This is my third time at Elaine's since it opened, and by far my most disappointing. First off, the hostess looked simply untidy in baggy pants, faded shirt and large phone hanging out of her back pocket and even worse, she was decidedly dour and looked as if it pained her to speak or smile. Funny, I work among corporate lawyers all day, and the staff at Elaine's seemed far more aloof and condescending--interesting. The couple next to me, obviously regulars, however, were warmly greeted and showered with complimentary samples, the manager came out and chatted with them for ages, unfortunately he couldn't take the time to even turn my way and ask how my meal was, and apparently there is a one piece of bread ration. The food was good enough, flounder on a few shards of lobster, it was okay, nothing to make me want to leave the fine dining of my Charlotte home though. With desert however, things got decidedly worse, pumpkin cheese cake that tasted nothing of pumpkin but a lot like faintly souring cream. Perhaps too large of a purchase into its own hype, Elaine's definitely needs to tighten up.
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