Neuski.com

The Catbird Seat Experience

I have hesitated summarizing my feelings formally because I’m scared I won’t do justice to the experience. But if I don’t share now I won’t ever. 

First, I have uploaded all of my photos from the night on Flickr. I have detailed descriptions (as best as I could provide) of the food and beverage pairings. I’m not going to walk through the night here so I suggest checking out the 28 photo set.

I would love to answer any questions. Ask away.

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I was in a meeting in a coworkers office and noticed his The Catbird Seat menu on the wall. I was able to keep from gushing before I questioned him about it at the end of the meeting. When I expressed that I wouldn’t find myself there anytime soon because Beth isn’t as adventurous as I, he explained that a coworker of ours also wanted to go and had a girlfriend with similar culinary tastes as Beth. That moment turned into a few weeks of waiting and planning to get a date that would work for us and two other coworkers we recruited.

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I choose the house beverage pairings along with the food. I debated this choice because I have never enjoyed wine. When faced with the decision I gave in to prevent any regrets I may have. It was the right choice and I highly recommend it. I enjoyed every glass and loved hearing about where they came from. I would have like to see a cocktail or beer served. 

Which brings me to the biggest takeaway from the night: It was a very casual experience.

I can think of a few restaurant experiences I have been to, spending half the money I did at TCS, that made me feel twice as uncomfortable. (Busting out my phone to Google a term and learning it is a cheese is depressing.) The entire staff was friendly and not patronizing. We met every chef through the night as they brought over their dishes to us. All of them were very open to questions (How did you aerate the foie gras? How do you make bourbon balls? How accommodating are you with dietary restrictions?) that my geeky colleagues and I had for them. (FYI: They are extremely accommodating. They pride themselves in serving the “same dish” to anyone no matter their wishes. Vegan & vegetarian aren’t even a challenge.)

And the food wasn’t pretentious either! I’m still surprised I was familiar with every ingredient they quoted. I know they were doing some molecular gastronomy in there (i.e. bourbon balls) but they didn’t explain this to us. We were the ones asking about what was being sous-vide. It was so welcoming to be served a dish and not hearing ingredients and techniques dropped like famous names.

The hype and price isn’t because of fancy ingredients. It’s the people, the techniques, and the experience. They are what make it worth your time to visit. Go.