Whenever I make reservations at a nice restaurant I ask for a good table. It’s best to be as specific as possible if you know the table that you want. When I went to AOC a few months ago, someone else reserved our table and we got an F-listed one. I was annoyed, because whenever I make a reservation I get an A or B-listed table. The only time I get C-listed tables is when people are loitering at their tables and I decide to take a less desirable one because I am starving. My first F-list table was at AOC’s patio, which I had never been seated in before—and now I know why. We were seated by the door that the busboys were coming in and out of so it was literally the worst table in the house. After complaining, we were quickly ushered to an A-list table—one of the two banquettes at the front of the restaurant.

The coolest thing about our spot was that we had an unobstructed view of restaurant arrivals. We didn’t see any celebrities, but spotted two of Top Chef’s judges, Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio, and season one’s winner, Harold Dieterle. They pretty much looked the same, but I noticed that Gail looks about 15 pounds thinner when seen from the back—odd, but true. Top Chef is one of my favorite reality shows (now that Katie Lee Joel isn’t the host) and is back for another season after Project Runway’s finale tonight. Click on the menu below to get an idea of what dining at AOC is like—it’s one of my favorite restaurants. Some items are seasonal, but we particularly liked two of the cheeses that I’ve marked below.

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