Blue Box Café by Daniel Boulud — Restaurant in New York

WORST experience ever! I was looking forward to celebrate my birthday in the city and decided to book Blue Box Café thinking that it would be a luxurious experience, I was so wrong... I arrived about 10 minutes before my reservation and still had to wait in line while both hosts were attending a lady that had no reservation. I waited for that and neither of them tried to check on me. After I came forward and told them i had reservations and asked if my table was ready they finally came to talk to me. I asked to be seated by the window, there was seating available but they seated me on a bench far from the window. And after I was seated NO ONE came to the table! I mean, NO ONE! I waited for 15 minutes and no one brought the menu, water or even set the table. I had to wave for 2 waiters and practically beg for someone to come to the table. The restaurant was not busy, there were a few empty tables, so I have no idea why this happened. I ordered something to eat and a drink then explained it was my birthday. The food came (it was only ok) but the drink only arrived after I was done eating. The people seated next to my table ordered the same drink and it arrived before mine did. They were also celebrating a birthday and the waiter brought a dessert with a candle. I called the waiter, told him it was my birthday again and asked if I could have anything for my birthday from the menu. He told me I could choose from any dessert and he would bring it with a candle and so I did. Imagine my surprise when he brings the dessert with a candle almost falling from it with the check charging me for said dessert that I thought was for free! Not only that, he was snooping to see how much I was tipping. Really disrespectful! Lastly, I asked where the restroom was and went there before leaving (since I was alone and carrying bags I decided to wait until it was time to leave the restaurant). I stood in line for 15 minutes because there’s only 1 restroom available for people on the restaurant and visiting the store. When it was my time to use it I got in and I was the last one in the line. Someone started to bang on the door hard, I informed it was occupied. It repeated 3 more times. My first thought was that someone was feeling sick. When I left a man started to yell at me and curse because he said I was taking too long. I replied that I stood in line like everybody else, waited for 15 minutes to use it and tried to be as fast as I could because of the knocking. The man (who was not a restaurant customer) continued to yell at me and I saw the security staff just looking at us. They didn’t come forward to check what was happening, talk to me or to help me in this situation, just looking from afar. I’ve never been so neglected and humiliated in a restaurant or a store in my life! I got into the elevator crying hard and no one came to attend me. I was going to purchase a birthday gift for myself after going to Blue box but all I could think about was leaving that building. I thought it would be a great way to celebrate my birthday and now I can only remember how neglected and humiliated I was by the staff of Blue box and Tiffany’s. I don’t recommend this...

What about Breakfast at Tiffany's?

You know how we love the odd movie reference in our reviews. Remember the Alan Rickman tribute? What about the odd cheeky lyric or song title that sneaks in, like when we hid a whole bunch of Frank Sinatra titles. So when the opportunity presents itself to live a movie title, to be a song lyric, how could we possibly pass that up. Oh yes, we can tick off the foodie and pop-culture bucket list. We managed to have Breakfast at Tiffany's!

Now that's not quite as simple as rocking up, flashing your Holly Golightly-esque eyelashes and getting a table. No this is something you need to book in advance, 28 days in advance, and if you don't get in the diary that day, you don't get in at all. So with an alarm set for 1400 our time, as soon as the online diary opened we booked our space, ten minutes later we'd have missed it. Then we had to wait 26 days, get a nine hour flight, a one hour taxi ride and a short walk across the world's most famous park. Then at 10 am Eastern Standard time we were allowed access into possibly the sparkliest shop in America, but no time for browsing the ice, we were straight into the lift, where the attendant pressed the button to waft us up to the fourth floor. It was painfully obvious one does not simply walk into the Blue Box Café.

Next point, it's not cheap. $32 per person (plus taxes, ah that incredibly annoying Americanism that makes it so much more of a struggle to work out how much things cost.) But what you get is worth every penny, I mean cent.

You start with a choice of tea or coffee and a bowl of seasonal fruit and berries. Also served is a fantastically laminated, crisp and delicious croissant, with honey butter, sour cherry cranberry jam and the juice of a freshly squeezed Ferrero Rocher… Then after being cleared down your choice of main breakfast course is delivered. MiniSFR went with a NY staple, buttermilk waffle, topped with poached sour cherries and raisins and accompanied with the sweetest Catskills maple syrup that we drizzled all over. I steered away from the Avocado toast and the coddled egg and chicken sausage, which I have no doubt would have been lovely, and instead the more grown-ups went for smoked Salmon and bagel stacks. A ripe beefsteak tomato provided sweetness, a dollop (or as the menu described a smear) of cream cheese added some creaminess and the capers probably provided something, but only one of us tried them, he said they were a salty contrast. I assume that's a good thing!

Service was impeccable throughout, but also friendly. Not the overly energetic, have-a-nice-day, friendly, but some genuine warmth. The surroundings were as you'd expect immaculate and luxurious, but yet welcoming and relaxing. There are many places in NYC that are worth a visit and the Blue Box Cafe is definitely one of them. So if you can get there, and if you can book it, maybe you can admire, the famous scene. Because, as I recall, I think we all...

First of all, the staff at Tiffany's is incredible gracious from the moment you really through the door and as you make your way up to the Blue Box Cafe.

My friend arrived earlier and it seemed that the sure and woman who guides customers to them elevator was like an old friend. I thought she might have been having afternoon tea with us!

When you get off the elevator on the sixth floor the cafe is like an oasis at end of a room full of envy making tablescapes that will make you wish you had some generational wealth to burn.

The cafe is cute. Lots of Tiffany blue everywhere except for the incongruent cafe floor that looks like it was painted by toddlers.

The cafe service is very uneven. For a fairly small space there were a lot of people working there.

Our waitress was very sweet, but hard to find when we needed her. The staff seems to show up to check that everything was fine when you didn't need anything, but when you were straining to get someone's attention to get more tea or to question why your eclair has no filling no one seemed to be paying attention.

We managed to flag down the "gentleman" who was wearing a suit and may have been the manager. He apologetically replaced the eclair.

Unfortunately, I got the Tiffany blues when I asked him for a fresh pot of tea. The first time I asked it never came. Again he was apologetic. But he came back with a pot and was pouring hot water over my spent tea bag.

When I told him I wanted a fresh pot of tea he told me that this was how they do this all the time. I told him that there was no way I was going to get a good pot of tea from the used up tea bag.

He begrudgingly took away my pot and brought back what he claimed was a fresh pot, but it was just the same used up bag with water poured over that was never going to steep into a proper tea.

WOW! How rude!!! At $98 per person for afternoon tea he couldn't spare a tablespoon of tea? I couldn't believe I had to ask our waitress for yet another pot of fresh tea which she brought straight away. She was very nice. He was very unprofessional and a complete contrast to the rest of the staff throughout the store.

This was a birthday celebration for my dear friend and he made it very unpleasant.

The tea food was nicely executed even if a couple of items were overly sweet like the tarte tatin or indistinct like the eclair and the Tiffany blue Madeline. I especially loved the scones, the coronation chicken in the puri cup, the orange chocolate petit four, and the...