I recently visited 51 Lincoln (www.51lincolnnewton.com) located at, well, you guessed it, 51 Lincoln St. in Newton, MA. I have to say that the experience was very enjoyable. Their food is excellent. The portions are sized just right, so you can share an appetizer, have an entree and still have room for dessert. And the ambiance in the dining room makes you hungry and relaxed at the same time. They have some beautiful modern art.
There are some things, though, that I thought could use some improvement. First of all, I believe that a restaurant where the average entree is $25 should have tablecloths. I understand that this is an expensive proposition, both for the restaurant and our planet, and I would typically side with the planet on this one, but I believe that the decor in a restaurant is very important and if the owner is going to spend time and money on the decorations (as they have), they should complete the look by getting rid of the placemats (recycle or donate, please!) and get some nice tablecloths.
Secondly, if the maire’d (http://www.51lincolnnewton.com/people-moses.html) is wearing a suit and the waitstaff is wearing nice starched shirts, I believe they should also be wearing a pair of khakis at the very least. The waitstaff at 51 Lincoln is currently wearing jeans. They look out of place (the jeans, that is) in such a nice decor with such elegant meals and patrons.
Also, as a side note about the waitstaff, I would recommend that every nice restaurant should hand out a vocabulary list to their newly hired waiters and waitresses , so that they can describe the chef’s 5 course tasting menu as something other than cool. Let’s face it, it’s really hard to sell something that costs $65 (gulp) with worlds like “great” and “cool”.
Would I recommend them? YES! Absolutely. Even in their nice blue jeans.