Dan P.
Yelp
While this place has the trappings for an excellent, elegant meal, the whole experience falls short in some respects.
The decor seemed old and not dirty. We were seated promptly.
While there was lots of space between tables, and the place was not crowded, the harsh acoustics of the room beamed loud noise from the bar right into our ears. A moderating influence was the pianist, who played mostly pop/show tunes in an unobtrusive manner.
Service was well-trained but a little on the bow with folded-hands obsequious scale. Our waiter brought out an incorrect dessert, but that error was quickly remedied. Otherwise, no complaints except that water glasses were not tended to often enough.
Bread and butter -- a missed opportunity to impress. Nothing special.
Some food was really great. The starter garden salad was wonderful (but about twice as big as it should have been). My duck had a great taste, but I was not a fan of the bean/potato/purree bed on which it was delivered: too many non-cohesive flavors.
My wife's halibut was overcooked and the bed of beans and veggies turned into a mushy swamp of muddled flavors and dog-food-like texture.
The chocolate sampler was tasty, but a little one-note. I very much enjoyed the lightness of lemon sorbet with (a few) stewed blueberries. The big disaster on the dish was an unwelcome, unneeded, ice-cold, doughy, undercooked, flavorless cookie. At the prices you are paying, they couldn't make a fresh cookie?
All in all, a *very* expensive meal, with a chef whose ideas need to be developed further.