Dovetail is an elegant and sophisticated upper west side restaurant, located in a brownstone on one of side streets. This quiet and somewhat romantic place has a feel of old NY. As much as the ambiance is warm I cannot say it is cozy. The restaurant is fairly large with a bar in a separate room. The décor is tasteful and contemporary, nicely done, as everything about this place. However; in my opinion the restaurant was lacking a soul, there was something cold about this place.

On the other hand the service was extraordinary. This venue has the most staff I have ever seen, over the course of our dinner there were 5 different people who checked on us, served us and provided excellent service. There were three times as many people working that night. Absolutely no complaints about the service.

The menu is extended and very interesting. The chef John Fraser did exceptional job with creating it. It seems like all dishes complement each other. Since this is farm to table place, there are a lot of vegetable options. You can order regular tasting menu, vegetable tasting menu, 4 courses for $88 per person or anything you want a la carte. We decided to go with 4 courses. Before our dishes started coming we were served amuse-bouche and three different bread variations, very delectable.

- tuna crudo with beets, pumpernickel and watercress- light option with well balanced flavors, dressed with small pieces of crunchy pumpernickel

- bay scallop ceviche with sunchokes, grapefruit and seaweed – what I liked about this dish is the lack of acidic taste that you usually get with ceviche, light but rich at the same time with lots of strong flavors; seaweed and drops of a sauce gave distinctive Asian taste

- Fuji apple salad with red cabbage, brown butter yogurt and wild rice – well executed salad, interesting flavor but nothing surprising

- Cured carrots, lentils, cashews, black garlic – the flavors on this dish were amazing, rich, hearty, fulfilling, simply marvelous

- Grilled lobster with smashed parsnip, kale and chestnuts – I really liked this dish, the lobster meat was soft and infused with original flavor, lobster was the star of this dish, everything else that was on the plate complemented it

- Venison, saucisson poivre, salsify and black trumpet mushrooms – I asked for the meat to be done medium, which made it soft and delicious. I was not sure if I would be able to eat all meat pieces but by the time I actually thought about it all of it was gone, this is how good it was. Wonderful execution on this rare dish.

For the sweet part of our dinner we picked:

- cherry clafoutis, oat streusel, black pepper, coconut sorbet – this was my favorite dessert. Surprising presentation, all pieces of this dessert were carefully plated. Crunchy, cold and soft. You need to try this.

- Bittersweet chocolate soufflé with passion fruit ice cream – this is excellent example how a soufflé should be served

This week’s winner for the favorite dish is cured carrots, hearty, tasty with a delicious crunch from cashews. Maybe there is something about me and carrots, but I absolutely love how much can be done with this vegetable.

I cannot say anything bad about the food or service; all dishes were impeccable, starting with the preparation, presentation, flavors and ending with the service. Everything was extremely tasty, maybe some of the dishes were missing wow factor, but sometimes you just want a well-done dish, where everything tastes right, with no overpowering ingredients. Saying the dinner was satisfying is an understatement, it was more than that. My only problem was the inviting and cozy feeling that dovetail did not deliver that night.

Cuisine: American/Farm to Table

Avg price per person: $95 tasting menu only

Attire: causal, elegant

Overall Rating: 4 plates