Dovetail
“I think Dovetail is worth the prices for its a la carte menu, but the Sunday Suppa is truly a steal.”
“The accompanying rum ice cream compliments the bread pudding quite well…”
“Apps: we split a seared foie gras and the lamb's tongue.”
Dovetail
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$$ Price range Above $61
8 reviews
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When Sharon Hage shut down and Jesse Cool started to spend more time at the bar than the kitchen, one began to wonder if the death toll for the tasting menu would echo. Dovetail proves that some chefs drop the fickle and stay true. The floor is full of a diverse and attentive crew; who are professional and impressively relaxed. The unassuming entrance, as well as the understated decor will help you relax and be yourself. Unless you are an orphan still in need of rescue, try to go home on time. The staff is too nice to tell you to get out.
They should sell their dark chocolates, bread and cream cheese beyond this restaurant location. Yum.
The Sunday Suppa, at $75 after tip, was a nice way to gain access to the entry-level dishes of this restaurant. Unfortunately, overall I don't think the quality of the meal justified that price point.
Dovetail treats is diners with great care. The staff are very professional, yet not stuffy at all. We very much appreciated their attention to service.
The Sunday Suppa special is a 3 course meal for the proletariat like me to be able to even think about eating at Dovetail. While you'll get a few small complimentary house courses, you will not walk out full. When I spend $75 on a meal for myself, I'd like to be barely-able-to-walk full.
The meal started with amuses bouche: light snacks to tantalize the palate. These were quite good. There was a small egg salad roll, arancini, and a crouton. Each had a unique and interesting flavor.
We both especially enjoyed the parmesan and truffle arancini which delivered us on a pleasant journey through a crispy corn meal exterior through a gooey, garlicky, fungal truffle finish. The juxtaposition of crunch and cream was outstanding.
The croutons had a beautifully oily crisp with a soft finish interior. Great.
The egg salad rolls were not quite as next-level good. But, good nonetheless.
Too finish this course they serve a grassy, palate cleansing drink. It was a bit odd, as if they mixed a bunch of incompatible green flavors to sound fancy. There are better ways to cleanse the palate. I'd also prefer that this was served after the amuse bouche, to definitely end the flavor journey of that course.
The house bread was ok. It's a pretty standard sourdough slice. Nothing spectacular. I've had better bread heated up from Aldi. That's not meant to be a major diss, as I enjoy Aldi's baguette. They serve the bread with sour cream, which seemed odd, because the last thing the bread needed was a greater sour note. Once again, this dish seemed to introduce the diner to a different type of flavor from the traditional for the sake of being different, not better.
The Berkshire pork rollups with braised carrots were good. The flavor balanced the familiar sweet and nutty notes of pecans? and carrots with a very thinly sliced roll up of pork. The pork was perfectly executed to a temperature that left it moist and tender. I believe the dish would have better balance it's sweet and savoury characteristics had the pork had a more substantial bite to it. Because the pork is thinly sliced, the carrots tend to dominate the mouthfeel and flavor of the dish.
The Salmon was excellently executed. Very nice temperature and crispy exterior. The soy-based cream sauce was good by itself, but overpowering for the delicate flavors of the salmon.
The strawberry Shawty ice cream I got was pretty good, though nothing special. Really just a cup of ice cream with a couple nutty toppings. The overall flavor was too acidic for my tastes. I understand, though, that this is what I ordered. Just didn't wow me. My friend opted for the caramel fudge ice cream and that was very good from the few bites I had. Order that one.
The meal wrapped up with several unique little bite-sized desserts. This was a nice was to cap the meal.
Dovetail served us some unique flavor combinations, several of which don't work as well as their traditional counterparts. The execution of the food was nearly impeccable, everything cooked to perfection. The service was warm and outstanding. At $75, I want a meal that blows me away. This was a great experience. I'm glad I was introduced to several new flavor combinations. However, the lack of exotic ingredients and mindblowing flavors left me feeling OK about spending $75. Three stars.
Went in a large group for a birthday party. No single dish was super memorable, though none disappointed. Perhaps I am just indifferent about New American. Very elegant setting though, and the service was stellar.
I came here for my birthday back in August with my brother, parents and grandpa. We were trying to find a place that has a tasting menu that is not extremely expensive and that had availability (we tend to make plans very last minute). We all really enjoyed our meals except my grandpa who claimed his Russian maid cooks better food (we all found this funny considering he is a super stubborn 90 year old Russian man).
We got an amuse bouche of truffle arancini which was SOOOO good that I could have eaten all of them (and considering it was my birthday it would have been nice if my family let me but that was not the case sadly). We also got three other things, one that had some kind of white fish rolled up in a cracker, another that looked like a tart but I do not remember what it was, and a cold pea soup shot. They were all good but the arancini was the best.
For my appetizer course I got the kampachi crudo. It was good, not great, nor was it really memorable. My brother had the foie gras which he really enjoyed and my grandpa had the pork ravioli which was the only dish he really liked/
For my vegetable course I got the hen of the woods, tofu and onion dish.It was really amazing and the mushrooms were perfectly cooked (unlike the ones I had for my previous birthday at Marea that were super chewy).
For the entree I got the scallops which were the best scallops I have ever had. They were perfectly cooked and were jumbo.
For dessert I had some white chocolate mousse or cake I do not really remember. It was good. They also brought a plate with macaroons and ice cream.
The two things that were really memorable were the arancini (though they are not on the menu, they really should be) and the scallops. I think for the price of three it is really worth it (85 for 3 courses) and I would maybe skip dessert but for 4 it is 98 pp (not including wine) and at that price I would prefer Blue Hill. Nonetheless, the food was still really good and I would go back.
Came to 1-Michelin Star Dovetail for our latest NYC weekend – it was walkable to our hotel & we wanted to treat ourselves…..and boy did we!
Chose the Vegetarian Tasting Menu with the Reserve Wine Pairing & can't speak highly enough about the wonderful experience from start to finish; from first bite to dessert; from the atmosphere in the lobby to our delightfully intimate table & the staff was super nice & attentive in the best possible sense – we were well cared for!
Sorry to say I didn't take full pics since I didn't see anyone else with their cameras at the ready & it felt out of place to snap away – I did manage to sneak a few but by then, the wine had been flowing enough that my courage was at its peak 🙂
Started with a lovely amuse bousche of 3 different bites – celery root & apple tartlette, truffle arachini & egg salad in a crispy roll – all were super! Glasses of Bérêche & Fils, Brut Reserve Champagne to pair!
Meal consisted of the following:
* fuji apples with cauliflower & wild rice
* white asparagus with red grapefruit
* A – savory chickpea raviolo with walnut brown butter, winter truffle ( this was a special request of ours to substitute 1 of the egg dishes so we could try the raviolo & they happily accommodated )
* B – smoked egg yolk, potato espuma, escarole, winter truffle
* cured carrots with white bean, coffee cashews
* king trumpet mushrooms in polenta with spinach
* roasted chayote squash with shiitake mushrooms, ramp buttermilk
* bittersweet chocolate soufflé, rosemary caramel, brown butter ice cream ( this was another substitution request over the butterscotch pudding )
One specific nicety to point out was that after each of our wine parings was poured, they left the bottle on the table during that course – I really appreciated that b/c I often find we like the wine to the point we'd like to seek it out but it is never on the table for us to remind ourselves what it was or to even snap a pic of the label – *very* nice touch here!!
So with large tasting portions & even larger wine pours, we were totally full & literally stumbling out of there, completely happy in every sense of the word……and already looking forward to visiting again!
TOTAL
2 people
4 hours
8 courses
2 champagnes, 2 wine pairings
$750 before tip
Felt like upper west side is kind of a dead zone for high quality elite food, especially when Picholine has closed its location later last year. However the discovery of Dovetail proved the opposite.
Supposed to opt for tasting menu; but I am not a big fan of foie gras (please do not judge me on this) so went straight for their four-course prex-fixe set. Real tough decision to make here as I simply wanted everything! Everything! So my friend and I was sharing every dish. Out of all courses, my favorite was the beef sirloin with short rib – the beef was cooked medium rare with a slight chewy touch inside, however outside was still able to maintain a crispy crunchy feeling. King salmon was a bit mediocre, as the fish meat was slightly greasy.
Overall this was a decent meal and I was able to find every essential element in my dinner; however nothing impressed me inside out.
This review is embarrassingly overdue, but Dovetail deserves the 5 stars, so here we go:
Dined at Dovetail with family for my graduation dinner and had an exceptional time.
Everything from the service to the food to the ambiance was on point.
I ordered the tasting menu (do that) while my family ordered a mix of entrees and appetizers.
*Now, before going any further, I will say this: If your party doesn't appreciate or understand (or is just generally allergic to) high-brow cuisine, this is not your restaurant. Unfortunately, this was the case for my little grandma who couldn't begin to comprehend why her fish wasn't thoroughly cooked or marinated with the spices she's familiar with. My parents were also puzzled by their *nontraditional* desserts. Sorry, family. This was my day! And I love good food.
Anywho, onto the delicious details! I can't remember every item I tried on the tasting menu, but I do remember the venison being really amazing. And as if the tasting menu chocolate cake wasn't decadent enough, the waitress also came around with this box of incredible chocolate-y and sugary truffles.
All this doting service and inventive cuisine does come with a serious price tag. You're looking at well over 100 dollars per person, depending on appetite and alcohol preferences.
But for a special occasion with the right crowd, it's totally worth it.
I have had dinner here on multiple occasions and have never left disappointed. Since the menu is always short I am familiar with almost every item, so sometimes I do wish the chef switches up the menu more often. Portion size is small, which is really good for tastings, and you can have the richest meal without feeling overwhelmed. Service is always professional but certain waiters should be less careless in describing the dishes. Quality is consistent post-renovation, except (1) there is no more a la carte options at dinner, (2) they eliminated brunch and stopped participating in NY Restaurant Week.