Lincoln Ristorante — Restaurant in New York

Let's start with the service: It left you wanting to give up on the fine dining industry. Reservations were made, and when we showed up on time we were left to stand there by a rude hostess for twenty minutes. When finally seated we had the delight of experiencing their "Are you going to spend a lot of money? " twist on service. Let's add some context here. My wife was pregnant, and uncomfortable driving in NY, so out off decency for both, I chose not to drink as well. The waiters first words were "What would you two like from the wine or drink list?" We told him that we wouldn't be drinking, and why, and you could see the change in his face, and the change in service from there on was sour. We took a while browsing the menu, if you're going to spend that kind of money at a new place to you, you're going to make sure to get what you want. Taking too long to order and not wanting to drink got us down graded in their service system to no service at all. I had to track down our waiter myself to order. I ordered a multi-course dinner, with the best item of each to include the expensive add ons suggested. My wife ended up getting a $100 plate of Gnocchi. My meal was $210, so we're up there off the bat. But that wasn't enough for the staff to warrant us good service, or any service. Our dishes were brought and taken by the table bus girl, and she ended up having to take our desert order and get our bill. She knew what was going on and even confirmed it to us, and felt bad. The whole dinner, our waiter was at the table next to us with two guys who were eating a little, and drinking some of everything on their wine list. Couldn't attend to us, the non drinkers who ended up spending over $400 on our experience. The food: The Gnocchi was good, my dishes were very good. The food was good, tiny portions, so tiny in fact that we were still hungry, so we ordered desert and latte's, which was a great idea. The desert we ordered was the most amazing thing I've ever eaten, and I've eaten the world over.

The waiter who couldn't bother with us and the hostess who treated us like street trash, (We were dressed to the nines, I was in a grey cotton suit with bostonian shoes, and my wife's dress was the most expensive outfit that was there that night) no tip for them. Instead, I gave a $100 tip to the bus girl in cash, another $40 on the ticket with a note on the ticket that it is hers as well, because she's the only proper server in the place.

So, if you want to enjoy a ridiculous night of horrible service and poor treatment for food that was good, nor great, go to...

We saw this on the restaurant week promotion and thought we'd give it a try for brunch since we'd never been there before. If it hadn't been such a horribly hot and humid day I would have taken advantage of the pleasant outdoor seating available. But as it was we were given a window side table that overlooked Lincoln square. Felt a little under dressed as the restaurant is very expensively decorated and obviously aiming for a high-end crowd. Thankfully, everyone else was just as dressed down for the weather too.

The staff were very professional and we were amused by the chefs in the open kitchen giving occasional chants/shouts when doing something in the kitchen.

Starters:

Burrata (Creamy Mozzarella, Pole Beans, Arugula, Caramelized Onion-Cerignola Olive Puree) - On first glance it looked like the dish was a big dollop of mozzarella on top of arugula. Digging deeper revealed the rest of the, very tasty, melange of ingredients. A good start to my meal.

Affetati (Coppa, Spicy Soppressata, Shishito Peppers, Fairytale Eggplant, Lampascioni) - My husband had this dish, which I had a bit of, though I was slightly put off by the gristly nature of the meat.

Main: Costine e Salsiccia di Maiale (Braised Pork Spare Ribs, Fennel Sausage, Fingerling Potatoes, Rosemary) - This was delicious, perfectly done rib and how can you go wrong with sausage?

Orecchiette di Grano Arso (Burnt Flour Pasta, Brocoli Rabe & Walnut Pesto, Stracciatella) - An excellent pasta dish.

Desserts: Girandola (Pistachio Cake, Chocolate & Toasted Sesame Gelato) - Yum!

Torta di Ricotta (Sheep's Milk Ricotta, Honey Genovese, Strawberry) - This was quite a refreshing dessert and was a good finish after having half of the Girandola!

There was also some focaccia bread served with the meal that was wonderfully airy and great with the supplied olive oil.

This would be a great place to take someone for a special occasion as I expect the ambiance at night would be very pleasant. Unsure about the noise levels when it's more crowded though. It was pretty quiet when we got there.

Overall, highly recommended place to go eat.

Update October 2017: Still...

My husband and I have been to Lincoln Ristorante a few times in the past. We live in the area, and we love the food, the ambiance, and the service (we can also afford to spend a pretty penny per meal). We wanted to try the Restaurant Week menu. We ordered a starter, en entree' and a dessert each. My entree' was included in the "summer Restaurant Week" on their paper menu, but not featured online: Fettuccine with creamy truffles. When it was put in front of me, I was shocked at how little the portion was (smaller than my closed fist). I asked the waiter whether I had ordered a side dish, and he laughed as he explained:"No, it is a main course. But that is "Restaurant Week"..." I began eating it reluctantly. Then a man in a suit turned up, and asked us if everything was ok. I responded that it was, though the dish was tiny. His response:"Yes, it is because the sauce is very rich, and we cannot serve more of it." The implication being that serving more of it would spoil the experience. Two things: 1) I did not expect to eat a half kg of pasta all to myself, but to be fed dinner and not teased with food; 2) which is the REAL reason for such a ludicrously small portion -- a) "this is Restaurant Week" or b) "the sauce is too rich"? When the bill came, there was a supplement of $15 for the truffles in my fettuccine dish (the waiter showed me afterwards that there was a number 15 and supplement next to it though there was no dollar sign before the 15 -- all very cleverly designed to appear incon$picuou$). So, $60pp for three courses comes to roughly $20 per course. However, my fettuccine with truffles ended up being $35 -- and THAT would have been ok for a normal first course / entree' course, NOT for the meagre amount (50gms?!) they slapped on my plate. The food and service were outstanding as usual. However, we found this (ludicrously tiny portion + supplement of $15 for "truffles") to be a pathetic attempt to mark up prices under the "Restaurant Week"...