Figured I'd chip in with some input as the wife and I went to Le Bernardin last week shortly after they re-opened. We got every year on our wedding anniversary and it was our first time dining out in Manhattan since the beginning of the year.

Booking was rather straightforward...my wife used a combination of Resy and Amex Platinum Concierge and we were moved from the waitlist (having first contacted about one week out) to a confirmed reservation a couple of days out. We went in on the first sitting which was a 5.45pm arrival and everyone has 2.5hrs before the second sitting starts at 8.45pm.

The bar area was fully cleared out and acted as a reception where out temperatures were taken with the gun and then escorted around to the podium in its usual place. There was no coat check service.

I was expecting the dining room to feel very sparse but actually it only felt a little more emptied out than normal. Menus had been replaced by glass prismed QR codes with separate ones for wine list and food. There was a large perspex divider between us and the adjacent table but other than that things were very much normal. The Le Bernardin tasting menu was no more, just the Chef's Tasting and the Prix Fixe menu but no complaints. The food was its exceptional normal self and we went with the wine pairing on the chef's tasting menu, hefty dollops of Oscietra caviar and all! The pace was a little quicker than we're used to with only a few minutes spacing between certain dishes but it didn't feel rushed at all and the usual amuse bouche and petit fours were all as expected. Chef Ripert was working and doing his rounds meeting the regulars...no trip to the kitchen on this visit though...The exit was out the door to the private events room down by the toilets.

Overall no qualms about revisiting....I was slightly concerned it wouldn't be the usual Le Bernardin standard but I was very wrong.