Town
15 West 56th Street (between 5th & 6th, at the Chambers Hotel)

I had to run into the tourism area this Thursday afternoon, so I figured, I should reward myself with a fine lunch in putting up with the human traffic. So I chose Town, the "flip-side" to Country -- the other hotel-based eatery of chef Geoffrey Zakarian. With how much I like Country, I expected a lot from this place.

Tucked away in the boutique Chambers Hotel, this was an interesting basement restaurant. Nothing too fancy decor-wise, but the high, multi-level ceiling into the hotel proper was nice. The spacing of the tables, however, was suspect, and it was not condusive to human traffic, no matter how thin!

I read a few reviews about this place. Usually reviews do not prejudice my expectations, but this set did. I heard this place had good food, but the service was atrocious. Those assertions were nearly perfectly on the mark. The waiters were extremely friendly, but absolutely inefficient -- despite the restaurant being less than half empty during a late lunch shift. They were more "foodies" than servers, and -- especially for "foodies" themselves -- rather inefficient. I saw an adjacent table's patrons pour their own wine from a bottle at least 4 steps away from the table! Unacceptable!

Despite the slow service, the experience was not all bad. The starter was a over-flavoured grilled quail salad. The quail was nice but the fruit flavours overwhelmed the fowl and the greens to such an extent I felt I was eating fruit jam raw. Way, way too sweet. Not a good start.

The main course was the risotto with escargots. This was quite nice, a mesh of creamy risotto and a good portion of escargots. The snails were a bit bland, but the overall dish was good -- despite the tiny portion.

I took an espresso and headed out, to avoid the ever-slowing service. It got worse during the meal, which is a shame. This place can be so much better, but it needs tons of work -- and perhaps a serious lecture to the wait staff...

Food: B-
Atmosphere: B-
For Lone Diners: C