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It's not every day that most people dish out $1600 for a
It's not every day that most people dish out $1600 for a two person dinner. In New York however, that's a relatively easy feat.As one of the fastest success stories in the New York Michelin restaurant scene, going from zero to three Michelin stars in just a few years and menu cost jumping from just over one hundred back in Brooklyn to four hundred within a decade. It's a beautiful story with Chef Cesar Ramirez at the helm supervising the execution of a spectacular tasting menu.When it comes to the experience, there is of course the grocery store hidden entrance where a team in black suits serves a spectacular menu. The menu, is a spectacularly crafted one, managing to hit a beautiful creativity while embodying the best of French and Japanese cuisine. Dishes that appear simple, but immensely complex in ways that are quite mysterious were sprinkled throughout the menu, such as kaluga caviar over otoro tuna, with a mystical gel in between creating a mouthwatering combination. Hokkaido scallop dish, a langoustine and a soup bowl with burgundy snails and mushrooms were all spectacular. Desserts were great and the frozen soufflé is very neat.While the food was genuinely impressive across the board, there are areas where the restaurant did not live up to its reputation. The service was very "loose", with the guests at the table constantly having to ask for wine to be poured again. The sommelier, while likely knowledgeable, did not provide very much context for the wine being served and was not very conversational to explain why he recommended what he did. The stories behind wine are immensely interesting and it would have been wonderful to share at least a bit with the guests. There was a lack of streamline or oversight in general on service front. For example, the packed chocolates were never given to us at the end of the dinner and I actually forgot them, later returning. It was many little things that showed an overall lack of polish and the restaurant could use someone standing in the corner to provide oversight and direction to the waiters on tables that require attention. The last area where the restaurant did fall short is the number of courses and dish size, leaving most of the table hungry upon leaving the establishment, requiring the entire group to go eat at another restaurant right after. That simply should not happen. The schedule is very tight and they politely did ask us to leave right at the end, which was a bit unpleasant also. While I fully understand the concept, there should be a separate space where people can enjoy a few drinks or finish their wine if the main dining room needs to be prepared for the next seating. I guess there is the grocery store for that, so I could have been plowing through grand crus walking down the chips isle. Jokes aside, it's just another area that they should give more thought to.Thus, it is a complicated review. While the full group did enjoy the food art here all around, other aspects of the restaurant do need attention and it was unexpected to find so many imperfections at this price point. While I get that the points above may sound overly demanding, there is a price for everything and not all restaurants strive to score Michelin stars for that reason. Being the second most expensive restaurant in NYC along with 3 Michelin stars requires a certain level of attention beyond the dishes themselves.
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My boyfriend and I had our anniversary dinner at Chef's
My boyfriend and I had our anniversary dinner at Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare and I'm happy we chose this restaurant. The ambiance of the restaurant is beautiful and intimate. The service was impeccable and the staff put thought in all the little details. We enjoyed all of the dishes, especially the starters. The vanilla "soufflé" dessert was magical. It looked like shaved ice but completely melts in your mouth like air. If you're looking for a special place to celebrate, this restaurant would be a great choice
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Overall food is good, I like the Japanese food treated with
Overall food is good, I like the Japanese food treated with French techniques. but at the end they served like 4 rounds of desserts which was too much. Service is slow ,waited 15 or someone to get asked what kind of water we want. Also they didn't clean up crumbs after courses until I reminded them. It's hidden in a grocery store so took some time to find it. With wine it came down to about $800 a person with tax and 20% tip.
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Top number one restaurant for me.
The food and wine pairing was beyond amazing. The presentation, the atmosphere, the service, all of it! Can't wait for the next time
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I hate to review this place because I love it.
But all of the existing reviews do not apply anymore to this restaurant. Given the dates of the reviews they applied to the old Brooklyn location on Schermerhorn Street. I loved that location. Taking Manhattanites to a so so Brooklyn area and then guiding them into a grocery store was great fun for me because of the looks on their faces. However the new location is in Manhattan still in a so so area. Still hidden in the back of a grocery store. Still the Best Dining experience in Manhattan. There are many good restaurants in Manhattan. Per Se. Daniel. Le Bernardin. All fabulous. Brooklyn Fare is the best.The location is lovely in a minimalist style. There are tables and bar seating. I prefer a table and the staff accommodates me. Cesar the chef is amazingly creative and the food is a fusion of Japanese flavors and French techniques. The staff is amazing and very cooperative with any special requests. There is no bar but they have a very good wine pairing. Exceptional. Every dish is amazing. And there are usually a number of additions like truffles or other interesting adds. These are worth it because unlike other restaurants where they put a couple slices on a dish here they make it rain truffles.Lastly the staff is amazing. Attentive without being intrusive. Friendly. And they know the menu, the wines and are quite helpful should you have food allergies or don't like certain foods. But please don't go. Deny yourself the best dining experience in Manhattan. It's already hard enough to get a table.
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// SummaryCulinary perfection that will absolutely blow
// SummaryCulinary perfection that will absolutely blow your mind (and your wallet, but hey, these experiences are why we make money in the first place, right?) hampered by a remnant from the pandemic. It does make me a bit sad to give one of the best meals I've ever had four stars.// ExperienceOh my gosh. I don't know if I've been that close to crying multiple times within a single meal. I didn't go trigger happy with all the add-ons, but did want the wagyu along with the full pairing. The whole thing was a spiritual experience that created a child-like joy within me. It was a pretty long meal (3+ hours) and there were some noticeably long gaps in between some courses - but I did enjoy myself. But each course was simply exquisite, and I undoubtedly savored each bite. // ServiceI can say that everything service-wise was superb, as you would expect at such an esteemed restaurant. There's only one that I wish that could have been different. I couldn't hear or understand some of the staff because of their masks, and it was annoying enough to be an issue where I was trying to focus in on each word, but didn't really want to exert the energy for them to repeat on multiple occasions. I primarily asked them to repeat based on whether or not they seemed to give instructions for how many bites a particular course should be consumed.// AmbianceIgnore the grocery/market vibe before you actually get into the restaurant - which I find a bit hilarious - and you'll see the classiness on display once you are ushered into the magnificent space. There's a large counter that seats many folks, and several tables for larger parties or more intimate settings. // ConvenienceI didn't really read about any dress code when I initially booked, and I was on a work trip where I don't really need to have a jacket. But when they texted me to confirm my reservation, I told them that I didn't have a jacket, but reassured me that was okay since they could provide one. So that's nice.
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It was terrible service and just ok on food - definitely
It was terrible service and just ok on food - definitely not the 3 Michelin starred experience we were looking for
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TLDR: we finally (finally!) got to try Chef's Table at
TLDR: we finally (finally!) got to try Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare. Was it everything I hoped? Maybe... the food was good, but not convinced it was worth the steep price point. SETTING: made a reservation for my boyfriends' birthday dinner at 8:45pm on a Saturday night. You walk through Brooklyn Fare (a grocery store) toward the back left corner where there is a host stand to greet you.Inside, the restaurant is large and open, and most of the space is taken up by a humongous countertop where you can watch all the action. There are several banquet tables around the perimeter of the restaurant for additional seating (and larger parties). The kitchen is immaculate, nicely organized, clean and bustling. It was cool to watch Chef Ramirez and his team working in tandem throughout the 2.5+ hour dinner barely making a peep! They move like a well oiled machine.FOOD: There are 10 courses for savory and then four desserts. Mostly fish based with one meat course at the end. The food was incredible, well thought out, perfectly presented, and balanced. However, nothing was particular creative or unique, and at $400+ a person... We kept comparing the meal to some other 2 Michelin starred places we've been including The Modern, Aska, Atera, and kept wondering what the difference is really between a 2 star and 3 star besides price. Nothing blew us away from the menu or experience, the service wasn't any better than at a 2 star, and we couldn't help but compare our experience and dishes to other amazing meals we've had.The uni on brioche was good and their signature dish, but it's Uni on buttered brioche. Who wouldn't like that? I've had a similar dish at sushi Ishikawa on the UES for half the price of this dinner. SERVICE: service was excellent and attentive and what you would expect from any Michelin starred experience. However, (not to sound bougie or demanding), our wine glasses sent empty for a good portion of the night. We also received the bill and had to remind our server/ask if we had finished our last bottle of wine (as our glasses were empty for quite a little bit). They only then remembered there was wine let for us to drink and poured us our glasses. If we hadn't asked, we probably would have walked away with wine left behind! Though the service was excellent, if I'm paying over $1,000 for a dinner, i would expect it to be at least the same, if not better, than at the other dinners we've had. I can't say that it was.VERDICT: I'm happy we got to knock this one off the list and I will never forget the incredible wagyu dish, and cool kitchen counter experience we had here. However, the bill came out to almost $2,000 (admittedly we did the caviar add on, two bottles of wine, and two dessert wine glasses at $40 a POP), but the meal was just NOT worth that much money. I would recommend if you have money to blow, and to celebrate something special, but keep your expectations at a two and you might feel better than we did leaving!
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Amazing food - going there is an experience .
The taste is great , the presentation is top rated. The place deserved its 3 Michelin stars. It's extremely expensive, but it's worth the price
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I'm only giving 3 stars because I felt as though the
I'm only giving 3 stars because I felt as though the add-ons were very aggressively pushed. They came by with truffle and caviar and offered, for a considerable fee, to add additional to dishes that already came with said ingredients. The umami flavors of truffle and caviar allow for a little bit to go a long way and I felt guilty and shamed to decline these additional offerings. Having dined at various chefs tables, majority of the enjoyment is watching the Chef interact with and within the kitchen whereas this "chefs table" experience felt lackluster and cold as we were seated in a floor booth in the corner with no view of the kitchen. The food was good, nothing spectacular or that I haven't had before. The overall experience does not warrant a higher rating.
It is actually sad that the post experience soiled the meal.
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Perfection! Why do you only give me 5 stars Yelp? I have a
Perfection! Why do you only give me 5 stars Yelp? I have a had a number of meals (all of which I can count on one hand) that live beyond the realm of reality. Cesar ramirez does that. This meal is worth every single penny. This super elegant but inviting iconic restaurant sits hidden behind a pretty typical market. You enter the austere room, where everything seems to serve a function. You are invited by a staff who is on the top of their game. You are welcomed by a chef who some may think is overbearing but is a man who cares so much about his craft. And you are in for one of the best meals of your life. Should I describe every dish? I could, but what is the point. Chef Ramirez could take the scraps from the fridge and make them amazing! So don't worry you will not have a bad dish.Every bite is perfectly balanced. The tempo and flow of it is perfection. You don't leave feeling like a stuffed pig but you will feel full. And if you are not...go get something from the store outside to eat. The wine menu is amazing. Deep cuts with interesting stories. Is it your birthday or anniversary or you just have some cash to blow? Well, get to this place now! Now two notes: funny most the one star reviews are people with very few reviews.Note two/pro tip: don't feel obligated to buy the supplements. The dishes are already perfect. You don't have to spend another 100 bucks to make them better...unless you really want to.
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It was very expensive but you get what you pay for.
Best service I've experienced and it was great decorum for the chef to come and introduce himself to the guests. One thing I'd like to point out if the chef ever reads this review my name isn't Kenji lol and sorry for breaking the glass . Shoutout to the wine guy for the knowledge and recommendations. Tip: just be boujee for a few hours and spend that extra money on the truffles.
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Had a great time and got very drunk.
Service was good but not the best. Also, I wasn't a fan of their music choice, it was weird like I was in a diner or something...Around $2400 total for two.Added extra Caviar, Truffle, and wine pairing on top of their tasting menu. Usually I am not a fan of asian fusion or Japanese x French attempts. They are usually bad. But this place pulled it off. Not the best of the best for a 3 Michelin star restaurant but definitely a must try.
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Overall an amazing meal experience and I can see why it's a
Overall an amazing meal experience and I can see why it's a 3 Michelin. Everything was very well prepared and unique, though I do wish they actually talked more about how they prepared the dishes and why they all fit together. The food was very rich but not overly heavy, and I was definitely stuffed by the end of the meal. My fave was the uni on toast. The madai also had a really amazing texture and paired well with the sauce. The corn soufflé was new to me and really fun to eat. The aji was another fave - I wish there was more of it! They definitely use very high quality and expensive ingredients here, but I can only give 4 stars because while it was a delicious meal and a wonderful experience, I don't know if there was something super unique that makes me say, 'I need to come back.' I'd want a mind blowing experience to pay another $430.
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Least favorite starred meal.
1/5 by 👻
@G M. on 07/12/2022
Only innovative dish was the corn desert otherwise I've had every dish already at another restaurant but better
4/5 by 👻
@A A. on 07/11/2022
Loved truffle uni toast and Japanese mackerel. Service 1: way too slow. It was over 3 hours dinner. Took an hour to get first two courses. There were so long of a break between courses that I found out that my date was doing shady shit behind my back in the middle of the meal. In between the meals were so long that it gave enough time to break up with the guy. I didn't want to miss out on $500 meal so I stayed for another 1.5 hr without a word with the guy. Very awkward and uncomfortable. I had to go out the the bathrooms several times to get away from the awkwardness. The best meal of my life suddenly turned the worst meal ever. I wish it was 2hrs max. Decor: 5 beautiful. Restrooms are outside of the dinning area.
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2 stars because the food itself was good (not great).
Originally dined here back in 2012 in their former location. In their new location, the hostess is incredibly rude, the staff is inattentive and miss many details of the fine dining experience. For example, they try to oversell you on the menu before even serving you water! We waited over 25 minutes just for water or our wine. Overall disappointed and do not recommend. There are several other incredible restaurants with kind staff and attention to detail. These moments should not be missed when spending $1400 on a dinner. Not sure why they keep their stars. Clearly not worth it anymore.
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First of all, the dinner is located at the back of an
First of all, the dinner is located at the back of an unassuming little grocery store. That is so much FUN.Maybe I over-expected this restaurant because it is a 3-star Michelin French & Japanese restaurant. The service was great, but our tea was not served until we were halfway through our dinner. I would give a shout to the dessert (it tasted like a cloud, very soft but it had sweetness in it), the uni with truffle, and the sashimi. They were extraordinary and I would come back for them. However, the steamed fish and corn soup were very creative from the perspectives of the chef (I heard the chef was from Venezuela), but you could purchase them in Chinatown at a more reasonable price, with bigger portions, and better taste.
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This restaurant has been on the to-do list for years now,
This restaurant has been on the to-do list for years now, finally after leaving then visiting NYC again I got the opportunity to go. I was looking forward to what I expected to be a somewhat intimate and interactive experience watching the chef's prepare the meals and perhaps serve the occasional question or comment on the food they are preparing. It was nothing like that.... First off - it's very important to realize when booking a reservation that their new location has non-bar style seating in addition. This means that you may be making a reso for table where you'll have a great view of the BACKS of those ACTUALLY at the Chef's Table. This happened to us and it was very disappointing, we didn't even have the worst view as other tables could barely see the chefs at all from their vantage. Further, the lighting at our table was awful, very dim so that the food all looked dark with little vibrance. I must say the lighting at the actual bar seating looked much better. We asked to be moved but of course all seats at the bar were taken. The food was very meh for a three star Michelin. It's more like a 1 star trying to be a 2, or a 2 star on the verge of becoming a 1. How this food has allowed this restaurant to be a 3 Michelin star for this many years is stunning. It's largely uninventive, the flavors don't have contrast, and a large portion of the dishes are finger foods - really felt like we were an hordoeuvres dinner. Was it bad food? No. Was it 3 Michelin star quality? No. The ambiance... was lacking as well. To start, when they say this is in the back of a grocery store they very much mean it. You have to walk through a grocery store with random customers buying groceries around wondering why you're in dress clothes on a Friday night in a grocery store. That's kinda fun(ish) in a speak easy way but then when you finally finally get to the back at the restaurant they have you waiting next to the beer and potato chips in a tiny little area as you move for customers trying to pick up their groceries. Like really? I mean I get the speak easy thing but this is just absurd for a $400+/person dinner. At least have a nice waiting area after you've arrived. Then the bathroom is IN the grocery store!? What a mood killer to go from this fine dining experience past the potato chips in bright grocery store light to a bathroom that could be from a TGI Friday's. Further, they were playing 1970-90s pop music that you probably have heard on the radio stations on your way to work (and played way too loud) - again makes me think they must be aspiring to TGI Friday's. The interior is fine but not to the level of a 3 star should be, well below it. Uneven decorations, no fresh flowers, candles that were not lit, stuffy old steakhouse wood/leather seating - like what happened here? Shaking my head thinking about this experience... The wait staff was fine, as expected at this level but also nothing special. The chefs do serve some of the dishes but they don't add anything to it. They don't discuss the making of the dish, discuss its origins/thought process, nothing. Just here is your food and goodbye. Finally, there were two flies constantly swarming around us and INTO our food. After looking at other reviews, this has happened to others as well. Would not recommend.
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Hey Gelsey, the same fly come tasted my coffee too.
I think its name is Pete, he bought his whole family there to join our 3 star dinner. I wish I got to snap a selfie with them by how often they joined us.
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As a Michelin restaurant with an average of $400+ per
As a Michelin restaurant with an average of $400+ per person, they cannot even guarantee the essential hygiene environment for consumers. There was a fly next to the stove, and when I asked the waiter to do something about it, all they told me was 'don't worry, it won't bite."