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May 22, 2015- By Steven E. Greer
I prepared to go to Chef Mike Anthony’s restaurant called Untitled at the Whitney Museum of American Art by calling their reservation line to make sure that the chef was working. It was a centralized line (big mistake) and the lady who took the call, Megan, had no idea what was going on in the actual restaurant. I asked her to call the restaurant and confirm that he was there, and she did. I told her that I would be there at 9:30 PM.
I showed up on time but the host-guy had no reservation for me. I told him that I had called, but he could not have cared less.
I walked outside and called Megan again. I told her to call the host-guy and tell them that she screwed up. She did, and they then offered me a seat. I chose the bar section, which was a mistake. The seating forces one to slouch over (just like North End Grill) and the bartenders are clueless about table service.
When I first walked into Untitled a few weeks ago, it was lacking the huge flowers of Gramercy Tavern, and I told them the place was too stark. This time, they had a large but rather unattractive arrangement.
The bar was also sparse, with just a few bottles of booze on the wall. The bartenders seemed green, with the exception of one man who had worked with the chef for more than a decade.
I ordered the “Fried Chicken”, which was a combination of rotisserie meat and Korean-style fried nuggets. I needed a sharp knife, but all five of the bartenders had their backs to the diners for several minutes playing around with computers or other nonsense. It became comical how I could not get their attention.
The chicken was not superb. It was a scrawny bird and the fried nuggets were like popcorn chicken at KFC. The bartenders reminded me that the chickens were “the best fed” because they get the scraps from the restaurants of Per Se or Gramercy Tavern.
I then tried the chocolate chip cookie and small milk. This is a matter of opinion, and many people might like this, but I disliked that the cookie was warm. It was also way too sweet and had too much chocolate, proving once again that New York pastry chefs do not have a clue about how to bake an American chocolate chip cookie.
Also making the dessert experience bad was the fact that Chef Korsh from North End Grill sat his stupid ass down next to me to dine. Next to him was Sabato Sagaria, the new person appointed to sort of take over for Danny Meyer’s semi-departure, who seems to be failing miserably.
How was the food? Honestly, I was biased by the horrendous service. I have long said that so-so food can be elevated by good service. In this case, I am afraid that Chef Anthony’s food was made to seem worse than it was.
I left and had a better meal at Santina next door. Once again, like last time, I spotted some stunning women in that place.
I had high hopes for Untitled and went in with the best intentions. But like Marta, the staff at this Danny Meyer (in name only) place were not trained well.
The place just opened. I know. But I do not think that more time will matter. Union Square Hospitality is not what it used to be.