Jason Smith
Google
A great evening in a good restaurant. We planned a birthday dinner for 7. I went in a week in advance to begin the conversation. Camille, the host, was terrific to work with. So friendly and accommodating. She set us up in a beautiful private room that was cozy and quieter, but still had a great view of the restaurant where we could take in the great energy of a Friday night.
Ambiance/atmosphere is terrific. Several distinct spaces to choose from, with a few that nicely combine restaurant tables in a bar/lounge vibe room. Also terrific indoor/outdoor options. A great buzz throughout the restaurant.
Food was excellent. Salads = great. Prime rib = very good! Chili roast beef = excellent. Tomato soup = very good. Bucatini = good flavor, a little dry, and I found the chef's choice of the spaghetti-like bucatini to be a challenging choice for diners because it's so difficult to eat elegantly in this restaurant's chic setting. Save the spaghetti/fettucini/angel hair/bucatini for Nona's house on Sundays. There are far easier pasta shape choices that would bring the same flavor with far less fear of drips on one's shirt. :) Steak frites = really delicious (although the menu claimed the cut was New York Strip, I'd bet money that was a flank steak. Still, delicious.)
Gabby our server was so sweet and pleasant. Just the right attitude you want a server to have -- she aimed to please! My guess is that she's still relatively new and finding her way. So the service was a bit inattentive. I had to get up and go find her once or twice. And the bottle of wine we ordered sat in its ice bucket in the corner. Neither she, nor any other helper, ever remembered to refill the wine glasses. We ended up having to get up from our seats to go get it and serve ourselves. Also, she'd been assigned several other tables in addition to our private room. Understandable, of course. As I watched her serve other parties, though, she had tables assigned throughout the entire restaurant, long distances apart. The poor thing had to run around a lot. So between the sheer number of tables, their distance apart, and maybe a bit of inexperience, at times we felt like we were at the bottom of a loooong list of her responsibilities. If her management invests in her training and experience, and maybe concentrates her attention to a defined section of the dining room, she will shine!
Again, a great night at a good restaurant. Thank you Camille, Gabby, the chef and kitchen staff, and the bus crew!