02/23/09

Head Judge Badly in Need of Advice from Top Chefs

by tadevosy

Chef Colicchio would be well served paying some attention to what's going on in his own kitchen before dispensing advice to aspiring chefs. First, despite our reservations three weeks in advance, they tried to stick us in the bar area immediately in front of the entrance. Rolled their eyes when we insisted we wanted a NORMAL table in the dining room. My husband's roasted foie gras was spectacular. My quail was practically still moving it was so rare. I called the waiter over and asked him to have it cooked through, explaining that I am pregnant and cannot eat undercooked meat. The quail came back five minutes later, still undercooked and, this time around, luke warm. Just let go of that one and waited patiently for my main course, the braised short rib. Mediocre at best, but passable. My husband's aged steak? Also bordering on raw. I mean we both normally like our steaks medium rare, but this steak barely had anything resembling a sear on the outside and was completely uncooked in the center. Moreover, the sear looked like the minimal degree of cooking done to the steak was performed in a poorly warmed electric stove--it was pale brown and unattractive. It arrived without a steak knife--in a delusional hope, I guess, that the meat was tender enough to be cut with a bread knife. Well, it wasn't. After a few unsuccessful attempts to flag down the waitress, we finally grabbed a busboy and asked for a steak knife. After some bewildered staring, he sent someone else over to clarify what we wanted. Finally, they set one down next to MY plate. My pommes puree were the consistency of a cream soup--too liquid to be eaten with a fork. The potato gnocchi side came in a pool of almost solidifed butter, was sticky, rather unsavory looking and tasted of garlic and, remotely, of something sweet. Not in the good way.... The trumpet mushrooms were good. The rest--bad! Dont blame the recession for bad business! Fix the restaurant!

• Pros: Good chocolate chip muffins as parting gift
• Cons: Food, ambience, service

02/08/09

Not impressed.

by Mikeymets

I guess Tom is too busy at Top Chef he forgets to judge his own restaurant. The food was good but didn't meet expectations. Most of all, the food didn't even look appetizing. It looked as if the food was thrown on the plate and served. Waitstaff was good but had little management. I saw them laughing and conversating about guests. Very Unproffessional. For the $ I would spend $60 more and dine at a 4 star restaurant. Where they consider their customers King.

• Pros: Exotic Menu. Quail, Pheasant, Escargot (Fantastic),
• Cons: Appearance of food, Less than immaculate bathrooms

02/08/09

Unbelievably good

by jakevoytko

Everything was great. The wait staff was very polite, and were patient with our lack of food knowledge. All of the food that we ate was worth the price. The food was all cooked to perfection, and was very tasty. The wait times were all reasonable. Best yet, we got free complimentary muffins on the way out! The check can get pricey, but is absolutely worth the cost.

• Pros: Great wait staff, great food, good atmosphere
• Cons: Meals can get pricey

02/02/09

Amazing

by db78

This was the best meal I've ever had. Everything was cooked to perfection. I highly recommend the bacon and the short ribs.

• Pros: Food, Atmosphere.
• Cons: Super pricey, but worth it.

01/07/09

don't get the fish

by kabuku

both of us ordered the fish and we both had issues with it. I got the cod, she got the black bass...stay away from ordering the fish. everything else was very good and well worth the high price. this place is pretty uppity but polite. the tables are very spacious.

12/03/08

Beware, all ye who enter here ...

by MangiaMillie

Dec. 3 The woman who was taking the reservations was abrupt and rude. I guess she looks down on answering the phone. If that's how potential guests are treated, I'd be crazy to go there. Hope she's in a better mood when you call. Some people have never heard of the words recession and unemployment.

11/29/08

Nope!

by LittleChefnyc

Tried the Tasting Menu Last Night- 110.00 per person. Started with a Raw Scallop dish that was tossed in Olive Oil that was bad. Didn't eat it. Third course in, we had the Scotish Hen- they sent it out raw. There is a difference between raw and rare. I took one bite and had to put it out into my napking. My girlfriend was revolted by the taste and could not eat from that point forward. We asked to stop the tasting menu dead in the track from there and ordered the Sirloin for Two- unacceptable quality of meat! We drank some delicious wine and the service at the bar was nice and very accomidating to us. Check was over $1000 bucks (mostly on wine) and my girlfriend and I went to bed drunk and with empty stomachs.

11/13/08

Great ambiance, with (mostly) great food

by jcsalazar84

I kept hearing that Craft is casual of sorts, and it does have that general sense throughout my dining experience, the only exception being our main waiter who at times acted too formal and stoic to make my party casually comfortable.

The food was mostly great, with a combination of FANTASTIC dishes (particularly the braised halibut and butternut risotto) and other average dishes (scallops and ravioli). Yes, the prices are on the higher end, but that's just what you're getting into from the get-go. Overall, do recommend to others, primarily because of the food.

10/19/08

Great service - poor food not worthy of an episode of top chef

by jca666

We went to Craft night for my wife's birthday. We had a reservation for 5:30 pm and were promptly seated.

We ordered our food and honestly it wasn't up to the standards of an episode of Top Chef.

I ordered a steak that was supposed to be medium well. The steak I got was a fatty poor cut of meat - it was unevenly cooked - with parts of it overcooked and rubbery - that steak could have been used to re-sole my shoes.

I also had ordered the cavatelli with ricotta and sweet market peppers - what I was served was not cavatelli and had neither ricotta nor peppers. It was served in a very nice presentation, but overall mediocre and unimpressive.

My wife ordered the zucchini ravioli - a very tasty dish but a very small serving.

The side dishes we ordered were over-seasoned and salty - I've had better side dishes at Boston Market.

The desserts were also a mixed bag: the chocolate souffle was very good, but my peanut butter semifreddo was surprisingly salty - but lacked a good counterbalance - yuck!

When we got our check we were shocked (the price was so high for barely adequate food -- a total rip off).

There are much better restaurants in NYC - try del posto instead.

• Pros: great service
• Cons: horrible food and bad value for the price

09/18/08

Go somewhere else

by jessjlp

My husband and I were in New York for the weekend and wanted to go someplace special for dinner. We regrettably chose Craft. The overall experience was disappointing with the exception of a couple of bright spots. The hostesses were very nice, the bar was quick, the Bloodless Mary was great and you can be happy sitting at one of Dale's tables. However, the food was mediocre at best, especially considering the ownership. Our Sucrine Salad with pickled egg was completely bland and lacking of taste. The servers tout the dishes as being "large family-style", but this is not the case. Our delicious Roasted Cauliflower side was hardly enough for 1 person & the Day Boat Diver Scallops entree provided 3 small/ medium sized scallops. Our sirloin was cooked properly, but seemed to be a less than stellar cut of meat since it was like chewing on an old shoe. The Gratin potatoes were basically a milky liquid mess without any flavor. Throughout the meal we politely commented to our server (Elliott) about our dissatisfactions, to which he would reply "oh" or "ok, well I am sorry to hear that"! He offered nothing to accommodate us. We then advised the manager of our overall disappointment. Her solution was to deduct two $10 drinks from our bill. Again, not what we would expect from such a ?fine? restaurant. We eat regularly at other comparable restaurants and have never come even close to experiencing such disappointment in the food & unwillingness of the staff to make amends. I guess the sole focus there is ambiance, not necessarily food or service. We chose to go somewhere else for dessert deciding against throwing additional money away at Craft. If you are seeking a "place to be seen" rather than a place for good food and service, then you should definitely check out Craft. However, I recommend going someplace else if you want to enjoy delicious food and great service. We recommend Veritas instead.

• Pros: Cool ambience
• Cons: Food and service