Stephanie R.
Yelp
Excellent fine dining in a cozy space at a reasonable price....and BYOB. Decent portions- if you order the chefs tasting you will leave stuffed. Reservations a must (generally 2 seatings - 5pm and 8pm)
This was our second time at Maize, and it was almost as good as the first time (to be fair, last time our reservation was delayed by an hour due to a table from the first seating refusing to leave....which ended up in a few extra courses from the kitchen to make up for it once we were finally seated, no complaints about that!). We have only ever done the 5 course chef's tasting, because at $50 why wouldn't you? The kitchen will accommodate any allergies or food preferences- for example asked if we were ok with meat/fish served rare/seared. Here's the rundown, though the menu changes based on local ingredients and the chef's discretion:
Seasoned popcorn to start (it's called Maize after all)
Buttery, steaming hot, fluffy biscuits served with honeycomb
1st course: crab cake with seafood risotto and shellfish sauce. OMG. Favorite dish of the night, best crab cake I've ever eaten.
2nd course: seared tuna with fingerling potatoes, green beans, pesto, kalamata olive. Interesting flavor, nice mix of textures with a vinegar zing, reminded me of German potato salad...topped with perfectly cooked tuna.
3rd course: teres major with celery root puree. I have yet to have a fish/meat not cooked to perfection at Maize, and this was no exception. We all enjoyed the puree...the taste was something new and it was silky smooth, something different for most of us.
4th course: pear salad with aged blue cheese and candied walnut. Good, but kind of a let down after the 3 warm courses....wish this was 1st course instead.
5th course: warm hazelnut cake with ice cream and pistacio. Also warm mini cookies were served with the check.