Had an amazing experience yesterday. As a native New Yorker, I rarely think of going to Wall Street for lunch. Well, call me "provincial." Had one of the best meals ever at Sho Shaun Hergatt. Also something I wasn't expecting. I had read early reviews which emphasized the opulence and knew no one who had gone. It was kind of "one didn't." Happy to eat my words. The three course lunch is a splendid meal and a superlative value. Each course offers three choices and they are brilliantly planned and plotted to work from one course to the next. There is nothing random here. It reminded me very much of Joel Robuchon's Atelier when it first opened and thrilled us with its Asian twist on French classics. But what made the experience unique was the involvement of the chef above and beyond the direction of the meal. He literally turned what could have been an unpleasant situation into something memorable and assured himself of three loyal customers. My friends and I all noted on the web site there was a $10 endless glass of wine and we remarked on its being endless. On the menu, there was no listing, so we inquired. The maitre, Ron assured us he would look into it for us. Mr. Manager came over and told us he was sorry that we were misinformed. Us misinformed no...Sho's website had informed us. M. Manager declined to offer us the "endless" glass saying it was not available during Restaurant Week. When Ron returned, we expressed disappointment. All of a sudden the actual chef, Shaun Hergatt in his whites, was at our table, assuring us of his interest and offering us the wine as described. He returned after our lunch to ask our opinions of the food and told us a bit about himself. None of us are novices, we have all traveled widely and it's hard to impress the sometimes cynical and jaded New Yorkers that we are but Mr Hergatt did. I congratulate him as much on his extraordinary culinary talents as his customer skills. Asking... has anyone else had such good experiences?
