Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Haven't been yet, but it's been on my list for awhile. (The old pastry chef was alumni from my school, which sparked my interest in the first place. Too bad she's not there anymore). It's so damn close to my job. I don't know why I haven't been. Would love to hear more first hand comments!

I went back in the summer of 2006 and while the food was very good, the portions were insultingly small and the service was rude and snooty. I've been to many a fine dining establishment, so I feel like I'm being fair in my opinion here. The sommelier requested ID from me and my boyfriend and made a big fuss about it such that other diners were staring (we were both over 21), making us feel very self-conscious. Meanwhile I've never been ID-ed in any New York restaurant before (and I went to college here).

Then I requested a glass of Gewurztraminer and the sommelier was very condescending, first telling me that I wouldn't like it (I told her that I knew what it tasted like) and then just refusing to bring it since it didn't go with the dish I had ordered. Instead I got a glass of wine that I didn't want or even like. I'm all for educated suggestions, but really, let the customer order what she wants. The service was really just off-putting - I felt like they were rude to us because we were young. The waiter was rushing us through the courses and really just wasn't very nice - we felt like they were shooting us dirty looks the entire time. The main courses were just too small and we left feeling hungry and humbled. I don't need a Grand Slam size meal, but the serving size was like 1 ounce of protein per person (we did not get the tasting menu either), and when you are paying that much money, you want a bit more food.
I don't think I would go back because I really just have a bad feeling left over from my experience there, and I'd rather spend my money at places where I will be treated more graciously, no matter my age.

yeah, I'm finding it hard to believe. Every Meyer restaurant I've been to has been top notch, EMP and Tabla especially. And sometimes instead of dressing up, I'll just throw on True Religions, Nike Dunks and t-shirts or polos. Again, I've never had bad service in any of the many Meyer restaurants that I've been to.....sounds like some player hating going on.

Laurelie, if you were 22 at the time that you went to EMP, I'm not surprised that they carded you. And I'm surprised you've never been carded anywhere else in the city. I'm 33 and I still get carded from time to time. It's NYC law to card anyone younger than 40. I'm not trying to blame you, but if you got very defensive when asked for ID, that may have tainted the way you experienced the rest of the evening.

As for my own experience with EMP, my fiancee and I are getting married later this year and our plan is to hold a very intimate dinner for family and friends in one of the private dining areas of a 4 star resturant. As part of our research, we had dinner at each 4 star (and 4-star level) resturant in the city in very quick succession - Per Se, Daniel, Le Bernardin et. al - and also had a viewing of each private dining room. EMP ended up blowing away the competition. Besides having the most stunning and beautiful private dining space (Per Se's is a little windowless, shoebox of a space - what's the point of being in the Time Warner Building?), the food was exceptional (way more fun and accessible than Daniel's while still feeling decadent), the service impeccable, and the atmosphere a nice balance of attentiveness and casualness.

The portions may be smaller than what most American's are accustomed to but given how many appetizers and other items you recieve inbetween the three courses, one cannot possibly leave hungry. Our meal consisted of:
- 5 small appetizers (including foie gras, sweetbreads, and a radish dipped in butter)
- a dozen cheese puffs (yum)
- amuse bouche of microgastronomy "tomato & mozzarella" - SO GOOD
- 2nd amuse bouche of lobster bisque
- assortment of bread (try the lemon thyme) with two kinds of butter - cow and goat
- our appetizers (course 1 - we had the gnocchi & shrimp roll)
- our main course (course 2 - suckling pig & halibut)
- a palette cleanser (a strawberry whipped thing)
- our desserts (course 3 - chocolate peanut butter palatte & cherry "cobbler")
- gratis mini-macaroons (as many as you want)
- gratis cognac (I don't drink but my fiancee said it was very good) - and they left the whole bottle to allow us to linger

Plus we got a small box of fruit pate when we left. All this for far less than what we paid at Daniel or Per Se. And Chef Humm visited our table towards the end of dinner to see how we were doing.

It was such a magical experience. I was thrilled to see EMP receive 4 stars this past week. So deserved.

laurelie - i have had inconsistent danny meyer service experiences as well so i hear you. i know he is famous for hospitality, but i've never found service to be consistently good at his restaurants. given that hospitality is danny meyer's self-proclaimed focus, i'm usually disapointed.

still - i will give EMP a try - some of these reviews food-wise here sound amazing. jboylee, congratulations and thanks for the menu breakdown - sounds delicious.