With all of the buzz, I was very eager to try Cork last Thursday night. I have to say though, my initial experience with the place made me want to run in the other direction.
My party called ahead (under Cork's policy allowing a 30 minute call ahead for a table) and yet we waited about an hour for a table. My problem really wasn't the wait, so much as the attitude of the hostess staff and the fact that they were not being realistic with the wait times. There were a few tables when my group arrived but we weren't able to be seated though we had 2 out of the 3 in our party present. When our 3rd member arrived 10 minutes later, all tables had been filled and we were told it would be a 30-minute wait. This, too, would have even been fine... but when we made our way across the crowded bar to check in with the hostess 30 minutes later, we were told that we would have to wait another 30 minutes. No acknowledgement of how long we had been waiting but, "People are lingering longer than we expected."
We were finally seated about an hour after we arrived and my party enjoyed two grat bottles of wine and the variety of small plates. Our waiter was also nice as can-be (and he even commented that my party had been waiting for awhile!), but
the unsympathetic and unhelpful hostess really is a bad introduction to the otherwise delightful Cork.