Aquavit

[macrosan]

I've been invited to a business dinner at Aquavit on Friday. I know Steven's review says dress code is "jackets" but my general experience in NY is that those stated dress codes are more honored in word than in deed. So what do the customers REALLY wear ? I'd ask the lady who has invited me, but she's unobtainable till I meet her there, so I need some help from you guys PLEASE.

And while you're posting, any special dishes of the moment you can recommend?

Incidentally, the lady and I are going to "spoof" for the check. Is that a known game in the USA?

[Bux]

I would agree that dress codes are rarely enforced in NYC, although I have seen people offered jackets by the management and I have heard of ties being offered in some places. One's first responsibility is those at one's table. Is this dinner for the two of you or will others be there? In any event, if it matters, you will generally be met with more favorable reaction at a business dinner by overdressing than underdressing. Of course, you may know your companion(s) well enough to dismiss generalities. On the other hand, letting the restaurant know you think it's a place that deserves dressing up for dinner never hurts the service.

As to what people wear, I haven't been in Aquavit in a long time. Dress codes are moving towards informality at such a rate that I'd be loathe to guess the number of diners who show up without a jacket. My guess is that jackets will predominate. You might call the restaurant and see how they phrase any code. I once called a restaurant on a hot summer day and asked if ties were required. I received a most politely couched answer -- "We request ties." It was clear I would not be barred without one, but the message was so gracefully delivered that in addition to reassuring me that I didn't need a tie, it convinced me to aspire to their standard.

[tommy]

on a recent visit, i saw most wearing jackets.  i was as well, which is really something unusual.

[macrosan]

Gramercy Tavern was fully booked on October 5, so my eating companion booked us in at Aquavit. Robert Brown (in a different thread) recommended me to change the venue. He was right but it was too late.

We had a table downstairs in the atrium-style restaurant, with its interesting and restful sounding waterfall. I knew we had a problem as soon as our waiter asked if we wanted a cocktail. He made clear his disapproval of our request for a glass of white wine (I assume the cocktails are much more expensive). He asked what wine I liked, to which I replied that I'd like a Loire. He listed all his white wines sold by the glass, starting with Chablis! We eventually ordered our meal and my companion innocently asked the waiter for some advice on a bottle of red wine. The first question was whether he would recommend the Chilean wines. He corrected my companion's pronunciation of "Chilean" (she was right, he was wrong) and then told her how good the Californian reds were. She persisted and asked him the difference between the two Chilean reds on offer. He spouted a couple of minutes of gobble-de-gook incorporating such trendy words as earthy, grapy, acidic, full and so on. Finally he confided that one wine was more interesting, while the other was closer to a regular table wine. Oh boy! We chose the latter, and actually it was very good.

There arrived at our table a huge glass salver, about 18 inch diameter, beautifully sculpted, upon which sat two 1 inch cubes with toothpicks sticking in them. Our waiter enthusiastically, and at length, described the complimentary feast set before us. I hardly heard a word he said. In the event it turned out to be canteloupe melon with a drizzle of sauce. It tasted like canteloupe melon.

As an appetizer I had ordered gravad lax. What I got was wet, wafer thin sliced and folded, tasteless smoked salmon. The difrerence between smoked salmon and gravad lax is that the latter is pickled and smoked. What I had, in a Swedish restaurant, was unpickled smoked salmon. But as smoked salmon it was awful - too wet, too thinly cut, barely smoked, totally tasteless. Even the two sauces provided (mustard and toffee/soya) were tasteless.  My companion ordered a shrimp dish which she said, with a shrug and a smile, was OK.

Then we had another freebie. Each of us got a huge 12 inch square slab of sculpted glass, surmounted by a 2 inch by 1 inch portion of minced salmon (according to our waiter) with a sauce and a vegetable of some sort. It tasted like ... nothing. It lasted ... 2 seconds.

The only thing that was keeping us going was the wine, which had somehow transformed itself from "very pleasant" to "magnificently wonderful".

We both selected roast duck for the main course, and the waiter advised us in the firmest tones that the chef recommended medium rare, lest we risk offending him by ordering it any other way. We both asked for medium rare. The duck arrived rare. Very rare. If it had been any rarer, it would have still had feathers and been running round the plate quacking. Now as it happens the duck was good, as were the vegetables. But it was cold --- it would be, since it hadn't been in the oven long enough to get warm. Any restaurant purporting to be of the quality of Aquavit must describe its food accurately, and not to do so is an insult to itself and its customers.

My companion had had enough by now, but I peresevered and took the dessert. I had blueberry sorbet with a goats-milk yoghurt mousse. This was superb.

The final rite was the check. 质 for 2 prix fixe menus plus ๤ for 2 glasses of white wine and a bottle of Chilean cabernet, total 赼 plus tip. If the cost had been half that, I would have been seriously disappointed.

The point about a restaurant with the prices and pretensions of Aquavit is that it cannot afford a single mistake. That applies to decor, ambience, service, wine and food. Aquavit does not get near the benefit of the doubt for me. It's a no-no.

[Andy Lynes]

I've just given the restaurant website a once over and can't help thinking that with a six story high atrium and a waterfall it would be a bit like eating dinner in one of those amusement park water worlds.

I also have a bit of a weak bladder and the sound of running water would not be beneficial to a comfortable evening for me.  

[Fat Guy]

Wow, that's a pretty harsh critique of Aqauvit. It sounds as though you not only had a bad service experience, but also you weren't predisposed to enjoy that style of cuisine. My own experiences at Aquavit have been much more pleasant, and some of the dishes have been -- to me -- fascinating. As for prices, my sense is that they're unexceptional for a New York fine dining restaurant.

Andy, the waterfall works for me. It's unobtrusive -- a source of white noise rather than an acute waterfall sound, and the atrium is one of the most unique dining spaces in New York, behind the former Rockefeller (I think) townhouse.

[Andy Lynes]

I must say that the photos on Aquavits website are taken from quite odd angles, I guess to try and include both the room and give some impression of the scale of the atrium. I can easily imagine the restaurant looking very different in the "flesh".

I have just booked for lunch at a London restaurant called the Square and discovered they have a website. Apart from the fonts used on the menus and wines lists, this seems to me to be an excellent site, especially the 360 degree picture of the dining room. Perhaps a model for other restaurants to follow http://www.squarerestaurant.com.    

[Rosie]

I'm going next month. Any suggestions?

[Rosie]

Oh Vay!! ์ to park? I don't mind spending a fortune for dinner but I do mind ์ to park. That is one reason I dislike dining in NY. But thanks for the heads up.

Don't mind 14 courses either. I expect they are small. I read that they had a 5 course tasting for ๛. 贄 with wine.We had 11 plus courses at The French Laundry and survived!

I don't like vodka either but Lowell loves it. I wonder if you can request no vodka if you have the tasting dinner with the wine.

(Edited by Rosie at 2:42 pm on Dec. 17, 2001)

[tommy]

Quote: from Rosie on 1:19 pm on Dec. 17, 2001

I wonder if you can request no vodka if you have the tasting dinner with the wine.

i'd imagine they'd be pretty accommodating.  especially considering the prices of the 14 course tasting (500 for 2 after tip if i recall).  i remember balking at an oaky chardonnay and it was replaced with the previous steely selection, free of sigh.

[Hank]

Rosie, don't fret about the parking. If you get to the restaurant a few minutes before 7:00 you can park at countless meters on the north side of the street where the restaurant is located. Went last week and it cost me four dollars. Just remember to bring along enough quarters. Four quarters per hour but that certainly beats ์.00 to park in a lot. We have been there many times and I am sure that you will have a wonderful time, especially if you sit in the main room with the magnificint waterfall. Call in advance to make sure. I have never ordered the tasting menu (much too much food)but have always been more than happy chosing from their marvelous menu. A votre sante.

[rich]

Went to Aquavit Saturday afternoon for their special "Herring Tasting" and was very impressed.

The buffet-style luncheon consisted of about 10 types of herring and a few types of salmon and well as several salads and Swedish Meatballs.

Tried a flight of Aquavit (at $12 for three, probably the best alcohol deal in NYC), all were very flavorful.

Next Sunday is the last day for the Sherry Dinner at Tio Pepe. It's an excellent five-course meal for the unbelievable price of $42 per person.

With so many of these special dinners coming up, does anyone know of others (aside from the two that were mentioned in other posts for Tuesday, June 18th)?

[Stephen Jackson]

NYC Day Three – Aquavit

Dinner, Aquavit, 13, W 54th St.

I’d been here before, so I knew what to expect, but again, I was not disappointed.

Again, the mixed blessings of letting on you’re a chef. You get lots of food. Lots. The dining room at Aquavit, for those who’ve not been, is in a kind of atrium of a hollowed-out townhouse, one wall is a bronze sheet with water cascading down it. It, along with the wide open space and echoing chatter, lends the room the feeling of eating dinner at the foot of a glacier. Perhaps that’s the idea. Marcus Samuelsson, the chef at Aquavit, loosely themes his food around the dishes of his native Sweden (and he looks *exactly* like Martin Dahlin, football fans), so seafood and berries feature highly. He’s also into playing with flavours, textures and temperatures, so each meal is a bit of a rollercoaster for the mind and body. It was very good indeed…

To start – a little spoon, upon which rested a super-ripe cherry tomato, filled with goats’ cheese and topped with slivers of raw hamachi tuna. In one mouthful, crisp, fresh, appetite-inducing flavours.

Amuse-gueule – A ceviche of sea bass, tip-top fresh, with a splash of creamy-smooth parsnip puree (super sweet – must have been a baby parsnip for that intensity of flavour) and topped with a fine macedoine of pear and cucumber, which worked brilliantly.

To start – Samuelsson is famous for his ganache of foie gras, a little flowing pudding, similar to the ubiquitous chocolate fondants one sees on almost every menu. It’s like a tiny suet pudding which, when cut, releases a trickle of molten foie gras. It is stunning. This time, the ganache came with a duck sausage ( a little dry, as if they’d used breast meat and no fat, but delicious nonetheless) on a stripe of duck/cherry reduction – super-intense – and a mini-quenelle of asian pear sorbet. The combination of big flavours and clean gracenotes was memorable.

Then – Oh, God, not another freebie – a mid-course of Jerusalem artichoke soup, in which floated a delicious dim-sum-style ravioli of crab, and a fantastic chunk of seared watermelon with a little sea-urchin flesh on top. This was brilliant. The soup, fluffy, light and earthy, mingled well with the fresh crab, and the caramelized waternmelon and urchin combination was a fight to the death between rich intensity and crisp freshness.

Main Course – A beautifully-cooked, well-rested piece of aged NY steak, cleft in twain, topped with ceps, and served either side of a fantastic swede (rutabaga) puree, which was studded with shards of palm heart. A well-reduced jus added the required moisture, and the whole dish was a great success.

Desserts – we were given a tableful of treats, and the standouts were a buttermilk sorbet with fresh fruits, and a fantastic glassful of roasted pineapple with granita of green tea, topped with white chocolate foam and a tuile made of dark Muscovado sugar. Refreshing.

Wine – a good Sancerre, and one of my favourite reds, a Mas De Daumas Gassac from the Languedoc. Terrific stuff. With dessert, I went against form and tried one of the flavoured aquavits upon which the restaurant prides itself. Lemongrass and Grapefruit. It was icy-cold and full of clean, crisp citrus flavour – cleaned things up nicely.

Coffee – again, poor espresso, but what the heck. Another great meal.

[Liza]

I'm trying to get my head around the seared watermelon in the jerusalem artichoke soup...It's as if my winter brain and my summer brain are colliding. But I've always been a fan of MS, too, so I'll take your word for it.

[macrosan]

Again, the mixed blessings of letting on you’re a chef. You get lots of food. Lots.

I'm enjoying your reports, Stephen.

I'm interested to know why, given that you find the blessings "mixed", you do in fact tell the restaurant that you're a chef. I'm also interested to know if you tell them in advance when you book, or do you tell the waitstaff when you sit down ?

[Stephen Jackson]

Well, it's not something I like to make a habit of, but when it comes up in conversation, or it seems apposite, i mention it. It usually happens when places are busy and I'm kept waiting. Knowing what it's like on the other side of the kitchen wall, I'm perfectly happy to sit it out, and usually make mention of the fact that I'm in the trade and I understand what it can be like.

On other occasions, especially in France, I send confirmation by fax. Sometimes they mention it. Other times they don't.

So, it's not like I'm angling for special treatment. It's just a nice club to be in, and often I learn things I wouldn't have learned had I just gone for a meal, whether or not it's a technical question answered, a front-of-house discussion to be had, or a new wine merchant discovered.

The reason I said it was a mixed blessing is that sometimes we try a little too hard for our fellow chefs, and end up giving them too much food!

[jeunefilleparis]

My first meal at Aquavit was during rest. week of 2002. I think it was one of my most memorable meals in nyc. The dining room was very elegant, especially with the waterfall and skylights.

I had a very simple ap. Goat cheese and arugala and a red beet coulis. I love the dishware there, simple and elegant, works well with the setting.

I had a roasted salmon with a veggie I dont recall., but the best part was the dessert, the artic circle, oh my god. I ve eaten a lot of desserts in my day, and that was up in the top ten,, DOes anyone know how go to make that? is there a recipe lurking around? i would kill for it:)

Anyways, thats all from me

L

[Stephen Jackson]

Samuelsson's book 'Middagstips' (sadly only in Swedish) is available from the restaurant. It has the recipe for the Arctic Circle.

Also, his 'Aquavit' book will be out in October, according to Amazon.com.

[jeunefilleparis]

the question is, who can translate swedish for me so I can try and make my own artic circle?

[inventolux]

I was attending the James Beard awards and Chef Samuelsson invited our staff over for lunch before the awards ceremony. It was easily the best lunch I have ever had........15 courses in all. The most memorable one being Texas Kobe Beef in green tea broth.

[rich]

Aquavit, which in my opinion is still one of the city's top ten restaurants, is offering herring week next week. Lunches are $20 per person for the buffet, while dinner is $30. This is one of the best (if not THE best) deals offered by a top restaurant. I have reservation for next Friday (6/13).

[jogoode]

I just noticed that Aquavit has a "bite menu" (a multi-course tasting). It's $110.

Anyone been recently? To the cafe? The Cafe isn't too expensive...

[tommy]

haven't been probably in a few years, but the bite menu was about 14 or 16 courses iirc. it was overwhelming, but a fun challenge nonetheless.

[hannnah]

We were there last week; although we didn't do the bite menu, everything we tried was excellent - particularly the gravlax and the pickled sardines. And the infused aquavits go down very smoothly - the pear, vanilla, and black pepper one was the highlight, although the horseradish one went very well with the gravlax.

[jogoode]

haven't been probably in a few years, but the bite menu was about 14 or 16 courses iirc. it was overwhelming, but a fun challenge nonetheless.

Nice! I'll have to think about that...I love the idea of these multi course menus with tiny portions...