Autopilot…what a cool concept.
Package it up and shove it into a restaurant setting and you might feel like you’ve just thrown yourself into the lion’s den. I’m here to tell you that there are no lions and after my first experience with buddakan in New York City, I want to throw myself back into it (after the door opens, of course).
Let’s paint a picture.
It’s about 8pm (ish) on a Friday night in New York City (a cold, stormy night - snow flakes and stuff) and I’ve left my hotel en route to buddakan for dinner and drinks with a few friends/colleagues.
When you find buddakan in New York City’s Manhattan/Chelsea district, you may or may not recognize its former facade - the Nabisco Cookie Factory. Why do I mention this? Well, if you think about a ‘factory’ and how big they typically are, and spin that into a trendy, totally tricked out, asian-esque restaurant with a main room that makes you feel like you’re sitting in Hogwart’s Academy with owl’s flying overhead, you’ll get a better sense of what this place is all about.
Put simply…big…intensely trendy since opening in 2006…one of the countless New York restaurants ’to be seen at’ for drinks and dinner. I think New York Restaurants summed it up nicely:
This strange, synthetic landscape doesn’t feel like a restaurant. It feels like an oversize nightclub, or a random gathering in the semi-abandoned mansion of some absent Cantonese billionaire. But then the food starts to arrive, and the mood changes.
Our party was about nine strong and as we didn’t have a reservation, we weren’t able to get a seat with the Harry Potter crew. Instead, we were escorted through the cavernous hallways lined with gold plated bookcases and various trinkets that looked both expensive and in some cases, dangerous to an enclave overlooking the main room. It kind of felt like I was in a huge church and we were sat in long pews with a table in between. Totally cool. What’s even cooler is the food and the service that came stapled to it.
If you’ve been in a larger group at a restaurant, you may have already encountered the dog and pony show that tends to go on surrounding drink orders, appetizer orders, entree orders, special orders, and exception orders. We didn’t want to ride that train on this particular night.
Why should you care and why am I writing about this place? Simple…service.
Our server, who probably was an aspiring actor (reminded me of Peter Krause from Six Feet Under with the witty attitude to boot) made an executive decision and suggested something that I wish more restaurants would do for big groups. His proposition…to bring out a selection of the chef’s favourite dishes that he was sure we’d all enjoy.
Did he do it for the money (sensing we were likely on a corporate expense account given the suits, etc)? I don’t even think it entered his mind, to be honest. He did it to showcase buddakan’s selection of food and presentation.
I’m not a food critic and have never pretended to be one so I’m not about to start now (plus, it would involved a hell of a lot of typing that I’m not really interested in). But let me say this…the food was off the hook! Presented impeccably, each dish was brought out at the right time, the right temperature (key) and in the right proportions. Drinks were also taken care of like it was nobody’s business (I went with the Chimay Rouge…love that stuff now).
We got the cheque and in my view, the tip we gave (which probably paid for his first year of acting school) wasn’t enough.
Buddakan is a must do next time you’re in the (212) area code, I kid you not. If you’re not satisfied, go ahead and cast a spell on me (or something).
darren
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