New Leaf

The bread was relatively dry didnt come with butter or oil or any sort of dipping goodness. I got the goat cheese appetizer, it came with what tasted like canned beats and no greens or fruit of any kind. The cheese was not warm. My friend got the tempura butternutsquash which was tastey, but needed a different dipping sauce besides plain old soy. (Sweet and sour would have been perfect.) I got the duck spring roll dinner entree. The spring rolls was tastey but VERY greasey. The butterflied duck with blood orange reduction came was VERY greasey, like a huge overpriced very very greasy thin chicken finger. Not worth $28. Almost no greens (a few sprigs of watercress) and very small pieces of blood oranges. My friend got the risotto cakes - again - severely lacking on promised accompanying veggies. Cakes were greasy but tastey - ncie texture. Molten cake was very good - but if you want ice cream - before you specify that you want a true SIDE of ice cream with it - otherwise will you get a melon ball sized scoop of ice cream. The waiters were very friendly and kind. Nice warm atmosphere, though the bathroom was freezing cold. Great if you want to take a romantic walk through the park after or before a dinner. Perhaps we ordered the wrong foods - but it was one of the most expensive meals I've had in the city, and I dont feel it was worth it. You have to credi them with innovative flavor pairings, but I'm not sure they were successful. Def. not the place to go if you are on any semblence of diet. I am told their brunch is amazing - so go during the day when you can enjoy the park - and eat the famous brunch.

We came here for sunday morning brunch. we'd seen it on our walks in the park and new it had bette middler's name attached. we walked in and the hostess asked if we had a reservation. upon saying no, we were seated at the smallest little unstable table squashed into a nook. it was a small cafe table with 3 legs (instead of one leg on the inside like most tables that size and shape) and the chairs and placesettings were set in such a way that we would have knocked our heads on the wood "heaters" and wouldnt have been able to actually sit our legs under the table. so we moved til we were almost sitting on top of each other, but it was fine. we had a nice view outside of the window. the menu was prix fixe at $17.95 for coffee, juice, and meal. most of the menu items were not worth paying this much, such as the french toast that we both got. it was nothing to write home about. for that price, they didin't even bring out a bread basket. $7 for the same basket that nearly every other restaurant in the city would offer free. the french toast also came with chicken sausage. but it was so burnt, you couldn't even taste the chicken. beware, you can't substitute any of the omlettes. they didn't offer pancakes. and the potato pancakes now come with salmon. i don't know. really, there are MUCH better places to spend that kind of money on, and even better places to spend much less money for much better food and service.

This is my favorite place in uptown and I go here often for all occasions. I come in for a drink and appetizers (the mushroom friends are out of control) at the bar sometimes with a friend to hear the live music. The musicians are literally right next to the bar, and it's not as loud as others say. It's not unreasonable and it's exactly what you would expect- if you listen to live music in restauants because it is different than having a stereo you can turn down at home. The service is definetely not great, but the atmosphere is so unique and lovely. The food rocks- I love the risotto and the duck and for brunch I love their bloody Mary's and grilled veggie sandwich. I so recommend this place it's great!

I was looking forward to trying this place for a while and was really disappointed. The food was good but way over-priced for both portions and quality. Maybe you pay extra for the atmosphere/setting but sitting outside in a tent isn't anything special.

I love this place and take friends there on a regular basis. The food is delicious, atmosphere terrific. However, I selected this place Friday evening when a friend offered to take me out for my birthday. Everything was as usual, until the live music started. It was so incredibly loud we couldn't carry on a conversation. Not even when yelling. The people at the next table said the same thing. We watched people all over the room struggling to hear one another. We spoke to our waitress twice, the bartender once and the manager twice. They said they couldn't do anything about it. (This is hard to believe, I would imagine the band worked for the restaurant, not the other way around), As they are all fairly young, chances are their hearing was destroyed long ago with other loud music. I'll never go there again on a night when they have live music. We took the remaining half of our bottle of wine and sat outside in the cold to drink it. It kind of spoiled the evening.

Everytime I've been here the staff is always extremely cordial and helpful...but often somewhat bumbling and forgetful. I had dinner outdoors here on a summer night recently and dined in virtual darkness (no outdoor lighting, no candle on the table), we had no utensils, no water and no bread and the waitress wasn't in a hurry to take our order at all. We waited close to an hour for our food to arrive, with no explanation and no apology. We ordered a bottle of wine, which was promptly corked with no offer to replace the bottle or apology, I honestly don't think the poor woman knew what I meant when I said the wine was corked, and when the food finally arrived, to call it mediocre would be kind. After we waited several minutes for utensils after the food had arrived, we finally had to take some from the empty table next to us. I had pappardelle noodles with a duck confit, and it was tasteless. My dining companions both ordered the lamb dish and it was unseasoned and cold...when we asked for mint sauce to spruce up the lamb, the waitress disappeared for 10 minutes and returned to say they didn't have any. In addition, we made our reservation on the night when they regularly schedule live jazz. I thought, "Oh how nice," until I heard the band. The band was dreadful, and even though we were seated outdoors and far from the musicians, the music was FAR too loud, there was no need for that kind of amplification in a small space with stone walls (echoing acoustics). By contrast, brunch was very very nice. I had an omlette with tomato preserves, my friend had an omlette with wild mushrooms, the eggs were perfectly prepared, and both were delicious...and it's lovely to dine outdoors in Ft Tryon. I live in the neighborhood and would eat here on a regular basis and invite all my friends to join me.

I've eaten here several times. Usually dinner, brunch once. I thought the brunch was overpriced & not so great (though i see a lot more options on the menu now), but dinner was FANTASTIC, the service was GREAT and FRIENDLY, and it's a terrific evening out. I'm surprised by the other reviewers' bad experiences - i think this place is great & have never had anything but excellent serice and really, really, really good food.