The Tailor and the Cook — Restaurant in City of Utica

We had been looking forward to dining here for months (genuinely kept talking about it every week), and we finally tried it out over this last weekend. Unfortunately we were left unsatisfied. We had reservations for 8, arrived 10 minutes early, and were told to wait, which we expected as we were a touch early. It reaches about 10 after 8 and we ask about our seating, and were told we had to wait for other folks to finish eating so they could clear our table for us. This was a little weird, as to us it meant we could be waiting for any amount of time really - depending on how long the previous diners wanted their meal to go on. Eventually we were seated, our server was super nice and attentive. We were told we had to order everything we wanted all at once- meaning if you want more plates later, you can't get them. You have to order everything you'll be eating for your meal at once, and that's it. I've never experienced that at a restaurant. 🤷‍♀️ Food came out very quickly, we had a few appetizers including their butcher board, scallops, and fries. The butcher board was lovely, so were the scallops, the fries, not so much. They were super soggy. Our entrees included pork katsu, meatloaf, filet mignon, duck confit, and trout. My friends enjoyed their trout and duck. The pork katsu was just okay, as was the meatloaf. The filet was ordered medium rare and came out almost blue. My husband is not one to send back a meal, and will eat a steak cooked this way even though he doesn't prefer it, so he kept it. Dessert included cookies and milk + gelato, cheesecake, and flourless chocolate cake. Friends said the cheesecake was good. The cookies and milk were just fine, you can get much better baked goods at other places around Utica. The vanilla gelato was super icy, and the chocolate was not, so I think something was wrong with it. The creme anglaise on our chocolate cake was sour, like vinegar or bad milk, again, not sure if it's supposed to be like that or if something was wrong, but we didn't like it and ate around it. If we had paid average prices for this meal we would've left less disappointed, but the total with tip was $500, and it left us feeling guilty for spending the money on food we didn't really love. After looking forward to this meal for months, it was a let down.

I do want to mention that the interior of the restaurant is gorgeous, and all of the staff were great and attentive. The rest just fell really...

Although the atmosphere is charming and cozy and the wait staff are attentive, the food at The Tailor and the Cook leaves much to be desired.

After reading all the great reviews, my husband and I chose to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary here while visiting the area and desiring a special dining experience. Unfortunately we left disappointed.

We ordered several dishes starting with the lettuce salad for my husband and a cucumber, pickled rhubarb and burrata salad for me. My husband said his salad was fine. Nothing special but fine.

My salad, on the other hand, was practically inedible. It was honestly one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever tasted. If I could imagine what a swamp might taste like, this would be it. When I first read the ingredients, I thought it sounded like an odd combination, but I decided to be adventurous. The only salvageable part of this dish was the burrata but even that was tainted by the bizarre taste of pickled rhubarb mixed with “swamp” sauce topped with rancid sunflower seeds. The cucumbers looked and tasted liked they’d been previously frozen. They were kind of mushy and flavorless.

For the next course, I ordered the seared scallop starter served over a bed of cold, stale, hard rice. The scallops were fine. The rice was not good.

My husband had the fillet mignon with mashed potatoes and carrots. This was quite good and pretty much the only redeeming part of our food experience, along with dessert.

I did enjoy a delicious glass of Italian white wine which helped distract me from my disappointment.

Also disappointing was the fact that our waitress didn’t check in with us about the food. When she finally came to clear the first course after about 20 mins and asked how it was (my plate barely touched) and I told her I hadn’t liked mine, she didn’t seem that concerned and didn’t ask if I wanted something else.

To the restaurants credit, they did take that dish off our bill. Thank you.

I’m sorry to say that we wouldn’t return to this restaurant and wouldn’t...

Shocked that my friend and I were served inedible food and sickening cocktails. The specialty cocktails were expensive, tiny, way too sugar-syrupy with weird flavors and undetectable levels of alcohol. No buzz. The server recommended “bowl of fries” as an appetizer which seemed strange but why not try? They were heavy, greasy and cold. My friend and I ate maybe four. The fried meatballs were good but the marinara was nothing special. It was also sugared. The server kept pushing more cocktails, even though my partners glass was 3/4 full! She asked twice if she could bring the entree when we were still eating the appetizer of fried meatballs. Eventually she brought the scallops we ordered that were not cooked thoroughly. Cool on the inside and obviously under a heat lamp or microwaved because they were rubbery and not sizzling. Scallops are to be served fresh off the grill or out of the pan! Who cooks scallops when the diners are still eating the appetizers? She brought two orders of “Utica bread” (plain cold white bread pieces) with (surprise) sweetened butter, and charged us for both. She kept returning to the table asking if we wanted more drinks and completely ignored that we tasted only 1/2 scallop did not eat the food. She seemed so silly and embarrassed by the lousy food and beverages. I am a generous tipper but this was ridiculous. I didn’t speak up because she seemed so fragile. Rather than my customary 20-25 prevent tip I left 15 percent which frankly was a waste of fifteen perfectly good dollars, as was the entire evening and bill for this very disappointing evening at Tailor and the Cook. I predict closure in less than a year if they don’t reverse course and get back to their previous...