Sarah Rutledge
Google
Was excited to try this place after the Michelin buzz! Unfortunately, we found our dinner to be a disappointing experience. After perusing the menu online, we had planned to order, among other things, the brisket cigar appetizers and the braised shortrib entree. Our server greeted us, announced the day’s specials, and took our drink orders. It wasn’t until we were ready to fire off our food order that he mentioned that both the brisket cigars and shortribs were sold out. This was 7:30 on a Saturday night! He mentioned the restaurant regularly runs out of these items by this time during service. That’s something that the website should note and something we should’ve been informed of immediately. (Ideally, that might also be something the restaurant orders more of, but I realize supply and finances could be a limiting factor here. Still, there were multiple opportunities to inform us of this, and it’s bewildering that our server was so unbothered and unapologetic about this issue.)
Another thing we found a bit confusing was, when we told our server we were torn between a few appetizers, he responded not by listing the qualitative aspects of the dish but by telling us how often it was ordered. “The wagyu meatballs are our top seller” is a good plot point, but it’s not ultra effective in describing what the dish is. That’s one of the perks of fine dining, being guided to a knockout dish you didn’t realize you were jonesing for by someone with an extensive knowledge of the menu. That wasn’t our experience here.
For apps, we had the meatballs, mushrooms, and Brussels. Mushrooms were overly oily and fried, but Brussels and meatballs were good. For our mains, we ordered the salmon, which was tasty, and the cacio e pepe and fried spaghetti. Both pasta dishes were meh: they were boring and underseasoned. We had to ask for salt, which happens, but given our bland pastas, this restaurant should probably leave salt and pepper on the table, not make patrons have to ask for it. The shrimp accompanying the cacio e pepe was merely grilled, an afterthought, something you’d expect from a side order or something to throw on a salad.
Also, this is hardly the biggest issue, but the menu features a ton of misspellings! (Malfade? Madiera? Poirve?) Gives the impression of sloppiness and inattention to detail. Run that baby through a quick spellcheck.
Not the worst meal I’ve had but, for the money, was expecting a higher level of service and more interesting, imaginative, better executed food. Cocktails were good, but this was an overall forgettable experience.
I don’t typically leave negative reviews, but I felt compelled to after seeing the way the owner reacts to negative online reviews with snark and name-calling. It’s off-putting and very unprofessional. Wish I’d been aware of that before booking this reservation.