Goodness do my wife and I loath restaurant week! Our lovely South End and indeed much of the rest of Boston being inundated with people who seem to be dead set on ruining the evening of anyone dining after them just drives us around the bend. Really, how long DOES it take to eat three courses? We would fancy ourselves as almost-regulars between Union and Aquitaine and frequently find ourselves just walking in one or the other off the street. As noted in a previous post months ago about Union, Aquitaine is our favorite wine restaurant in the Woods/Gates empire, but it still needs help. My wife and I consider ourselves at least mildly wine-savvy and at the least we know what we like and don't like. But boy are the waiters at Aquitaine in need of some oenological training, not only was the wine service sloppy (our server managed to slosh wine all over the table cloth and down the sides of the glasses) but there was just no interaction, even though we had no questions to ask the gentleman gave us no real indication that such an exchange would even be possible. We hope that the ""powers that be"" within the great Aquitaine management company will send Kelly (the talented and astonishingly young wine director at Union) over to help these guys out. Of course, it was restaurant week and we really do give them the benefit-of-the-doubt but it just seems like the whole list and service procedures might need a little sprucing up. This is not at all a bad review, we love Aquitaine and will return as long as it's there and we can chew, this is just a tiny cry, a good-spirited plea for help. The company has a great resource in their young ""wine guy"" (a transplant from my wife's home state of Colorado!) as he was first introduced, and we hope to see him around another of our favorite South End haunts soon. Thanks Aquitaine and Union for keeping it up!
Pros: Food is always very tasty, service is always wonderful, they have a token French hostess
Cons: tables for two are VERY close together, only one bathroom, not much bar seating, a nightmare for those dining with kids (but I'm sure the staff prefers it that way)
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