Gabriel Kreuther — Restaurant in New York

Hands down, this was the best dining experience I've ever had, and that is really saying something (with as much humility as possible )!!

The service was above and beyond any other restaurant I've been to - most other Michelin-starred restaurant haven't even come close.

Christian, the host, was exceptional. He was dapper and friendly, while also executing on his job perfectly. I'll get back to him later...

The wait staff was organized and operated precisely how one should - the coordination between all of the staff was flawless. The attention to detail was top notch - from the refilling of water glasses to the removal of courses... even down to the keen eye of one waiter noticing that my date was left-handed by how she was eating, and providing her with specific left-handed silverware! My date could not have been more impressed by this.

Regarding the food - just superb! Due to a time constraint on our part, we opted for the 4 course option vs the longer chef tasting. We were served a raspberry kombucha poured over ice like a snowcone, a turmeric-ginger gelee, a "dinosaur egg" where I can't remember the details of what was in it, a hush puppy, and a savory bread that had a scallion flavor baked into with a scallion butter. Each dish was on the scale of very good to excellent. The texture and flavor of the bread was exceptional - and rare from my experience, as many Michelin restaurants put more emphasis into the look and design of the bread than to the taste and texture. Gabriel nailed both and it was appreciated. Again - the details were never missed!

For the first courses, we each chose the foie gras. It was excellent - different from other foie gras courses I've had, but they still nailed the flavors and combinations of sweet with fat. I also enjoyed the unique twists done, like the addition to have a spiced banana bread accompany the dish.

My second course was a crab and rice "soup." I honestly forget the word they use for the sauce, but it was poured table-side, was green in color and had a nice spice level to it. For her second course, my date chose the ravioli. I did not get to taste the dish, but it was beautifully presented, and there was nothing left for me to try 😉

For my third course, I chose the duck. Each item in the dish was very good on its own, but the magic happened when you took a little of each and combined them together. For her third course, my date had the trout. Once again, I was not able to taste hers due to there being none left.

For our fourth and final course, I had the cocoa option while she chose the peach option. Hers was plated beautifully yet again. She absolutely loved her dish, with so much going on there is no way I can recall it all. My cocoa dish was just what a chocoholic like me loves - chocolate in many forms! It was excellent - and the miso ice cream was a nice addition as well.

We were then provided coffee, tea, and petit four. All very good.

As we were hand-writing our review on the review card provided with the check, Christian came over to our table. (I told you I'd get back to him later) He said he noticed us taking a lot of pictures and wanted to give us a private tour of the restaurant and kitchen, in addition to taking our picture with the chefs. In my almost 40 years on this planet, I've never seen this happen. It was simply exceptional. It further proves the attention to detail aspect, as he (as a host) observed how we acted and took the time to make our night truly unforgettable.

So... yes... the food is amazing, as you'd expect at any Michelin restaurant. But, the service and detail go so far beyond anything I've experienced. This restaurant has 2 Michelin stars. It certainly deserves the third. And whomever is responsible for the staff and overall operation is simply the best in the business.

Gabriel Kreuther is simply a masterclass in dining perfection. They deserve a different level of rating on here as 5 stars doesn't do them nearly...

I celebrated my anniversary at Gabriel Kreuther (“GB”) this past Saturday, January 4th at 6:30 p.m. under “Michael G”. I mention these details so the restaurant can validate the legitimacy of this review, as my G-Mail account is under a different name.

Anyway, to put this review in context, I have dined at numerous Michelin-rated restaurants over the years in NYC (i.e., Le Bernardin, Eleven Madison Park, Jean-Georges, Le Coucou, Ai Fiori, and Marea, to name a few) and abroad (La Terrazza and Sensi in Italy). However, it has been some time for a variety of reasons. Nonetheless, my expectations have not changed, which is why I felt compelled to write this review given the more than lackluster service we received at GB when spending over $600 for two people for their 4-course prix fixe meal.

The night began with a text sent by the restaurant that read, "You're due at Gabriel Kreuther in 30 minutes." I respect the need for a kind reminder, but I felt like my Mother was calling me for dinner. Feeling an urge to rush to the restaurant, we learned after arriving 10 minutes early that our table was not ready...really?! Once dinner began, however, service faux pas' continued to mount and included; 1) the waiters constantly serving our food from the right side and crossing over in front of our faces, 2) no proactive refilling of depleted water, 3) no cleaning of the table cloth despite very visible crumbs and food droppings, 4) a waiter taking my napkin when I went to the restroom and it taking almost 10 minutes to hail down another waiter and procure a replacement napkin, and 5) utensils haphazardly placed on the table. However, the kicker occurred when my napkin dropped on the floor in front of a host who was present at my table. Not only did the host not offer to pick up the napkin, he allowed me to continue using it. I’m sure I sound like a pretentious fool, but fine dining is all about the experience and meeting reasonable expectations, as set and exemplified by other restaurants in the same tier.

I know Michelin stars primarily focus on food quality, creativity, and consistency, but when one pays at least double the cost for a dining experience, service must be a focal point, especially at a two star Michelin-rated restaurant. I know it was at all the other Michelin-rated restaurants I dined at in the past and then some. Truth be told, I have received better service at restaurants where the bill was one-third the cost. Lastly, and all good restaurateurs know this, service is all about training, follow-up training, spotters focusing on a small area of tables, and hustle. Unfortunately, our table conversation deviated to comparisons to other high-end restaurants we patronized versus the incredible experience we were expecting at GB.

To be fair to the restaurant, the food quality, presentation, consistency, serving pace, and occasional surprise “snack” warranted special distinction. Moreover, the ambience, decor, background music (Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc.), and affable nature of the staff compared well to other high-end restaurants, but the lackluster service really detracted from the experience, which I'm very...

We went for valentines dinner, I decided on an early reservation at 5 right when they opened, strictly for the fact I knew we would be able to patiently enjoy each course without any rush or concern we wouldn’t be able to get home after dinner and relax before we went out to 🕺🏻 We arrived at 457, there were a few couples who arrived before us and we all got checked in super quickly and seated at the bar while we got to eavesdrop on the entire team of what I guess is 30* ppl going over the menu with the chef in the main room, which was super cool, especially after watching “the bear” and “the menu”, maybe that’s corny but it was cool, we were partially hoping for some grand dramatic scenes during that, but rather it was an entire room full of ppl that seemed excited to be there and that energy was reflected by every interaction we had with any of the staff, they all seemed really happy and excited to make sure we had the best experience. Which they did! We ordered some drinks at the bar, I got a raspberry tequila drinks forgot the name but it was super good, my girlfriend ordered the good humor, which was a strawberry drink that came with a legit strawberry shortcake popsicle the size of a cake pop, which she loved. Halfway through the drinks the host came over with a rose for my date and seated us at what I think was the best table there. The entire night was has culinary perfection and half performance of genuine attention to detail. It was incredible. The first round was a surprise from the chef of 4 different bites, all completely different and described perfectly which is needed since the amount of detail and formation of the courses makes it hard to tell just at a glance what exactly some things were. The croquet was amazing, the oyster was excellent and the Negroni filler chocolate was insane. Next came a serious of perfect courses that we enjoyed patiently over 2.5 hours! As the last course left the table and we were talking about how full we were, we were presented with an option to stay and continue trying some of the off menu chefs bites, which we cordially agreed to with the stipulation we would likely only be able to finish the smallest bites after the incredible spaced out dinner we had, but we pushed through and enjoy I think 3 more courses. The vines got was the opposite of most places they didn’t want to rush us out, they wanted us to stay and keep enjoying everything, which was awesome because I think they truly enjoyed seeing everyone loving the food. Cannot recommend this place enough, 15 courses later they sent us home with a box of their chocolates after we reached our limit on what we could possibly eat, but in the best way. This place is perfect, and they seem to love seeing us enjoy and experience that perfection. We will definitely be...