August - Brunch review

Well, a few weeks ago I had a terrific dinner at August.

Brunch there today will go down as one of the ruder displays of service I've yet to witness in NYC.

We got to August at 11:05, five minutes after they opened. I opened the door and saw the same waiter I had last time (he a bit on the strange side, but nice enough to us last time). I asked if they were seating yet. He groaned, looked at his watch, and looking in a direction other than mine, he said "I guess so". Um. Okay.

We get seated in the back room, which, because of the nice weather, had one of the roof segments open. Great.

My father-in-law, goes to the bathroom to find it clogged. Problem would be fixed later. Sink is on the fritz as well (gets all over both he and my mother-in-law). Whatever, okay.

Our waiter takes a drink order...and he was possibly the rudest person I've dealt with in the last 6 months. No patience, didn't get our order right and upon bringing the coffee/tea...spilled much of the tea on the table neglecting to clean it up. He wouldn't return to the table. Which is either good or bad depending on how you want to look at it.

A new guy, equally "sketchy" in looks and behavior can't seem to wait for us to give us our orders (impatient)...which of course results in him having to come back to the table a few seconds later to find out that yes, my father-in-law wanted his eggs over easy. Ugh.

After some time, the food comes out. And truth be told, my dish (Alsatian eggs) was excellent. The pain perdu with strawberry rhubarb compote was okay - nothing to cheer for. The steak and eggs looked very good but the biggest disaster was the German Pancake my mother-in-law ordered. She detected, being a cook herself, a faint but ever present baking powder taste. As she continued to eat...the flavor of baking powder increased. That was it for that. She spent the rest of the day bowled over the toilet.

I can't believe the uneveness of this place. After my first visit I walked away convinced that August was a winner. Now I don't know if I can recommend it to others.

The service from the moment we arrived until we left (no thank you, no hello, no good morning, no anything) was negative and unwelcoming.

Be warned.