What counts as late at Avec?

Coming into town over Labor Day weekend, and want to hit The Violet Hour early on Saturday to avoid a wait. Trying to think about what to do after that, I thought Avec would be good for a late dinner. I know it can get busy there (is that still the case?) so recommendation is to go late. What time counts as late? There will most likely just be two of us.

I haven't been "late" on a Saturday night in a while, so I can't be that helpful. If there are just two of you, you may enjoy sitting at the bar (I prefer it, actually). You will likely get seated more quickly at the bar than at the regular tables.

Better question: what's Avec like early? I've had waits of an hour quoted to me at 8:30 on Sunday, 9 on Monday, and 11PM on Saturday; I've also walked right in at 6:30-7 on a Tuesday and Thursday. I wonder if NOT going late is the best strategy, seeing as how Avec's reputation is as a late night dining suggestion.

Just a thought.

Only trouble with that plan is that I figure we need to be at TVH between 6 and 7 to avoid a wait there, and we can't be in both places at once!

I agree that the better strategy is to hit TVH first. No fun standing in line for a bar, no matter how good it is. Plus, you can get an appetizer or something at TVH to hold you.

I've been to the Violet Hour around 9 on a Friday and not had to wait.

Giallo wrote:I've been to the Violet Hour around 9 on a Friday and not had to wait.

Ditto.

This is surprising. I've been to TVH at 7 or 8pm on a Friday and there was a very long wait. Clearly there is a lot of variation, depending on the day of the week, the time, the weather, etc. In my experience, it is best to assume there will be a wait after 7pm on a Friday or Saturday, and have a back up plan in case the line is longer than you expected.

Tammy-one more suggestion about TVH. There are three rooms plus seats at the bar. Each room has different style seating (large upright chairs, booths, and little stools). I happen to think that the best place to sit is at the bar because you can see how the bar tenders make the drinks, talk to them, etc. I also find the upright chairs and especially the stools to be very hard on my back. So, when you arrive, tell the host where you want to sit, or tell her first available.

In answer to the--well, my--question, we went to Avec Saturday night at 6:30PM hoping to avoid a serious wait. And we mostly did. Prior to our arrival, we called at 5:30 and 6 to see the status of things--in both cases, the hostess assured us we could sit right down. But we were a party of three, and when we arrived at siete menos trenta, we did have to wait twenty minutes so that a corner spot could open, such that the third person would be slotted in the exit row of the long tables; however, parties of two who came at the same time were seated at the bar immediately and at tables within five minutes, and continued to be seated relatively quickly until about 7:15.

So, if you hit Avec at, say, 6PM, you could be in and out and on to TVH before it gets crowded as well.

Two notes:
1) This was my first time at Avec in a party of more than two, and I do not recommend it if you want to avoid some serious waiting. Case in point: there was a party of three that got to the restaurant about 10-15 minutes after us but who didn't get seated until we were eating dessert--so they had a wait of 45 minutes to an hour. I can only presume the waits for 3+ got subsequently longer as the evening progressed.

2) This was my first flawed dinner here, as oversalting was an issue on the trout--which was tasty--and the pork shoulder. It would be too presumptuous to make causal links from a single not-perfect visit, but my best meals here have been when Koren was behind the stove; last night, however, she was hanging out at Blackbird or running dessert out.

We (2 of us) went on a Thursday night at 7:45 and were not seated until 9:30. It did not look like the crowd waiting had thinned much at that point. People in groups of 4 or more definitely seem to linger there longer than 2 hours.