Olmsted - Brooklyn

We had so many expectations from this place and what a disappointment.. The most surprising thing is that it is very hard to reserve a table . I was literally hunting getting a table reserved online. And I thought to myself “ Wow , food must be amazing there” So when we finally got there, we really liked the atmosphere. It is cozy , everything is really well organised and there is a beautiful garden . But food is very much mediocre served in minuscule portions. We were also joked that it was good that we ate a bit before the restaurant, otherwise we’d get off the table very much hungry. At the end we got another surprise, a check that included Covid charge supposedly to help them cover their reduced dining capacity. Hmmm.. the restaurant was packed with tables and customers plus outside sitting area.

It's been a year since we dined at the Olmstead and to this day we still talk about how it was the worst dining experience we've ever had! We called ahead to see if they had vegan options for their Thanksgiving dinner and they said they absolutely could provide vegan options for the multi-course Thanksgiving meal. What my husband (the vegan) wound up getting was literally a single slice of burnt sweet potato and THAT WAS IT, aside from a fruit platter that was- I kid you not- made of up canned mandarin oranges! It was almost laughable. While the rest of the family was eating multiple courses (which were generally under-flavored and overpriced), he had a single plate of one slice of sweet potato and a bowl of canned mandarin oranges. The staff was also pretty stuck up and did not seem apologetic. To this day it was one of the worst meals we've had and will likely be an annually revisited holiday tragedy for the next decade. If you're a vegetarian or vegan, I cannot recommend this place unless you want a tragic story to revisit every year.

DO NOT GO IF YOU ARE A VEGAN, VEGETARIAN OR PESCATARIAN. Literally one of the worst meals we have ever received. We paid for a multiple course dinner and the vegan and vegetarian had to sit most of the courses out. Of course, we were told before making our reservation the restaurant absolutely could accommodate a vegan and pescaratian. The vegan was literally served a slice of potato on a plate (that was it! and for dessert a fruit platter which was a bowl of sliced apples ad canned mandarin oranges. The pescatarian didn 't fare much better- a tiny piece of bland fish with mushy broccoli on top- nothing else. It was very insulting for the price. Meanwhile, the meat-eaters in our party had multiple courses and sides with their meals. Again, if you are a vegan, vegetarian or pescatarian stay far away from this place. Very disappointing.

Very innovative presentation. The menu has a decidedly Asian influence in the presentation and the method, but the ingredients were high quality organic and local. It was a nice, unusual twist and it worked well. The room is very nice, the backyard is really lovely. Next time I'd like to go when the weather is a bit warmer and enjoy a drink in the garden. The Mezcal cocktail was very very tasty. Wines were good nice selection, some good unusual picks. I am impressed with the quality and creativeness coming out of that small kitchen. Well done!

Delicious food. Nice waif staff. Almost satirically over the top presentation. Small portions. Excessive pretension. Basically a hipster joint.