I attended a patio party here in mid-July sponsored by St Germain liquer, thanking patrons for supporting Jody Adams and Rialto through her time on Top Chef, etc. So for the food, drinks, service, and the patio space:
Food: Was hit or miss, oddly enough. The grilled littlenecks were drowning in olive oil (not the good stuff, I might add) and definitely overcooked. The battered and fried squash blossoms with goat cheese filling were tasty, but the cheese was a bit overwhelming relative to the amount of squash blossom. Octopus bruschetta was--interesting. The octopus was perfectly cooked, but the seasoning was a bit off. Too much salt perhaps? The beets with ricotta cheese was fantastic - clean flavors and a good flavor/visual contrast of the bright red, slightly sweet beets and the ivory-colored, creamy whipped ricotta. The potato, sausage, and pickle skewers were definitely not good - the sausage had great flavor and was properly cooked, the potatoes were undercooked, and the pickle was an overcooked, mushy, flavorless mess. The crab sandwiches were a bit messy and mushy, but had good flavor.
Drinks: Two options - red wine topped with prosecco with an olive and a twist OR the Terrace, an infused gin and St. Germain lowball. The wine drink was fine but nothing special (though the servers had no idea what type of wine it was), but our party of four all skipped the olive and twist as they were pretty discordant to the smoothness of the concoction. The Terrace was a delight, though it tasted nothing like St Germain or Bombay gin, and more like a piquant grapefruit juice on ice (that secretly packed a punch).
Service: Also hit or miss. I had one great beverage server who made sure my hand always had a drink in it. Another couple of servers looked me in the eye and walked by our party of four several times to give food to other parties. Additionally, whomever was working expo in the kitchen was not running enough of each item - for a patio party with 25-30 attendees, a plate of 8-12 pieces would come out, and the server could barely make it past the patio door before the plate was empty. Rather than returning with the same dish, the server returned with something different to the same situation of empty platters at the door. The platters also came out with varied frequency - at one point, 3 servers with three different items would enter together, and then there would be 15 minutes with no servers or food in sight. Finally, it became a juggling act of toothpicks and empty cocktail glasses as there simply was not enough service to continually clear our hands, an especially odd event given the fact that the restaurant inside was less than half full. This just wasn't what I had expected give the rave reviews below.
The Patio Space: This patio kinda... stinks. It's tiny, barely 10' by 20', the ceiling, while it provided some decent shade is rather low, and you have a glorious view of... other people eating. In better looking spaces at Legal's and Henrietta's Table. And unattractive buildings. I wouldn't hold my breath or wait an extra long time for a table out there.
Pros: Good cocktails and bar staff
Cons: Food, service, small patio
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