Acquerello

TLDR:
A 2 Michelin star restaurant with impeccable service. The food was also delicious of course, and they're very accommodating of dietary needs. It was so wonderful to celebrate my birthday here, and as someone with a big sweet tooth, the 5 dessert courses at the end were the cherry on top of the experience!

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FOOD:

* Divine! We tried the seasonal tasting menu and the northern Italian flavors really came out in multiple dishes. Expect a lot of acidity and actually quite a good amount of meat and seafood

The MUST TRYs if given the choice:
1. Butter poached Maine lobster (insanely buttery and fresh)
2. Wolfe Ranch quail (quail was excellent and the chestnut mousse was such a treat)
3. Lychee Sorbet (sorbets don't usually excite me but this lychee twist with pineapple was the most refreshing way to start the dessert courses)

If you also have a sweet tooth, here are the 5 dessert courses I was talking about:
1. Lychee Sorbet
2. Burnt honey cake (this actually was not my favorite flavor-wise or texturally)
3. A raspberry meringue tart (a special birthday dessert that was to die for but on the sweeter side)
4. A dessert cart to choose 3-4 treats from (the cake pop and the black sesame desserts were my favorite here)
5. Take-home biscotti to have with breakfast the next morning (or for dessert at home the same night!)

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SERVICE:

* Impeccable service, the way it should be at restaurants of this caliber
* My BF is lower carb so we were actually able to request swaps for the pasta dishes. They surprised us the day of with the swaps and they included innovative alternatives such as cuttlefish "pasta". They were very accommodating
* Sommelier was knowledgeable and gave wonderful recommendations

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ENVIRONMENT:

* The restaurant is in a converted church building and the main dining room features really unique vaulted ceilings reflecting this fact
* When you walk up to the restaurant, here's someone there waiting to open the doors for you and escort you inside
* They have an expansive wine cellar inside that you can peer into while you wait to get seated
* Located right off Polk Street

Came here for a birthday! The staff did a great job making me feel special - personalized custom menu, birthday treat, special napkins etc.

The food course was awesome! Left feeling full and satisfied. Really impressed with the amount of truffle dishes and the amount within each dish. They didn't hold back. Real standouts were the dessert!

Decor of the place is inviting, upscale, and intimate!

Definitely not a place you would eat everyday, rather a place you go for a celebration or date night
2 prefix menu options.
Everything is well prepared , tasty, and plated beautifully.
Service is very well timed and coordinated.

I came here with my husband to celebrate our anniversary. 2 Michelin stars! We opted in for the 4-course prix fixe tasting menu. Before going to the restaurant, we learn that there is a dress code.

We had to wait about 5-10 minutes before they led us to our table. We were seated, and there was even a nice cushioned stool for my purse. Nice touch, so I can access my stuff easily.

This Italian restaurant won a lot of wine accolades. All of their wine awards were displayed in the front when you walked in. Warning: the alcohol option is most likely wine. I did not see any cocktails available. The sommelier gave us some wine options that were within our budget. It was a lovely Italian white wine bottle for less than $200.

My husband and I choose different items on the prix fixe.
For the dinner, we chose:

Shared- Royal Kaluga caviar, smoked eel, potato, pickled beet

Course 1- Appetizer-
Me-Spanish mackerel crudo, Buddha's hand, radish, yuzu, finger lime
Hubs- "Rossoti Ranch" Veal carpaccio, Olive gelee, capers, Parmesan Panna Cotta

Course 2-Pasta-
Me-Ridged pasta with faux "foie gras," black truffle, and Marsala (BEST DISH OF THE NIGHT MUST ORDER)
Hubs-Suckling pig bottoni, Butternut Rugosa, sage brown butter, aged Sherry vinegar

Course 3-Entree-
Me-Dry age liberty duck
Hubs-A5 Wagyu beef, charcoal-roasted celery root, Bluefoot mushroom

Shared-Optional supplemental cheese course (MUCH regret.Too full for cheese and the options were too stinky for our palate)

Course 4- Dessert-
Me-Pistachio bavarese with raspberry and coconut cream
Hubs-Burnt honey cake, apple gelato, vanilla, thyme

It ended with a candy and dessert cart.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience here and will return for another celebration.

Excellent Italian-inspired meal. Ultimately, it's much less "Italian" than you'd expect, if you're thinking pasta course after pasta course. We ate at Birdsong (**) the night before and we were surprised to find that the menu here overlapped with Birdsong's a bit. Not to say that the restaurants are copying each other but I guess when dealing with seasonal ingredients this can happen. This is about as old-school as old-school fine dining gets, which is usually a good thing. Our only real complaint was that the restaurant was uncomfortably hot.

Came here with friends for a joint birthday celebration. We opted in for the 4-course tasting menu. This is a classic upscale Italian restaurant, which keeps the dress code.

I was running a little late due to childcare situation. Once we all showed, they led us to our table. They provided a nice cushioned stool for purses. Rare these days and I truly appreciate the accommodations.

The four course menu comes with 3 standard options for each course and one supplement choice for $75 extra. While going through the menu, we also got some help picking up the wine. They would tailor their recommendations to your needs. We got a really nice bottle of full body/multi-layered flavored Italian wine for less than $200. Wow. So delicious. We were also greeted with a birthday card. Very thoughtful.

I went with coffee cured white beets, acquerello risotto, duck, dark chocolate mousse with banana confit. We welcomed some refreshments first with a 3-phase little surprise, starting with a crabmeat-avocado mousse-a touch of pomelos (nice choice for phase 1 to be light refreshing), a liver mousse icecream shaped treat (slightly heavy but need it to kick off the meal), followed by a mushroom filled pastry (good hit of mushroom with buttery pastry).

My meal was absolutely beautiful and delicious. I am recovering from a cold and really appreciate the light, citrusy white beet. The coffee cured choice was unexpectedly delicious and weirdly worked. The risotto was delicious and light. Love the bites also. My duck was a delight. The fennel and coriander crust was absolutely delicious and provides the nice texture. I asked for medium well for my duck and it was so well executed. My chocolate mousse was so yummy. The dark chocolate crust was so nice and the banana confit was nicely blended. All plates were beautiful. After meal was served, we were asked if we could like to have coffee and another table of treats were presented.... Okay... I often pride myself of a being big eater.... I couldn't believe that I found myself being challenged of standing up after the four course meal.... lol

Service was spot on from the start to the end and no details were forgotten. My friend organized the birthday celebration and it made the birthday girl and boy feel that we were invited to a warm house greeted and taken care by wonderful hosts and the entire house.

The place was very classy and warm. Would definitely come back!

We recently celebrated my birthday here and had a great time. Nice ambiance and great service. What I enjoy the most was still the food. It is not hard to find a fancy and expensive place to dine in the city. However, not all of them focus on their food. Acquerello's food is so memorable that I am still thinking about it today. The flavor of each dish is so distinctive and enjoyable. I had such a great experience and would like to come back again in the near future.

Walking into Acquerello on Thursday, October 12th, at 8:45 pm, I was immediately swept up by the calm and classy vibe of the place. The environment was cool and tranquil, with a somewhat business casual dress code that made it feel special without being too stuffy. You could tell that everyone there was soaking up the easy-going yet elegant atmosphere, making it a really pleasant place to dine.

The food was a hit from start to finish, especially the duck - easily the best I've ever had. Every bite was a blend of rich, savory flavors that just melted in my mouth. But what really stood out was the service. The waiters were not just professional; they were also super knowledgeable, guiding us through the menu with ease and genuinely enhancing our dining experience with their insights and attentive service. Acquerello isn't just a restaurant; it's a place where great food and amazing service come together to create a truly memorable evening.

What a great dining experience! Everything from the food to the service was excellent. No wonder this is everyone's favorite.
We really loved the first course and dessert, not a huge fan of the main. Having said that, the food was still delicious. We just wished we ordered something else on the menu.
Highlights:
- Corn custard, Chanterelle mushroom, truffle vinegrette: I still remembered the dish 3 weeks after eating it. The corn custard was so soft, creamy with the Chanterelle on top. *Chef kiss*
- Ridged pasta with faux foie gras: the menu changes by season but this item has been on it. It speaks volume. Rich and flavorful. Very good. The waitress explained why it is "faux" but I totally forgot. Oops
- Affogato: I love how the chocolate came together with hazelnut bottom layer as well as the espresso on top. Yum!

We were here for Saturday night dinner. We were lucky to find parking right in front of the restaurant. The restaurant has an upscale yet cozy ambiance. Service was quite attentive as you would expect from a restaurant of this caliber. Maitre d' presented every dish with finesse, great detail and answered all our questions about each dish.

Both a tasting of vegetables and seasonal tasting menus were 9 course menus with additional tray of treats, ending coffee and biscotti. They were quite filling. Personally for me, so much so that I felt that I ate too much. Because of the dim lighting, I couldn't see the vibrant colors of the vegetable tasting menu but I believe every dish still looked absolutely stunning.

Pinzimonio looked great and tasted really good overall but there was a bitter aftertaste. Strawberry sorbet was the absolute hero of the menu. I felt the dishes were good individually but didn't flow that well. Didn't feel like a progressive meal. I definitely missed acid.

Seasonal tasting menu was good. I do wish some of the dishes were a little more substantial. Hiramasa felt a little lacking. Ribeye felt disconnected. Ridged pasta with faux foie gras was amazing. Good progression to the meal.

Overall, it was a good meal. Nothing was anything but spectacular. At the same time, we didn't walk away with a renewed sense of what food could be and endless possibilities with the flavors of the world.

We definitely hope to visit again.

PS : I would point out though that there was a fly that kept landing on my side of the table. I wouldn't expect a fly at any restaurant, definitely not an upscale restaurant.