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I cringe when I read some of the previous reviews. My family dined here on an early Saturday night. The ambience was cool and modern, comparable to the best I have seen here and in Italy. The waiters were helpful and polite. The lamb chops served my wife were the best she has had. The quality of the meat and the accompanying mint flavored couscous put this dish over the top. Two of us had deserts which were also extraordinary. Olive oil flavored with coffee beans were part of the inventive character making up one of the two deserts and the ice cream and chocolate were beyond compare. A Sicilian wine was reasonably priced and delicious. Yes, there were a few minor disappointments, but I rate this restaurant as one of the best in the city in its genre.

The small dinner portions are ridiculously tiny and they don't warn you. The truffles are insanely expensive and weren't shaved too well. Atmosphere is nice but not worth paying a fortune and leaving hungry for the atmosphere. Maybe best to go for drinks at the bar and then dinner elsewhere!

I went here last night the food was absolutley incredible I ordered the fettucini and had truffle shavings on top- I licked the bowl clean and I thouroghly enjoyed this dinner. The service was great. The only problem was the crowd wasn't the coolest. I will definitely be back here!

Very unpleasant experience. We arrived at 8:00 on time & waited 45 minutes for our table. By 9:20 the restaurant was 2/3 empty. They seek to create a false appearance of buzz so you will think this is a hot place. During our wait we were offered a place at the communal table, then a table in the kitchen, sitting on high stools. When finally seated, the 3 of us were placed at a table for 6-8 adjacent to a noisy wait staff work area. My son went to the hostess and begged for a reasonable table, so we moved. We waited a long time to have our order taken. The appetizers were served before we received our drinks. I ordered a raw fish and salad appetizer for $17 which was kind of tasteless and a blatant rip-off. I felt like I had paid a couvert to sit there. The rest of the food was ok, not great, did not warrant the prices or the fanfare. The dessert of cheese and fruit was very good. There were no dessert wines on the gimicky blackberry type wine list . Tony May stood around watching this debacle and we wondered whether his daughter was the nasty young woman in the front, who kept offering us inappropriate seating. The architectural and design work for the restaurant is very attractive and interesting. It is the best part of the experience. Bottom line is that this is not a place which trys to treat you well. "Gracious" is something they do not aspire to. This is a fake nice restaurant - they just want buzz so make a fast buck.

I went here with a friend for lunch and we both agreed that the food was ridiculously amazing. The Chitarra with tomato basil has to be the best pasta in New York and pretty much exactly what I had in Italy.. The service was top notch, our server was new, but exceptionally attentive and smart. This place is really special and I can't wait to return.

Had Sat reservations @ 9pm. Arrived promptly and was told it would be 15 min wait and we could have a drink at the bar. After 20 min, we were communicated that it would just be another 5 min, then again another 5 min. At 10pm still no proactive effort from the staff to let us know what was happening. We asked for an update and they told us they were still waiting for tables to clear out as they were hanging around because of the rain. Even though we had been there for over an hour already, the maitre d' had the arrogance to tell us that an hour wasn't that bad of a wait because some people had waited over 1.5 hours. He did not apologize, nor offer anything to compensate for the extremely poor service. Likely the worst restaurant experience I have encountered in a very long time, possibly a notch below a university cafeteria. I cannot recommend SD26 to anybody. I can tolerate slow food service, wrong orders, and even rushing people out during a busy Sat night, but the front of the house staff was terribly incompetent, absent at times, and in some instances - flat out obnoxious. Table for Four? I think it's more like Table for Zero.

Don't know why, but I was expecting warmth. Colors, textures, the beautiful glass and textiles of Italy, down to earth - in keeping with the numerous articles telling us to expect a new casual, simpler, less expensive menu. A chacuterie had been mentioned, and it is there, in the middle of a formal dining room, nothing casual about it. Waiters in jacket and tie, as are bartenders. Black, white, gray with minimal bursts of color in the artwork. Very Euro sleek, cool, but so minimalist that I felt like my green shirt was out of place. What are they trying to be? A casual hangout with salumi and cheese plates? Formal dining with stiff waitstaff? The bar feels like a hotel lobby bar. Not discussing food until I eat there again in a few weeks. Not fair to judge this early in that area. I am sure they will get their following to come in for Odette's fabulous cooking, but if they will keep coming back, that is another story. Lots of competition in that neighborhood.