We passed by the other night after dining at a neighborhood establishment. Fuxia was packed, and it had great vibe! I bookmarked Fuxia mentally as I walked home and then followed up definitively with a Yelp bookmark when I sat down at my computer.
I phoned for reservations a few days later and learned that reservations were not accepted but fortunately were unnecessary for groups arriving before 9PM. We showed up the following day a little after 8PM and discovered that the outdoor tables were full and that the inside was essentially deserted. (There was one lone diner -- was it Ofer G.?) We chose an inside table near the door, thereby getting the benefit of the outdoor air.
As we were looking over our menus, other diners wandered in. The indoor area never filled up completely, but business was definitely booming after 20h30. I ordered the gazpacho starter and a pasta with mushrooms (funghi). I also got a bottle of the house rosé for the table. The gazpacho was excellent, the pasta was fine, and the wine was more than drinkable. On food and drink alone, this restaurant would probably rate three stars by my usual standards. In the restaurant's favor is the quality/price ratio, which is excellent, and also the great vibe, which I mentioned at the start of my review. The servers were friendly and borderline-charming. Thus I have no trouble moving up to four stars.
Working here is the equivalent of going on a Stairmaster pretty much nonstop for the length of your shift; you'd have to deliver hamburgers on roller skates to get a better workout. The kitchen is downstairs (and diners can peek in if they like). When dishes are ready, they are taken up two or three (or four...) at a time by the servers. The personnel were continually bounding down and then up the stairs, often hauling dishes in both directions. Since many of the diners were outdoors, the delivery of many of the plates was scarcely complete when servers got to the top of the stairs. When we dined at Fuxia, it had been very hot during the day and cool night air had not yet streamed in to Paname. It was striking to me that all of the servers were energetically bounding around virtually without a break, despite the residual heat in the dining areas; obviously, aerobic strength is a key criterion for employment. During the course of our dinner, we were visited by each one of the servers who were on duty. At Fuxia, no one growls "You're not my table!"; service is always available when needed. read more