Chef of Tatiana, known for his Afro-Caribbean cooking.
Insights
ThaiVegan-friendlySeafood
Last updated: 8/30/2025, 9:28:52 PM
Key Information
Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi is an Afro-Caribbean-inspired restaurant with New York City influences, located at Lincoln Center. It is celebrated for its lush, lively, bold, and beautifully designed space, offering a 'sexy ambiance' and high-end dining rooted in culture and storytelling without pretense. The restaurant also features a vibrant music selection, often playing R&B hits from the late 90s, which contributes to its unique atmosphere.
Customer Perception
Customers generally describe Tatiana as an imaginative, delicious, and memorable dining experience, often calling it an 'NYC treasure.' The service and hospitality are frequently praised as excellent, polished, and attentive. While the food is lauded for being inventive, visually stunning, and deeply flavorful, with sauces being a particular highlight, some customers note that the prices are high and have seen recent increases. Reservations are highly recommended due to its popularity.
Additional Details
The restaurant offers takeout and delivery services. Chef Kwame Onwuachi is known to be present at the restaurant and often interacts with guests, enhancing the dining experience. Tatiana is also recognized for its refined and perfectly balanced cocktails.
Specific dietary options (e.g., vegan, gluten-free) are not explicitly mentioned in the provided information. It is advisable to contact the restaurant directly for inquiries regarding dietary accommodations.
Best Times to Visit
Reservations are strongly recommended due to the restaurant's popularity and the challenge of securing a table. For those without reservations, arriving about an hour before opening, even on a weekday, may be necessary to secure a walk-in spot, as reservations are prioritized.
Tatiana absolutely lived up to the hype. From the moment we arrived, the atmosphere felt vibrant and welcoming, and the entire experience managed to be both elevated and comfortable at the same time.
What stood out most was the food. Every dish felt thoughtful and creative without being overly complicated. The flavors were bold, balanced, and memorable, and you can really see Chef Kwame Onwuachi’s influence throughout the menu. There were multiple dishes that had everyone at the table talking long after dinner was over. The cocktails were equally impressive and complemented the meal perfectly.
What made the night especially memorable was that a quick flash flood level rainstorm hit while we were dining. Despite the unexpected chaos outside, the staff handled everything with remarkable grace, professionalism, and composure. Rather than letting the weather impact the experience, they remained attentive, calm, and accommodating, making guests feel taken care of throughout the evening. It was a great example of hospitality at its best.
Tatiana is certainly a special occasion restaurant (friend’s birthday) but it never felt pretentious. Between the exceptional food, outstanding service, and the way the team navigated a challenging situation with such poise, it was one of the most memorable dining experiences I’ve had in New York City. Well worth the visit.
The reservation for Tatiana is almost impossible to get and was lucky enough to score one. Started off with the high and dry cocktail and ordered a bunch of items to try:
Curry goat patties 10/10 - these were so delicious, the pastry was flaky and buttery and the inside was savory and had a delicious curry flavor. I loved the yogurt aioli which was refreshing and helped cut out the heaviness of the patty
Fried okra 10/10 - super addictive and the hot honey really enhanced the flavor
Egusi tortellini 8.5/10 - the tortellini itself was well made and al dente with a really interesting egusi filling. The sauce on the plate was also really delicious and paired well with the tortellini. I found the bits of crab to be pretty fishy and it was clearly frozen crab.
Jerk chicken wings 10/10 - this wasn't on the menu and was a special for the night. Wings were tender and the jerk bbq flavor was really well balanced with the yogurt dipping sauce. The jerk flavoring was subtle which I preferred
Braised oxtail 8/10 - the meat was super tender and flavorful and loved eating it with the rice and peas. I did find the sauce to be too salty for my taste
Bbq collard greens 2/10 - this was the worst dish of the meal. The braised beef chunks were chewy and overcooked and tasty as tough as beef jerky. The bbq sauce was so incredibly sweet and overpowered the entire dish, I felt like I was eating collard greens with sugar. The best part was the corn bread which was made well.
Mom duke's shrimp 10/10 - I was so impressed with the size and quality of the shrimp. The sauce was delicious and the shrimp was cooked to perfection. This is a must try.
Bodega special 7/10 - I understood the concept behind this dessert and found it pretty cool. However, I didn't find the cosmic brownie to be that good, it was pretty standard for a brownie. I did really enjoy the powdered donut ice cream and was fascinated how they made it taste so similar to powdered donut including the texture and consistency of the ice cream.
Overall, the food had bold flavors and really opened up my palate to some interesting flavors I don't typically have. The food was good but not amazing enough for me to fight for a reservation each month when it opens up. Service was friendly but they could have changed our plates without us asking and chasing them down. They also took away the serving utensils a few times and we had to chase them down to replace them. The restaurant is very loud which I found a bit too much for me and made it very difficult to have a decent conversation with my friends.
We we were so lucky and excited to grab a last minute patio reservation. The view of Lincoln center and atmosphere were stunning. The staff was so attentive and welcoming and the drinks were great- I recommend the gin cocktail, spicy marg, and tequila jellies. Also all their sauces were on point and fantastic. However the food itself was definitely not the highlight of our experience. While the crab patties were good, the rest of the dishes we ordered like the beef cheek collared greens, okra dish, piri piri salad and the ribs were all way too salty. The salt was overpowering the ingredients and in the end the flavor profiles just all blended together. It’s a shame we couldn’t really taste the meats. My favorite thing I ate was the cornbread because it was simple and delicious (shout out to the chef from Texas who prepared it). The guava cheesecake was good except the guava part was just a hard gel on top that was too sweet and didn’t taste like guava at all. I was expecting the guava to be incorporated into the cheesecake itself like in a puff pastry. I’m hopeful the kitchen will try to return to its roots and work on letting the ingredients and authentic spices speak for themselves. Btw we like spicy just not so salty. We would come back here and highly recommend it for the drinks and experience for sure 😊
Insane experience!! We waited outside before the restaurant opened! We came for my birthday and it’s beautiful inside and outside! The staff was elite and soooo caring and attentive ! Shoutout to them! We were stuck in a rain storm and they took such amazing care of us! They went ABOVE AND BEYOND!
FOOD WAS AMAZING!! Everyone neeeds to come and eat here !!! Such a great story and vision here! 10/10!!!!
I can finally understand why it is one of the hardest places to get a reservation in NY. We managed to get one during the week and it was packed. It was loud inside and gave off very upscale vibes which made sense. Ordered the honeynut piri piri salad - super fresh and light but nothing to rave about. The curried goat patties were rich, flavourful and a bit spicy. Mains took a while to come out - we were waiting around 20mins. We got the short rib pastrami which was really good!! Cooked to perfection and it melted in my mouth - would highly recommend. For dessert we ordered the famous bodega special - the brownie was not strong and overpowering at all and the sugar ice cream donut was a cool touch. The highlight was definitely the icebox cake!! It was super light and the caramel brought the cake together. Overall food was delicious but overpriced!
