I was hoping for a better experience at Haven, but was let down by the food. It was disappointing because I like Haven's sister restaurant Valenza. Service was excellent and the staff, including manager Scott Spilberg and executive chef and partner Stephen Herman, was nice. However, the food wasn't as good as I was expecting from an "upscale neighborhood eatery" that's garnered mostly positive reviews. Maybe we just went on a bad night.
Haven has been around since 2003. Chef Stephen has been with the restaurant the entire time. The restaurant is located in the Brookhaven Village mixed-use development in the same building as Valenza and Vero Pizzeria, another sister restaurant. Valet parking is available behind the restaurant. You can street-park for free, though some of the spots on Dresden have a time limit. You can also park for free in Brookhaven Village's often busy parking lot across the street.
Haven is a nice restaurant with an older crowd. Open only for dinner and Sunday brunch, at night, the restaurant is dimly lit and romantic. It's a great date spot. The interior is classy with white tablecloths, a tall wine "library," artwork, and rustic finishes. There's a bar with TVs and a whimsical, fenced-in, umbrella-covered patio that's beautifully decorated in string lights and enclosed by various plants and trees. The large potted plant next to our table had an interesting-looking swan squash in it.
Haven is on OpenTable so book your reservation for free using OpenTable and earn dining points that can be used towards future discounts at select OpenTable restaurants.
At dinner, the restaurant serves New American cuisine with Southern influences, modern takes on Southern food, and steaks (most 30-day dry-aged). The menu is seasonal with price ranges for salads and small plates $6-15 each, entrees $18-38 each, sides $7 each, and steaks $51 and up each. There's a little bit of everything from seafood (e.g. crispy Gulf oysters, Blue Hill Bay mussels; $13 per order) to grilled Heritage pork chop ($29).
Drink-wise, they offer over 30 red wines and 20 white wines, a large percentage of which are higher quality reserve wines. Most non-reserve wines are available by the glass ($9-28). Bottles run $22-280 each and all but one of the reserve wines are available by the bottle only. They have a half-dozen cocktails and several beers too.
Here's what we ordered:
Small plates:
* Haven truffled potato hay ($6)
* Hand cut steak tartare ($14) - farm egg yolk, potato hay, arugula, horseradish
Entrees:
* Roasted Scottish salmon ($24) - pine nut couscous, feta, Kalamata olives, cucumbers, cherry tomato
* Grilled Rohan duck breast ($29) - okra, chanterelles, cherries, nectarines
* Grilled certified Angus beef tenderloin ($38) - potato gratin, garlic spinach, Bearnaise
Wine:
* Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc, California ($11 glass)
* Piattelli Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina ($12 glass)
Complimentary bread is from Alon's.
First, the good -- the truffled potato hay and the Angus beef tenderloin were fantastic. The potato hay is a terrific shareable appetizer. It's basically a stack of long, airy, crispy, stringy French fries that are piled high. It resembles a pile of hay. Along with truffle flavor, the potatoes are salted and topped with a bit of Parmesan cheese. It's addictive.
The beef tenderloin was ordered medium rare and it came out cooked just right. The tenderloin was covered in a creamy and buttery Bearnaise that was delicious. The meat was thick, tender, and flavorful. The potato gratin was wonderful as well. It was nicely layered and, as we learned from chef Stephen, cooked with squash. During the colder season, they cook it with sweet potato; just a small twist they add to this classic dish. While the meat and potatoes were excellent, the spinach was simply too salty.
I thought the roasted salmon was OK. Cooked salmon entrees rarely stand out to me and this one was no exception. The ingredients were fresh and the salmon tasted fine, but the entree was unmemorable. I did enjoy the light couscous and vegetable salad. This was a relatively healthy plate.
Now, the bad -- I ordered the duck cooked medium and it came out overcooked. The duck was served sliced into several pieces (boneless) and there was hardly a hint of pink on the meat. Chef Stephen stopped by our table after dinner and admitted they'd messed up my duck. If he knew it was overcooked, then why did he send it out? He said we should have said something. We did, but at that point, it was too late. Stephen is a nice guy and was polite about the mishap, but I think it could've been handled better.
As for the steak tartare, it was underwhelming. There seemed to be inconsistency in the flavors. Some bites were tasty while others were unappetizing and off-putting. I'm not sure if it was the quality of the meat or the way it was prepared.
Our server, Taylor Matos, was awesome. The hostess was great too. Everyone was friendly. I just wish the food was better. read more