So happy to see the casual trend bucked, hopefully successfully. My parents couldn't afford dinner out very often but, when they did go out, my father would put on a three piece suit and my mother would wear a fancy dress and they would have a real, fancy dinner. There are maybe two restaurants in all miami where you can do that now and not look like a stockbroker refugee from the 1980s.
5
I must commend Del Posto's choice of having pianists providing just the right, understated offering of live music, a wonderful relief after booming "playlists" that overwhelm at other establishments.
1
Husband and I were at Del Posto earlier this year. We'd walked there from midtown; I was sporting a pair of $20 black jeans from H&M and decidedly utilitarian ankle boots (thanks, Mom, for the geriatric walking shoes!) so I guess I was what one commenter referred to as a "slob with money." To be offended because someone wears a porkpie hat or jeans seems a bit sensitive, dontcha think? Would your dinner be any tastier or your service more impeccable if the diners two tables over were sporting designer threads or a full-length mink? Is your meal spoiled because another patron has pink hair or tattoos? It is rude to show up anywhere but the emergency room or the gym being sweaty or stinky and open armpits on guys are, I agree, off-putting, but the hegemony of uncomfortable, pretentious "professional attire" is an old drag.
2
How far from Mario's first restaurant, Po.
2
I went to Del Posto in early February for a joint celebratory birthday lunch. I admit that it was as equally fantastic as same birthday lunch a year prior at Babbo. Del Posto is a gorgeous and opulent room and the service and food and drink are top shelf. All of that being said, I find it a disappointing rip-off when having the tasting lunch menu and adding on a pasta dish for $10 extra, everyone must order the same pasta. If you opt not to do that and each have a different pasta from the selections offered, you have to pay an additional $10 per person. Mind you, although delicious, these are small tasting portions of pasta, so $20 for a small portion of pasta is more than a bit overpriced. I don't quite understand why everyone has to order the same pasta dish.
2
Once upon a time, I could with my family enjoy lunch at places like Eleven Madison Park, Del Posto, etc. Now, they are all beyond our reach. I'm afraid that food porn and elitism have run amok. This is food for the 1%, and the circle grows ever smaller. Globes? It's a nice touch, but ...
As an example, an established restaurater in my area in Philly opened what he called a "neighborhood" place. It's a BYOB, so you save on wine, but my wife and I went and the check to $170 pre tax. Who are these people who are able to throw down like this? As a wine and food professional, I find the whole movement obscene.
As an example, an established restaurater in my area in Philly opened what he called a "neighborhood" place. It's a BYOB, so you save on wine, but my wife and I went and the check to $170 pre tax. Who are these people who are able to throw down like this? As a wine and food professional, I find the whole movement obscene.
8
Each of the four times I have dined at Del Posto has been a satisfying wrap-around experience with the emphasis on actual "dining." The experience unfolds in artfully staged waves of colors, presentation, aromas and flavors made possibly only by people operating at the very highest levels of excellence at every stage in the production.
I'm fascinated by the class-anger / class-envy that permeates discussion of places such as Del Posto and analogous luxury products. The origin of high craft is the ambition of the craftsman to develop and make the very best there can be. The products of master craftsmen -- whether they be chefs, those carrying the products to table, and those ironing the table clothes -- will be those who can afford masterfully done craftsmanship.
In that sort of environment service is a high calling.
I ate in Russia often during the Glasnost era. Eating in even the "luxury" establishments set aside for foreign guests so the USSR could acquire some hard currency seemed to entail another social aesthetic all together: Service was servitude, creating the greatest misery for the greatest number.
And of course Russia's state capitalism was famous for it's quality craftsmanship.
I'm fascinated by the class-anger / class-envy that permeates discussion of places such as Del Posto and analogous luxury products. The origin of high craft is the ambition of the craftsman to develop and make the very best there can be. The products of master craftsmen -- whether they be chefs, those carrying the products to table, and those ironing the table clothes -- will be those who can afford masterfully done craftsmanship.
In that sort of environment service is a high calling.
I ate in Russia often during the Glasnost era. Eating in even the "luxury" establishments set aside for foreign guests so the USSR could acquire some hard currency seemed to entail another social aesthetic all together: Service was servitude, creating the greatest misery for the greatest number.
And of course Russia's state capitalism was famous for it's quality craftsmanship.
2
Just an other high end place where only clients are those who have no problem shelling out a few hundred dollars for a meal and dressed up waiting staff. One for sure can not eat crystal lamp bowls on each table. In fact if these crystal bowls are the old fashioned 24% lead oxidized, which one can buy for few bucks in bulk, does not help the quality of the food.
4
Well, not according to the article. According to the article, the prices in the main dining room are almost loss leaders, and a small group of billionaires doing private dining actually keeps the lights on. If you understand how thin the margins can be, then you understand that it might be the diner, other than whose ordering massive bottles of wine, that is getting away with something.
2
I have eaten at Del Posto several times and have never been less than thrilled. The food, service, ambience, and wine list are all top notch. I also wish they would enforce their dress code. Sitting next to a hipster in a pork pie hat ruins the experience for me.
14
Pigs in clover.
5
It's gratifying to see "Quiet", listed among the luxuries here. Studies have shown that loud noise dulls the ability to taste, so I'm appreciative when silence is provided. (And suspicious when it's not.)
And those who don't have the opportunity to visit this beautiful restaurant can enjoy its simplest luxury at home, for free.
And those who don't have the opportunity to visit this beautiful restaurant can enjoy its simplest luxury at home, for free.
10
Maaaan, Del Posto is so far out of touch with both fine dining and Italian cuisine. From its once almost-hip location to its stage-set faux-decor to remarkable mark-ups on wine well, it's laughable. It's nice that it's quiet, and there is ample room between tables, but I've had much, much better Italian meals in much, much humbler surroundings. And the private spaces downstairs ? Windowless and charm-free: just the place to spend top (corporate) dollar on people you need to appease... but don't like !
6
Nothing like crystal globes to make food taste better and the bill more palatable.
4
Several years ago I took a few cooking classes at Del Posto, and they were really fun. Not cheap, but you did get a lot for your money.
I thought I would make some of the pasta dishes at home, but they're actually a lot of effort.
Dining there was a nice experience - I liked the service, not snooty, not obsequious, but just right, like Goldilocks. The employees I met were all very capable people, which made me think the management must be doing something right, or at least I hope so.
People have had it with wealthy companies that pay their employees slave wages, and I'd like to enjoy dining there again some time.
I thought I would make some of the pasta dishes at home, but they're actually a lot of effort.
Dining there was a nice experience - I liked the service, not snooty, not obsequious, but just right, like Goldilocks. The employees I met were all very capable people, which made me think the management must be doing something right, or at least I hope so.
People have had it with wealthy companies that pay their employees slave wages, and I'd like to enjoy dining there again some time.
6
It is nice to see a restaurant that goes for some decorum in this day and age of jeans with holes on the knees, t-shirts, and baseball caps worn back to front. The baguette with the dairy ball is most appetizing. However, the chicken soup highlighted in the article seems not to fit the4 style of the restaurant, even if its New Yorker clientele is used to be saturated with chicken soup to the marrow of the bones.
Best wishes of success!
Best wishes of success!
6
Coincidentally, we just ate at Del Posto for the first time. You can argue about the appropriateness of spending that much money on a meal (ours came out to about $220 per person), but the fact is that the dining experience itself was absolutely first rate. The setting is elegant, the restaurant is relatively quiet, the food was interesting and terrific, and the service was impeccable. I was particularly impressed by the waitstaff--there when you needed them but not hovering, with an excellent command of the menu items.
7
The one and only time we went to Del Posto, we thought the meal was just OK, but the accoutrements were fabulous. Gorgeous wine glasses and snowy linens, all gave a feeling of true luxury...with one exception: the guy at the next table in an undershirt with his underarm hair on view. It was not what we wanted to look at when spending that much money on a meal.
8
Del Posto's for lunch is a terrific experience too, and offers great value.
4
The photo of the staff all lined up and smiling is discouraging...I can identify just 2 female faces.
I dined at Del Posto in December with a group of friends and was frankly underwhelmed; I honestly don't know if I would ever go back, especially at those prices. The food was nothing to write home about (except for the tiny pasta course, which was wonderful) and most of it arrived at our table either lukewarm or downright cold. While service is impeccable it's also slow; we arrived on time for a 9 pm reservation and finally walked out after midnight. Perhaps some of that million dollars could have been spent on what is or isn't going on in the kitchen, and I would suggest that at this point the owners need to be more hands on than they are.
5
I had my wedding in the private room downstairs. My guests still rave about the food and the wonderful service. Can't wait to go back this year for my anniversary.
2
I ate dinner at Del Posto several years ago. I was impressed with the beauty of the place and loved the service. But the tables around us had diners in running clothes and on this particular day it was very hot so the young man next to us had a muscle shirt on and was sweaty. We were dressed appropriately and enjoy dressing well wherever we eat. The sweaty guy ordered a magnum of champagne. So, a slob with money. Fine for Del Posto but not for the next table. How about enforcing the dress code. They do have a dress code at Del Posto. This is tricky, I realize, but going to a fine restaurant for a fine meal and having to sit next to a group of people who look like they just came from the gym is not my idea of fine dining.
29
Thanks for your comment. I was sturck by Mr. Gordinier's title for this article "Del Posto bets big on Luxury." The dining room staff look elegant in their formal attire; but the diners are not dressed in suit and tie. Is there NO restaurant left which enforces a formal dress code?? The world is run by classless, but wealthy, Millenials with scurff on their face and not a tie in their closet.
8
Ha! I had the exact same comment. There should be a minimum when it comes to a dress code in that expensive a restaurant...how about a shirt? That would be nice to start.
13
Conceptually, of course, fine dining is the way to go, providing one can afford it. I can, and do indulge (though I miss desperately Alain Ducasse's restaurant in the Essex) but rarely these days. I don't want a "tasting menu." I don't want to commit to the chef's 3 -5 -8 courses. Maybe I really do JUST want a salad and a pasta dish, or an appetizer and a fish, and these restaurants don't allow it any longer. And that's a shame.
16
My favorite restaurant, and it's because of this very attention you describe. I also happen to think lunch is a relatively reasonable way to experience the brilliance of Del Posto. It always gets 4 stars from me.
10
Anticipatory, seamless service is what differentiates the goods from the greats...keeping doing it right Del Posto!
8
I have mixed feelings toward Del Posto, having last eaten there in January. While it's so nice to experience old-school fine dining service (newbies like Contra and Blanca have no conception of this; criminal for the prices they charge) there was something about the food itself that just wasn't transporting. My theory is that Italian cuisine, even when lavishly slaved over, will always be rather utilitarian in flavor profile. I probably would have been underwhelmed were it not for DP's staff, who were exceedingly gracious, impeccable in poise and genuinely friendly.
3
Blanca charges $195 before tax and gratuity. Contra charges $67. If those prices are criminal, Blanca is Walter White and Contra is Jean Valjean.
4
Many folks who eat out in NYC would consider either restaurant special occasion splurges. My meals at both ended up being $400pp and $150pp respectively with wine pairings, tax and tip. That's criminal for indifferent service (Blanca) and borderline rude treatment (Contra). Your mileage may vary.
5
exceptional point; but when prepared with the best of ingredients in the hands of a master chef, one should take notice. Flavor profiles may be pedestrian, but should explode on your buds.
1