32 West 52nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
212/582.6900
$200 for two, with wine, without tip
♥ ♥
By the fifth time someone asked us if everything was okay, I paused and looked into the waiter’s eyes and told him, Really. We’re okay. I like good service as much as anybody else but there’s a fine line between being attentive and annoying. Our waiter swung by a few times to see if we needed drink refills (our wine glasses were still more than a third full), a couple of busboys tried to clear our plates away while we were still working on them and two other waiters whom we’ve never seen before also came by to ask if we were okay. I looked around the restaurant to see if we were holding up our table for too long, but it was fairly empty at 8pm. Were the servers just bored?
When we had uninterrupted minutes to ourselves, we were able to enjoy the food. The kitchen started us off with a lamb sausage amuse which my dining companion didn’t eat because she is quasi-vegetarian. I thought it was odd that no one ever bothered to ask her. I figured that they probably assumed we both eat meat because we were at a Greek restaurant.
The smoked octopus with fennel and mushrooms in lemon confit was so fragrant while the salad of Brussels sprouts and beets was so beautifully presented. The mullet and sweetbreads combined with bitter greens were a good mix in terms of texture, although I wasn’t a fan of the bulghur wheat that came with the roasted mushrooms and hen’s egg. By the time the quail and the tuna tartare were served, I was already full. My friend, skipping the meaty dishes, had room for the cotton candy with petit fours and the rich chocolate tart with ice cream.
We were really more than okay.
Related post/s:
Kefi is also from chef Michael Psilakis
Nobu 57 is a few blocks down
