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Olives NY: Todd English in the W Hotel


cupcake250

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I had been to Olives a few times before with friends for cocktails, however never for dinner. I had heard positive things about the restaurant, and my dining companion had as well. Prior to our visit, I did look at some reviews and again, heard positive comments, and the merits of Todd English’s food (plus rave reviews about his cookbook from some cookbook author friends).

Overall, we had a very enjoyable experience; however living in NYC and being somewhat of a true “foodie” I was quite disappointed with our server (which I will explain below). Other than that, overall the experience was quite positive, great atmosphere, great food, fun crowd (it was extremely busy with a very NYC/fun crowd) and was intrigued by the extensive menu and would want to come back to try some of Olives’ other creations.

I loved the décor at Olives, the lighting, large chandelier prominent in the main dining room added the right amount of light, the flowers were beautiful (dogwoods and cherry blossoms—very typical of spring & festive) loved how you could see part of the exposed kitchen (or at least some of the prep station) with a highlight on them with the lighting. The table we were seated at had a nice view of the dining room, and the banquet was very comfortable and roomy. People were all hanging out in the lobby to the left of the restaurant, and you could tell it was a fun festive crowd. Everyone seemed to be having fun, drinking, etc. The bar area was quite crowded, and it was a little tight getting through to the restaurant, but it just made the experience all the more hip and popular as once seated in the dining room, the ambiance was not noisy at all and quite pleasant..we loved the music they played, it was at the right level, etc.

My only other minor complaint was where the bathrooms were situated…in the middle of our meal, I went to the ladies room and was a little irked that I had to walk all across the dining room, through the bar area and lobby of the hotel, take an elevator to the second floor and basically use the bathroom of the hotel…while I did make a comment to the bouncer in the elevator, he said the hotel had been converted and the bathrooms had to be on the second level; however I am surprised that they were not able to have bathrooms on the main level, it was somewhat of an inconvenience as I felt I had been “missing from the table” for about 10 minutes.

While I usually like to comment on all the positives first, (esp at olives with the food, ambiance etc) I have to say our server was quite disappointing. For a somewhat “hip” restaurant, I found our waitress to be unhelpful, brief, and in a pissy mood. She was not AT ALL like the other servers I typically encounter when dining in NYC. As a friendly person, I pretty much always have servers that are friendly, talk with you, make suggestions, if you pass on dessert or something else, say are you sure you don’t want to try x” just make your visit more pleasant. She seemed to be the “get em in, get em out, type” and was not at all friendly, except after we had paid, and about to tip, we got a huge glaring smile out of her and a and “hope you had a nice time, thanks so much” which made it all the more artificial and annoying.

When we first sat down, she didn’t really welcome us, her hair was a mess, tied up in a twist type knot, just looked like she wasn’t really that happy to be there…we first ordered drinks …when she came back to get our order we werent ready, I said “we just need two more minutes” she then just said ok, and left as opposed to saying, can I make some suggestions?..all she said were “the specials are listed inside the menu.” Something like, the specials are listed inside the menu, but I am happy to describe any of them for you and/or make any suggestions!!”

Not once did she offer expertise on anything on the menu...also when she came back to check on us while eating, I made a comment on one of the salads on the mezze vegetarian plate, (specifically asking her are these sweet potatoes? and she said, no it’s a carrot & feta salad.,.and that was that…”

However once it was time for dessert, again in her typical demeanor, she just brought the menus and from what I remember just gave them to us….never made any suggestions, never said, we make a great cappuccino, etc...nothing...again, she just wasn’t the same caliber of server I am used to living in NYC and going out to eat often.

Alas, now the food…delicious overall. We started with the complementary olive platter and the bread. I found the foccaccia-like bread a little too greasy, while the flatbread was delicious..just the right amount of seasonings, salt and crisp texture. It was delicious with the quality olives and few types of tapenade. As an appetizer I started with the Greek salad, which was quite innovative. Aside from being on a carefully assembled round bed of fresh mesclun-type lettuce, (far from the traditional typical romaine) the carefully slivered red onions and feta were delicious. Plus, I was quite appreciative when the plate arrived with not only the dressing on the side, but also the olive oil and feta cheese, as I had asked for the dressing on the side. I found the line chefs decision to put both on the side was quite appreciated and considerate as s/he interpreted that the guest obviously wanted to be eating healthy, and opted to not douse my salad in the olive oil and fattening cheese as well. It was superb.

As a second course I opted for the Mezze; the vegetarian platter as I thought it sounded quite innovative. It was not only delicious but also very innovative and an interesting and well-chosen variety of Mediterranean salads. My most favorite was the one with the perfectly roasted carrots (which tasted like sweet potatoes) and feta cheese. If only I could roast vegetables as well as that at home. Also refreshing was the cucumber and yogurt salad, which was a delight on a warm evening. The ratatouille was equally delicious and interesting; a nice “somewhat sweet” complement to the hearty and refreshing combinations. The last salad was also interesting but not as much to my liking and I found it to be a little unimpressive.

I was quite full in time for dessert. While I was quite tempted to order the souffle that was served right at the table next to me upon my arrival, I was excited when the two types of petit fours arrived as a nice finish to our meal. The macaroon was just sweet enough to satisfy, and even more delicious was the small coconut & chocolate bar. I feel that the complementary petit fours go a long way with guests. Even alongside a dessert it is such a nice gesture and always well received as a nice final touch at the end of a meal. Overall, I will definitely try Olives again soon; the various fish selections, roasted chicken and tuna tartare caught my fancy and with such a nice ambiance and fun crowd, it is a perfect place to meet a friend for dinner. Again, my one complaint being my server, however I would imagine that the situation would be different upon my next visit.

ps has anyone made anything from Todd English's cookbook????

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ps has anyone made anything from Todd English's cookbook????

I wonder if Todd English has ever made anything from his cookbook. (At least not in a while) :wink:

"These pretzels are making me thirsty." --Kramer

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hmmm...I do think the food there is sort-of forgotten (it's generally quite good) but I wouldn't call it a NY-crowd at all. It's virtually entirely tourists or Jerseyites (as is the bar) -- I'm not making any sort of comment on the people, just describing the actual make-up of the crowd.

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CupCakes I don’t see a legitimate complain you have made towards the service.

I for one never want a recommendation from a server unless I ask for one. And no server should ever come forward and express that they make a great espresso. That sounds very immature to me. On the other hand I thought the food was pretty horrible at Olives

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not that this place is really a fine dining destination, but i think they're trying to avoid the "hello, my name is jan and i'll be your waiteress" service you might be looking for..

that said, for a nice touristy restaurant, they put out a real nice restaurant week lunch..

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ps has anyone made anything from Todd English's cookbook????

I have and can't recall anything I didn't love.

Fig pizza, mustard chicken, watermelon salad, tomato and cucumber salad, and desserts...typically easier than they look and always worth the effort.

I was a little bummed that the dessert cookbook had a fair amount of redundancy with Figs, and Olives. Also, it is too involved for me most of the time, though a neat concept. Fancy desserts constructed from various parts that can also be served by themselves.

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