PX This.

joshua.david-stein’s (typically oblivious) grubstreet.com rumination on SHO ShaunHergatt today reminds me all about my visit there last week.

unlike joshua.david-stein (who, undoubtedly, has never even been to SHO but dislikes it intensely anyway), i really loved it— it’s my newest favoritist restaurant since Grayz and Maze.

yah so
originally i tried to go on a sunday night but they’re closed sundays (just so you know). so i went on a monday instead.
since i figured it would be a slow night, i didn’t bother to make reservations or anything like that. i’d also heard SHO was “gigantic” and “dead” so that only added to my confidence i’d definitely get a decent table.

and i sure did all right!
oh lemme backtrack for a second. firstly, i wanna say SHO is really elegant. it can be kind of intimidating, because it’s so grand and plush and swankeroo and whatnot— but the hostess (or maitre d’ or whoever) is very professional in that she makes you feel welcomed right away. she doesn’t say any of the unexceptional asinine things like “can i hellllp you?” or “do you haaaave a reservation?” which is the type of stuffs (as a former “professional”) that drives me up a fucking wall.
she just smiles all warmly and sweetly. even when you imply you haven’t yet decided whether this joint is worthy of your benjamins and you just “want to have a drink” first.

on the other hand, the bartender, for some reason, is a little timid and apprehensive. maybe she’s new.

anyhoo. one look at the menu (enthralling and reasonably priced!) will likely convince you it could be worth at least a benjamin and a half. it convinced me, anyways.
luckily, the warm sweetly smiling hostess is all too happy to accommodate your impulsive, presumptuous, spontaneous, classless ass. so good for you!

as she walks you to your table, you (also a consummate “professional,” yes?) cannot help but notice— homegirl’s got it all going on. she does the whole bit: the contrivedly and painfully sloooow but confident gait, the occasional glance backward (are you dimwits still there? have i lost you? have you paused midway to to take a phonecall or some shit?), the meticulous care not to clatter the floorboards with those sky high laboutins.
god damn, who’s the service coordinator up in this muhfuh?
either these people are all graduates of the University of Three Star Service, or somebody’s been working overtime to train these bitches.

ya know— i could go on and on about every other staffer i encountered at SHO, but i think you get the picture. these people are the shit. i was really impressed.
they were attentive without being overbearing, experienced without the attitude [see: Batali/Bastianich, BR Guest], and knowledgeable without the arrogance. in short, they were pretty much every operator’s dream staff, no joke.

secondly: the food (?!) my gawd, the FOOD
didn’t miss a beat.
can i ask you something? when was the last time you had a decent “mixed vegetable” side? i don’t know bout you, but whenever i see “mixed vegetables” offered on the menu, i want to guffaw like a jackass and hurl the menu out the window.
but NOW, i can say i have had the perfect side of mixed vegetables that can possibly ever be executed.
maybe that will give you some indication how good the food was.

lastly, the only other thing i want to comment is how i didn’t mind at all having almost the entire dining room to myself, but i did thoroughly enjoy the conversation drifting over from the big loud “mafia” table right smack in the center. until they started talking about all their bar mitvahs and yom kippurs or whatever and then i felt pretty stupid for stereotyping them.

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