I had high expectations for this place, what with Thomas Keller's reputation and the gaudy yelp standing and the circuitous route to get to the spot and my love of brunch.
We left disappointed. The service was awful. My theory behind th bad service stems from the preponderance of European and foreign folk that seemed to fill every table. Euro's don't tip. The wait staff surely gave up trying to earn their tips through stellar service long ago.
That attitude is unfortunate because I am a fat tipper and our server ignored us and rolled her eyes at us and otherwise undermined our meal.
The pastries were all stale.
The entrees came out one at a time over the course of 15 minutes.
I had to ask 3 times where my sticky pecan roll was. When I finally got it it was dried out and uninspired.
Sauteed spinach that came with one of the dishes was unseasoned, inedible, and unnecessary.
I had the croque madame which was really good. All of the entrees were great, actually, but the combination of awful service and stale pastries left me with a bad taste in my mouth.