Gunter Seeger knows he can cook, he named the restaurant after himself, his confidence is often merited but like anything, perfection is an illusion and so even the great chef Seeger has his moments of mediocrity. Pete Wells speaks of his food and the prices that are nothing short of exorbitant . One thing about New Yorkers is they like exclusivity so in some respect this might work for certain caliber of people who doesn’t mind paying upfront for their meal, but he had to reconsider this option eventually when people started to complain about it. Pete Wells speak of the decor of the place and how sparse the details was, no table cloth, wooden floors that echoes the wait staff footsteps and plain white walls with no character. Ambience was clearly not the primary focus for Mr. Seeger, or as they explained ti was so you get a feel that you are dining at his home. Mr. Wells spoke about the theatrics of the waiter bringing out the entire wheel of cheese to show where his cheese dish was going to be taken from, I’m almost certain that did not make the taste any more appealing but he did however enjoy his cheese platter. Everything for Pete Wells was perfection the first two times he dined but the third time apparently wasn’t the charm on this case as he was less than impress by his meal, even though he tried items he had previously tried and loved. Undercooked meal and less that exquisite taste is not something you expect or appreciate at $148 per plate before taxes and tips.
All in all I would say that if you can splurge just once then maybe if it’s a really special occasion and your curious, try the restaurant out for sure. I love and appreciate good food so i would be interested in trying but the honest fact is there are many brilliant chefs in NY so I wouldn’t fall over myself to go to this restaurant but the food sounds amazing, even though he skimp on the decor, I can get over that if the meal is going to captivate my tastebuds.
