This Dovetail Restaurant Week Review is one of our many NYC Restaurant Reviews. Visiting New York? See all of our posts tagged NYC.
I highlighted Dovetail in NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2014: Where to Go as one of the places worth booking for NYC Winter Restaurant Week. Dovetail is participating during lunch only, even though Dovetail isn't normally open for lunch, only for dinner and for Sunday brunch.
Getting to Dovetail
Dovetail is located at 103 West 77th Street, by Columbus Avenue. If arriving by subway, your best bet is to take the B or C train to 81st Street (Museum of Natural History stop) and use the 79th Street exit, walking down to 77th Street and then to Columbus Avenue. Cross Columbus Avenue and Dovetail will be on your right.
Alternatively, take the 79th Street crosstown bus and exit at the Columbus Street stop, then walk down to 77th Street and take a right.
The Scene
As noted, Dovetail isn't usually open for lunch, so its Restaurant Week lunch scene may be a bit atypical. When I dined, there were mostly well dressed couples and a few groups of friends, many of them Asian. There was also a family with a baby, but I doubt you'll find that at dinner.
Dovetail Restaurant Week Menu and Food
Dovetail's Restaurant Week menu features appetizer choices from its dinner menu, entree choices specific to Restaurant Week, with a steak and potatoes choice from its Sunday brunch menu, and dessert choices from its Sunday brunch menu:
There was also a wine list, although I didn't partake since I had quite a bit of work to get done in the afternoon:
One of my favorite aspects of the meal were the warm mini cheesy cornbreads brought on a wood slab. I don't know why more fine dining restaurants don't provide warm, house baked bread, but they should, and Dovetail's cornbreads were excellent, if slightly incongruous given the otherwise quite formal environment.
For an appetizer, I chose the cured carrots with lentils and black garlic sauce. I'd seen good reviews of these, and they were very sweet from being oven roasted, with a nice piquant touch from the black garlic sauce, complemented well by the earthy lentils. Vegetarians would probably be happy for a large platter of this, with some additional roasted root vegetables.
I chose to pay the $5 supplement for the simply billed “Steak and Potatoes.” It was beautifully presented, sliced, with creamed Tuscan Kale, and a separate miniature pan of pureed potatoes with sour cream and onion. The latter was quite liquidy, although tasty, so it was a good thing a soup spoon was provided.
When the steak came, I realized I should have specified how I wanted it cooked, as I would have preferred it somewhat more done in the center, but I ate it anyway. Although I'd seen some reviewers complain that the steak was too salty, this wasn't the case with mine, it was seasoned perfectly, as was the creamed kale. Both were an excellent rendition of high end comfort food.
Dessert, to be honest, was a bit disappointing. The server had recommended the bread pudding as “a bit more substantial” but it was a miniscule portion. The taste itself was fine, although I've had (and even made myself) better bread pudding. It's a good thing my husband wasn't along, as he would likely have still been hungry at the end of the lunch. For a similar price, Gramercy Tavern has much more satisfying desserts.
The Service
Service was provided by a variety of staff, which, while increasingly common at even top NYC restaurants, isn't something I enjoy. I would prefer to have one main server who presents the dishes, even if various bus staff remove plates or provide new sets of cutlery or water refills.
That said, everyone was professional, if rather stiff. I didn't sense the kind of relaxed, friendly attitude that we've enjoyed at Gramercy Tavern or even on occasion at Eleven Madison Park, which is a much fancier place with service par excellence. I also wish the server taking my order had asked how I wanted my steak cooked, although I completely forgot to bring this up at the time I ordered. In retrospect it seems odd that this wasn't asked.
Probably the most enjoyable interaction was with one of the head servers who at the end of the meal asked if I'd like any coffee or tea, to which I replied that what I'd really appreciate were two more of the cornbread, to take home to my husband and son, and that I'd be happy to pay for them. He was happy to oblige, and said with a smile that there was no charge.
The Verdict
Dovetail delivered well in the food department for NYC Winter Restaurant Week, with very satisfying flavors. Extra points for the excellent warm cheese cornbread that starts the meal. I found the service professional but on the whole too perfunctory and aloof, although perhaps that's just how it is for Restaurant Week lunch due to the need to turn tables.
Dovetail's space, since it's in a brownstone on the Upper West Side, isn't nearly as inspiring as, say, Eleven Madison Park, but then you can't really compare a 1 Michelin Star restaurant to a 3 Michelin Star restaurant. Given the general dearth of high quality fine dining restaurants on NYC's Upper West Side, Dovetail is a good choice for that area.
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NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2014: Where to Go
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