Place des Fêtes — Restaurant in New York

After much anticipation, my wife and I finally got the chance to try PDF this past week and were met with a night of ups and downs. Our reservation was for 5:30pm which we arrived on time and were the first guests in the restaurant. The place quickly filled up to about half full and stayed that way for the remainder of our meal (this was the night of the bad smoke in NYC, which might have attributed to the restaurant being slower than usual).

We were sat by their host and then greeted by our server (pushed back hair, not sure of his name). He asked us if we had ever been to PDF before (which we had not), and handed us our food and beverage menus. He offered no explanation of how many dishes to order for the two of us (as it is a tapas style restaurant), no insight into some of the popular/must try food currently on the menu, and no information on the wines by the glass (an important aspect for a wine bar!). I only discovered some of these answers when I decided to inquire, which was disappointing.

PDF is listed as a wine bar (with an extensive wine list), but felt more like a French/Tapas restaurant with the wine being an after thought. We were very excited to experience PDF to taste and learn about some of the wines they offer but we’re sadly met with as much knowledge from the server as you would receive at casual pizza joint. In total we tried 6 different wines by the glass and never received any information or backstory to where these wines were being produced or characteristics that we will be tasting/smelling. Our server also poured all of our wines while holding the bottle with both of his hands which is a small quibble but again felt out of place in a wine bar. Despite the flaws of the server, all of the wines we tasted were fantastic and reminded me of why I decided to make the trip to PDF in the first place.

Luckily for PDF, the food was great with the mussels and cavatelli special being the stand outs for the night. The presentation of the different ingredients was well thought out, with vibrant colors and contemporary elements. We ordered 7 dishes and we’re a bit disappointed that 5 of the plates came out in the first a 5-10 min of being there, with the last 2 large plates hitting the table about 25-30 min after the initial dishes were cleared. We ordered a second round of the cavatelli with potatoes and garlic scape sauce as we enjoyed it so much, but as we watched the server tell the expo (it’s an open kitchen) about the order they seemed annoyed that we were adding additional plates onto our evening. The service felt rushed for a restaurant that wasn’t very busy and seemed more interested in turning the table, rather than providing the proper hospitality for their guests. We did appreciate the additional servers clearing our B&B plates/silverware multiple times and replacing them throughout our dinner, as well as wiping off the table between “courses”. We finished our evening with the strawberry choux for dessert, which I would recommend to any future guests looking for a sweet ending to their meal.

Unfortunately, the ending of our night was also the worst part. I asked for the check as we ate dessert as I could tell the server wanted to turn the table and paid it quickly. I received my card and check and proceeded to tip them 19%. As we continued eating our dessert our initial server came back to the table and grabbed the check off the table and walked quickly to the POS to see what the tip was. This was not only rude, but showed another example of how poorly trained the FOH staff is.

Overall, I would return to PDF for the food alone. The cooks and wine shine here, even if the front of house is...

Salty Expensive Snacks. Brooklyn, imo, is notorious for its deplorable restaurant service. This place gets points for great effort to cure that. Table was kept clean, plates & silverware were changed between dishes, options were offered when something wasn't pleasing, and the server was informed and warm. However, there was only one bathroom. This created a line trailing through the restaurant space, caused too long a delay for diners to return to table, and greatly disrupted dining experience. That said, we came for good food and this is where PDF falls short. We ordered the mushrooms which were extremely salty and with uninspired flavoring. It also came with a brown sauce that matched the coloring of the tempura it was fried in and was not aesthetically appealing. The broccoli rabe with the sardine sauce was tasty but the plate was enough for two bites--so small. This should have been a $6 plate at most. We had the steak tartare special which had good flavor but the bread it was served with was burnt, causing me to only eat the edible centers and leave the ends. My friend is gluten-free and asked for a substitute for the bread---a cucumber? Gluten free cracker? Endive? We were told there was absolutely nothing they could offer. They used to offer something in the fall but not now. Huh? Might I suggest some gluten free crackers? They're not seasonal. In today's climate, it seems there should be a substitute of some kind always kept in stock even if it's not the chef’s ideal pairing. I would also suggest adding color to the food. It really tasted far better than it looked. We're eating raw meat but we don't want to feel like we are JUST eating raw meat. Almost looked like fresh meat for your pup. The crispy lamb was WAY too crispy—-it was all burnt ends. It was hard to chew and got stuck in teeth and honestly again---just meat with parsley. The meat had very little flavor. The first thing we said was "street meat" when we saw it. I really wish I had taken photos. It was bad. Like you feel sad when you see it arrive. Also, so small a portion---I'd say 3 bites for $36 or $38. It's obscene. The tile fish was tasty but again far too small. Still, it's the only thing I'd recommend or would order again. For dessert we ordered the madeline. The cake was actually exceptional on its own, but then you dip into the cream on top and get a mouth full of salt. Then you dip further into the cake and a smoked date center emerges that tastes more like smoked meat. It was very unpleasant and disconcerting. When they discovered our displeasure the manager made apologies and offered a replacement option. The only one that sounded like a possibility for us was the profiterole but my friend is gluten-free. They sent over a mango sorbet as a conciliation. The mango sorbet was salty! I don't know what the love affair with salt is but they need to just stop. I feel like they need to keep working on their flavor layering and possibly opt more for simplicity in the meantime and up the portion size. These are not truly shareable plates. Even with 6 dishes we were not able to be full. We both got back home VERY hungry and knowing we came, we saw, but won't be back again. Sadly. It's just not worth the price for the things they did get right. I feel swindled and disappointed that we spent a special occasion...

We stopped in tonight, after dining at Place des Fetes several times in the past, to ask about an obscure, hard-to-find wine we had enjoyed here. Since no one was at the host stand, my boyfriend proceeded to the bar to ask if they knew where we could purchase the wine. The bar had several open seats and the restaurant was not terribly busy. The hostess came rushing over to my boyfriend and immediately demanded if he had a reservation. The bartender, visibly annoyed, turned to snap at my boyfriend, "she can help you" while the in-turn visibly irritated hostess made exasperated gestures at him. She then snapped at my boyfriend that they didn't carry the wine— without even looking at the photo he had on his phone — and then gestured for him to leave. It's hard to convey with words, because so much of this interaction was tone and body language, how extremely rude the staff was. My boyfriend was essentially abruptly dismissed from the bar area, where, again, there were several open seats. I find it odd that in this country, where it is very normal at a restaurant/bar to approach the bar with questions, especially when no one is at the host stand, that my boyfriend's doing so was reacted to with such open hostility. I witnessed the entire interaction from just past the bar and the hostess and the bartender both treated my boyfriend as if he had stormed into the kitchen, rather than what he did, which was to politely stand at the bar to ask a simple question. We have enjoyed our food here in the past, and we were shocked and saddened by how rude, arrogant, condescending, and dismissive the petite, short-haired hostess and the bearded, glasses-wearing bartender were. It seems a little Michelin notice leads you believe you can forget all simple politeness or decency. A simple "I can help you at the hostess stand," a mere 30 seconds of engagement with us, and we would have been content and returned to dine. As it is, we can do without a few mussels on toast, even if they were tasty, and will enjoy restaurants in the neighborhood that understand this isn't Manhattan, this is actually a small town. People remember. Incidentally, both the hostess and the bartender were white, and my boyfriend is Latino. I can't help but wonder if race wasn't a factor, and if I would have been treated in such a callous, dismissive and...