Anaïs — Restaurant in New York

This place is too trendy for its own good! There was one server for the entire place, which would work if you didn't need to detail the items...like wine. We asked for the cheese plate and it came wit no bread- just a fork a knife and two small plates. But we had to ask for bread and the server looked nervous and unsure, like she may have to "scare up" some bread, or maybe crackers. If I remember, she had to "go ask about that". She could have been new. But that doesn't explain why it was clear bread or crackers go on/ with a cheese plate. Otherwise, guests are eating cheese with a butter knife they're passing back and forth to each other, by the way. The prices were so "Brooklyn", so exorbitant, I truly believed I was in an SNL sketch about how longstanding gentrification has been in Brooklyn that the transplants are basically making it a prank on themselves with their pretentiousness and unearned self-satisfaction. But hey, if you're into that, the cheese plate had an amazing soft cheese, the name I can't remember; the rest were just good. And the wine itself was more than abysmal! One was just awful, actually tasted like off-brand soda or cheap flavored drink from childhood. The other was acrid and cheap tasting also - ironic given the $2-3 uptick in price from most restaurants and wine bars. (That's when I was convinced the experience couldn't possibly be real!) But again, if that's your thing, by all means, visit this lovely little establishment. Me, personally, I...

Every time I go to an Oberon Group establishment, I feel like I'm being punked. It's like they purposefully hire people who hate customer service and then charge you $$$ for the privilege of being ignored.

The pros: the vibe (as with all Oberon Group places) is great, and the meats and cheeses were undeniably delicious

The cons: The service is not great - like everyone that works there seems to think that they're too cool to be waiting tables. For $20+ for a plate of cheese and $20+ for a plate of meat, you'd think you'd get some bread. Nope. We had to order the $8 sourdough that came with one slice of bread per person (4). The server didn't bring any small plates and never came back to check on us so we ended up eating our $50 meat and cheese on our napkins!

Finally, we took like less than 30 seconds to find our wallet and by the server's attitude you'd think that we took an hour.

Honestly, the whole thing just feels like arrogance on the part of the Oberon Group, like they think we're all idiots who will pay $18 for a glass of wine, eat $20 breadless cheese off a napkin and still tip 20%. But I won't be back to Anais or any other Oberon Group establishment...

Lo and behold, the attached image of the $20 dollar cheeseboard. Chunks and boulders of simple cheeses. To eat those pieces without a single piece of bread would be debilitating for the senses. For $20, the plate of simple Costco cheeses couldn’t even come with any bread… if you’re going to serve cheese without any sort of bread base to dilute the taste and texture, at least slice it thinner so that it’s more palatable. If I wanted to eat cheddar like that, I might as well buy Cheez-Its. The only good part was the honey with honeycomb. But even then they were skimpier about it than Victoria’s Secret underwear.

Atmosphere is loud if that’s what you like. Service was ok. Didn’t feel much care in the communication. Wine serving was poured straight up without allowing a taste test. Not that I know a thing about wine, but I would know if I liked something enough to warrant consuming a larger volume of it.

Anyways, I do not digress. 3 stars only. I would go lower had the waitress not realized the folly of the cheeseboard and gave 3 slices of bread they were guarding with their lives. Plot twist, bread wasn’t...