I took a freind to celebrate her having finished law school; for the two of us, the bill, before tip, was close to $600. We both had the prix fixe dinner- $125 each. After I complained to the maitre d, the service was quite good; before that however, the service was simply emabarrasing. The swarm of servers/bussers were trying to rush us out so quickly, that they were taking the plates while we were still eating; at one point, they took my freind's plate while she had food in her mouth -that is when I complained. We ordered a (ok, three) quite nice Barolo- but it was really over priced. The prix fixe menu was seven courses, some were excellent, but really only a few. The rest were simply mediocre; all were extremely small portions. The tables are far too close together; the guest next to us nocked over my friend's wine squeezing back to her table (though, I must say, the response was excellent; they changed the table linens in a flash, and gave my friend a card for free dry cleaning without hesitation). The problem is that you are paying for world class food, service, and ambience; you end up with pretty good food, spotty service, tiny portions, and you may as well be sharing a table with the people around you- lord knows you are regularly brushing against each other. The bill is the biggest issue. Without trying to sound arrogant, I have eaten in fine restaurants in many countries; never have I felt so completely taken (for what it cost, I could have flown to London for dinner). If you have money to burn, and want to see what a real rip-off is, go to Acqua. Otherewise, stay away.
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