Vine Street Café — Restaurant in Town of Shelter Island

Arrived with reservation 5pm friday. Open table reservation warned there would be a 30 dollar charge per person for any cancelations less than 24 hours in advance - never ever heard of that before and I've been around. Figured I should thus have very high expectations because that is a very strong "how do you do" statement.

So we were the first and the hostess barely met our eyes and said they needed more time to get ready. Since she didn't offer a seat anywhere we stood outside a while longer till we thought we should go in. I like a lot friendlier greeting than that but maybe she is just young and untrained. For the record the place was never more v than 60% full throughout our early meal. So I don't know what that cancel charge could be about.

The prix fine menu seemed like a good value and included many items from the regular menu. Wine by the glass was $11-15. 1 I thought I ordered the $11 Bordeaux but at cane up as a $15.00 something else. It wasn't worth arguing about so we left it alone. Had the scallop ceviche very nice and my friend had the lentil soup which was flavored excellently. I paid a $5 markup for the scallops over the prix fixe.

I chose the steak tips with spinach and grilled red onions and fries. Finally done and the meat was flavored beautifully. I had asked for medium rare but there was nothing pink or red in the meat so it was a little over cooked and dry but still the flavoring was nice. My friend had a vegetable and pasta dish featuring funghi mushroom type vegetable which was also flavor nicely. I paid a $5 markup for the steak over the prix fixe.

The profiteroles were included and they were perfect in every way. My friend had a plate of biscotti which she really enjoyed. The waiter was professional and sweet. The atmosphere may have been the best part. It's an old home with wood beams and the feeling of a living room dining room sort of set up. There was a nice bunch of people eating and a comfortable sound level.

It just wasn't spectacular. I might have expected spectacular based on all the buzz so maybe my expectations were too high. The food just didn't amaze me. But the atmosphere was really nice. For example the North Fork Table is similar in some ways, in atmosphere and offerings, but that food is...

Worth the ferry ride and winding country roads. Vine Street Cafe feels like you've discovered something once you wander off the beaten path of traditional Hamptons lore -- yet it shares so many of the summer qualities that the rest of the area rests on. It is cozy inside and out, with its modest hedges and sign just a few feet from the country road and woods. The food was very good, including the Lobster Pot Pie and Moules Frites (in basil saffron broth), but the place was suffering from early summer staffing issues. The waitstaff was overworked and a little distracted from dinner service that you'd expect for $50 per entree place. We waited about an hour between appetizer and entree with only a few stray looks from our fearful waitress (who gave us the same look that we saw from the deer running through Shelter Island) and a 2nd basket of bread after some inquiries.

We attributed that minor hiccup to the first summer weekend of integrating new staff with old and having the restaurant filled to capacity for the first evening of the summer. But that was the only bad we found. We found the staff accommodating and kind. We found the food fresh and well treated. The drinks were competitively priced for a higher end places, and its reputation ended up being well preserved. Would love to try this place in midsummer or off-season form.

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While (quite rightly) the food here consistently gets very good reviews, I think it's about time to really get honest about the appalling quality of the service. I have eaten here twice in the last month and both times experienced Vine Street's disappearing waiter syndrome where your waited disappears into thin air at key moments such as before ordering, after an order is in, after clearing and being asked for the bill. They simply disappear for 10-15 minutes sometimes. It makes no sense as there are certainly enough of them. But it's as if they are secretly waiting in another neigbouring restaurant too so they can never be truly attentive. The manner of (two different) waiters on both nights was surly or somehow resentful. One younger waiter insisted on simply saying "Cool" to any and every request made. On the second recent visit, there was literally no one front of house so we stood awkwardly in the entry way for 10 minutes while more guests piled up behind us. Front of house and the wait staff need a serious upgrade here. The service and the food have to live up to each other to merit the price here and make the experience what it easily could be. On both recent visits there seems to be a complete absence of a manager overseeing the...