tim e

We were there a few weeks ago and the canapes were new to us too. We do the tasting menu once or twice a year and May 2008 was the first time we got the muffins and menu copies. I think it's nice that they've added those little gestures to the tasting nights.

That's awesome - exactly how I felt two weeks ago! My wife and I celebrated our anniversary there on the 18th. Our lunch was superb in every respect. We had the tasting menu, which included an off-menu course of sayori. Started with some Pierre Gimonnet, and the sommelier paired a couple of glasses with the foie/veloute course and two half bottles for the rest of the meal. I'm already looking forward to the next time, whenever that will be... Since I asked about it before -- later that night we ended up at the Fatty Crab (West Village) for drinks & a light dinner (light in that we could only eat about a third of what we ordered ).

Thanks! Maybe we'll keep a few places in mind where we can walk in for small plates later that evening.

Another vote for Vetri here. For my father's birthday last year, we asked the maitre d' to arrange a tour of the restaurant after dinner, and they were only too happy to do so. This included the kitchen as well as the wine cellar and charcuterie room. Vetri himself was out of town, but chef de cuisine Brad Spence was generous enough to spend a few minutes talking to my dad even though service was still going on.

My wife and I will be celebrating our anniversary in a couple of weeks with lunch at Per Se. Newbie question: will we want to even contemplate eating dinner that evening? We plan to go for the full 9-course experience and consider ourselves to be people of normal appetite (whatever that means).

Mike, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Totaro's Trattoria. I lived a few blocks from there in Conshohocken for many years and unfortunately never had a good meal there. Sounds like they've turned things around.

This was my first time eating Shola's food, too, and my reactions were very similar to sockii's -- it was an excellent meal, but not "transcendent." Loved the soup, the peanut-cauliflower puree, and the entire veal course. I'm not big on dessert, but the yogurt powder was a neat touch. My brother and I brought a bottle of our homebrewed British session ale, which was a decent accompaniment to the soup (it was Beer Week after all), and followed up with a bottle of Alsace pinot blanc for the remaining courses, which was great.