Emily R.
Yelp
I really wanted to like this place. It has been on my "to try" list for ages. Since it was Valentine's Day weekend, I thought it was finally the perfect opportunity. Parking is fairly easy. It isn't in the heart of downtown Wheaton, so it wasn't difficult to find some street parking. The ambiance inside is intimate and cozy. We sat by the window, which doesn't offer a great view, but is perfect for a romantic dinner for two. The service was ok. The hostess was nice, but our waitress seemed like she was in a bad mood. They didn't appear super busy, but you never know. However, we had an amazing bus boy who was constantly asking if we needed anything. The prices are pretty expensive, so we were expecting some high quality meals. Boy, were we disappointed. The Valentine's Day menu was prix fixe and we didn't like any of the appetizers except the bread. This cost about $3. I don't know what made this bread so special it couldn't come with the meal like many other high end places do, but apparently this bread was very special as they charge. My husband ordered the chicken breast. It was ok. Nothing special and it was super small. Like very small. Like the kind of portions you get a high end restaurants in the city because the flavor is so exquisite you only take one or 2 bites. For $39 and that small, it was sadly disappointing. I ordered the house made pappardelle with orange duck breast. The pasta itself was completely inedible. It was WAY too thick and had an unappealing, gummy texture. When I say thick, I don't mean the width of the pasta, I mean it needed to be rolled out a good 5 more times. Typically you are supposed to twirl the pasta on your fork, but this was too thick for that. The duck was great. It had excellent flavor and a good texture. I can't get past that pasta though. I can cook better home made pasta. Cooking 101 tells you that it would have needed to be rolled out more. Who let that leave the kitchen? All I can do is picture Gordon Ramsey tossing it in the garbage and making the chef do it again because he would never allow that to be served. It is really embarrassing for the restaurant. For dessert, we ordered the pistachio financier. The name was a bit misleading. I thought this was going to be a pistachio flavored cake, but really it was just a yellow cake with a few chopped pistachios as garnish. Not horrible, but nothing special. I wish I would have gotten something else.
I personally won't be back and am disappointed I tried this place for Valentine's Day when I know there are better places I could have gone. I don't know if it was because of the prix fixe menu or if all the food is that bad, but they should not charge that much for food and allow an inedible dish to leave the kitchen.