A Tale of Two Dinners

There is an endless variety of dining options in New York with cuisines from every corner of the globe, as well as new creations through the fusion of different styles by some of the greatest chefs in the world. Eating out can be as much a cultural and educational experience as a nourishing one.

But ultimately whether or not you have a good time comes down to two things; how was the food and the service? Restaurants build their reputation more on word of mouth than paid advertising and a good recommendation can make or break an establishment.

Within the past week I dined at two places, both of which came with good advance notices, but which left me with distinctly different impressions about the concept of service.

Saturday night, four friends and I ate at Awash, an Ethiopian restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue between W. 106th and 107th. A family-style restaurant, it had very modest yet nice décor and a welcoming wait staff. Our group, celebrating one member’s birthday, arrived at different intervals, but staff seated us as we arrived and offered drinks and menus. Once we were all present, orders were taken promptly.

Monday night, I met up with my very busy friend Kevin, who recommended we meet uptown at Revival Restaurant on W. 127th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem. This is a decidedly more upscale eatery that specializes in French American cuisine infused with the influences of Caribbean, Creole and Soul. Attention has clearly been paid to the overall appearance, from seating design to table cloths to flatware.

We met right after work so the place wasn’t crowded at all. Kevin, and Nathan, host a regular Saturday night party there, and he told me despite its’ attractiveness, it is rarely busy. We speculated as to why, but my observations this evening lead me to spot possible reasons.

At Awash, as the night wore on, the restaurant got more crowded, full in fact. This posed a bit of a problem in that they were short staffed that evening. Two waitresses, and a waiter/bartender who attended to us, had their hands full seating guests, taking orders and getting them back in a timely manner. Our drink orders at times had to be given more than once, but when delivered were done so apologetically which we appreciated. Our waiter/bartender was clearly better at the former than the latter, as a Long Island Ice Tea he prepared for one guest was entirely too strong, despite two attempts to rectify it.

But the meal was sumptuous and quite filling. Appetizers were sambusas in three variations, beef, lentil and chicken. Sambusas combine main ingredients with finely chopped onions and spices wrapped in dough and deep fried to a delicately flaky crust. They go down easy, but pack a bit of a kick afterwards from the spices.

For main entrees, we shared two combo platters that included lamb, chicken, or beef wats or stews, lentils, collard greens, cabbage and more hot spices. Ethiopian food is to be eaten with your hands using injera, a spongy sour dough bread, made from teff, that is flat and torn in pieces to scoop up morsels of the food. As one in our party mentioned, it initially didn’t look like it would be enough for us all, but we were quite full before we were halfway through.

The waitress at Revival seated us at a booth towards the back despite empty ones up front. I am trying to be objective in my evaluation of the evening, but throughout there just seemed to be a general ambivalence on her part. On a slow evening, one might have expected a certain attentiveness for the few paying customers, but none was present here. Bread arrived promptly enough, but without dishes to eat on. After a couple of passes, we got her attention and she quickly pulled two off a nearby table.

The menu had a number of tempting, albeit pricey selections. This restaurant doesn’t seat very many and perhaps there is a need to pass along overhead costs to customers. Nonetheless an appetizer of salmon-wrapped sea scallops placed on a salad of carrots, spring onions, mustard cress, watercress, coriander and celery was simply delicious. The saltiness of the salmon was just enough to balance the natural taste of the sautéed scallops, while the salad, with teriyaki sauce dressing added a slight tangyness.

My Peppery Roasted Duck Breast with dates and black pepper sauce was served with puffs of mashed white and sweet potatoes and mixed vegetables. Another winner. Kevin had the Chef’s Caesar Salad of romaine lettuce tossed with croutons, Caesar dressing, parmesan cheese & slices of chicken and tomatoes on top. In the food department, this place gets straight A’s.

I am trying not to nitpick, but I did get an emotional reaction to our service at Revival that I am assessing even as I write. This restaurant is a very stylish, posh boutique smack dab in the middle of da hood. Black-owned and managed, there just seemed to be an air that was inappropriate for the evening and the environment. Not that I want a greasy-spoon or ghetto-like informality, but snobbery isn’t necessary either. Perhaps I read our waitress wrong, but there was an attempt at an attitude that I felt was wrong as well as inauthentic.

Meanwhile the folks at Awash scored big points for making the best of a difficult situation. They were busy that night, but still found time to bring out the cake we’d purchased beforehand, with a lit candle, and sang happy birthday to our guest. They also offered—and we accepted—a bottle of wine on the house. A decidedly less formal restaurant than Revival, they treated us as if they want us to come back.