Went to this place on Saturday night. Formerly the Park Avenue Cafe, they now slightly alter the decor with the season and completely revamp the menu. It was pretty highly rated in Zagat for the “Fall” edition last year and walkable from my uncle’s apt. so that was the main motivation. $45 corkage, which I thought was too high but he was willing to do, so OK!
The front end seating area and the bar were pretty hopping. The back dining area was very clean (as in “sharp looking”) and the area was about 3/4 full and not that noisy. The menu was nice and seafood-loaded for this season. I started with a soft shell crab dish and my uncle had a kampachi dish. Both had great presentation, good portion size, and nice married flavors.
The French waiter recommended the Langoustines, which I had to get because I don’t often have a chance to eat fresh ones. They were good, but my uncle commented nothing like the ones he had at Bouley recently. I would expect that, though, I guess…
Overall I would give this place a 3* rating out of five, but personally the corkage would be a deal breaker as there are so many great places offering lower/no corkage in NYC these days.