Thoughts on the Last Supper at San Domenico

Ate at San Domenico last night for the "last supper" in its current location. Had a reservation at 10, and yes- we were admittedly a little late (10:10), but we had to sit at the bar for 30 minutes and weren't seated until 10:40, which irked me a tad. Bartender gave me the full wine list, which was bottles only and then never came back, so I had to sit sans drink for too long before I could get his attention and ask for the wine by the glass menu, which I feel should be standard when sitting at the bar. Initial impressions: cruise ship dining room. A little too glitzy, a few too many waiters carrying a bit too-fancy looking things on trays. You feel the old-school charm, like it probably was one of "the places" to go in '88. I was suprised it didn't have carpeting. Was also suprised they didn't serve baked alaska- it seems like the type of place that would. The prix fixe dinner was good. I really liked the carpaccio of swordfish and the duck pate. The rib steak was perfectly cooked and the salmon was flaky and delicious. The caviar and the spinich served with the salmon were good enough to be a meal themselves. I wasn't a huge fan of the mushrooms served with the steak- they pieces were too big, rendering them too chewy. As for desserts, they were out of the napoleon (curses!) but the tirimisu with a little ice cream was a good second choice. Wine list is excellent. I drank a Ciro, which was tanniny and great. They had a nice Moscato d'Asti on the dessert menu and lots of Brunellos from Castello Banfi. They also had a really cool prociutto slicer which I overheard a girl say to the waiter, "what is this?" and he said, "a slicer" and she said, "Oh- i'll have to try some prosciutto next time" to which he responded, "there won't be a next time." A poignant moment... Anyway, I felt good to be there- a true part of history to be at the last public meal for San Domenico. I assume it wasn't the usual crowd, as they advertised their $55 prix fixe on websites such as Daily Candy, but hey- perhaps not a truly authentic experience, but an experience nonetheless.

If you have $600 to burn, you can still get in on the alumni chef reunion tasting menu dinner tonight. Proceeds will benefit the Food Bank of NYC.

On Sunday, they will have a tag sale where they auction off "stuff" from the restaurant- artwork, tableware, etc. (Actually, their tableware is pretty cool- it all says San Domenico on it.)