wait staff that you are interested in EATING. That you came here for FOOD, to EAT not to look trendy while pretending to eat. Unless, of course, you're not interested in food. Then this place would be pretty much perfect for you.

• Pros: Good food
• Cons: Terrible service, overpriced, tiny portions