A Strange Night at Abistro

It must have been a bad night at one of Fort Greene’s most revered restaurants.

A Saturday dinner at Abistro was — for the most part — as delicious as expected, but the service was casual to an absurd degree. Normally, an easygoing atmosphere is welcome in the neighborhood, but when paying around $20 an entrée, it is fair to expect a certain level of attention.

My dinner date and I arrived at around 9:30 p.m. after a bike ride through Prospect Park. I was desperate for a glass of water, but our server set down two glasses and never returned to fill them. I grew more obsessed with my lack of hydration, as I watched new arrivals enjoying their glasses of water — which came with a jug of the sweet nectar as well! I eventually put in a request, and the waiter apologized for the oversight.

Normally, such an exchange would not warrant a mention, but as it turned out, this lapse foreshadowed the rest of the night at this esteemed eatery at the corner of Myrtle and Carlton avenues.

Shortly after finishing my appetizer of mussels ($14) doused in ginger, pineapple and peanut — an interesting Senegalese twist that the kitchen was serving for the first time that night — the chef and sous got nose to nose. Heated words were exchanged, and the top dog ordered his young assistant who was puffing out his chest to “get out of my kitchen.” The kid complied, saying, “I quit!” as he stormed out of the restaurant, unbuttoning his shirt and dramatically throwing it down in front of the restaurant.

After this ordeal, it was easy to understand why the servers wanted to take a break — but the way they went about it was over the top.

We were finishing our Senegalese fried chicken ($23) — delicious, if a bit busy, what with the accompanying greens, rice cake, salsa, pineapple and dijonaisse sauce — and veggie burger ($11) — which, along with the accompanying salad and fries, was blanketed in salt — when the two servers addressed the dining room.

“You good? Is everyone good? Because we’re about to take a smoke break,” one of the servers announced to the 12 people still eating.

Everyone is entitled to a cigarette during work, of course. But when it lasts around 15 minutes, that’s a bit much. Finally, after our waitress returned from her extended break, I got the check and paid over $50 for a meal for two.

Given the extreme laissez-faire atmosphere, I would have preferred to cook for myself, stay at home and take smoke breaks to my heart’s content.