Whit Allen
Google
There was some good, and some bad. Upon arrival, we were greeted very warmly and offered a seat at the bar while we waited for a table to open up. And admittedly we were 90 minutes early for our dinner reservation. Half way through our Negronis, a table was available (an hour early) and the staff graciously moved our drinks for us. Well done so far.
We placed our dinner order and ordered a bottle of Brazilian wine. The sommelier was busy, so we let the waiter choose between two options, each were R$175, we got a reserve merlot. The steak tartare bruschetta came out pretty quickly and was tasty. But the wine just wasn't working. It tasted off and smelled like mushrooms. So we told the sommelier, who was now available, that we needed a different bottle of wine and asked for his suggestion. He directly suggested an Argentine cabernet franc, and it was fine. At this point, we were about 45 minutes past the steak tartare bruschetta and getting really hungry, waiting for the next two courses we ordered.
FINALLY...the arroz com povo (rice with octupus) came out, and to be honest, it tasted like Uncle Ben's Instant Rice. At R$135 to R$150 per plate, I was expecting something of better quality. It doesn't have to be risotto-style, but give me some rice body, some rice texture. Not the instant rice I cooked in my college dorm room...
And then quickly followed the salmon with asparagus. While the vegetables and sauce were quite tasty (though not hot), the inside of the salmon portions were very cold. I do actually like my salmon medium-rare, but I expect the center to be at least warm, and this was really, really cold.
The highlight of the evening was dessert, they got this right. We had both the pannacotta with guayava and the cheesecake with dulce de leche. Very unique presentations and very tasty.
But then came the conversation about the wine we sent back. I was being asked to pay for both bottles. When I refused, saying that the wine was damaged and not drinkable, I was told that I didn't understand Brazilian wine. And that because I had opened the bottle, I had to pay for it. This really surprised me for a restaurant of this supposed caliber. The sommelier never once got curious why I was ordering another bottle and not drinking the first one. I would expect a competent sommelier to at least get a glass and take a sip to understand our concern. And beyond the fact that his suggested wine was exactly 2X the price of the original bottle ordered...I was appalled at this treatment and assumptions.
To their credit, the first (bad) bottle was ultimately removed from my bill, but this confrontation seems unnecessary at such a restaurant.
