This is good food for people who are accustomed to great food. Ambiance, menu design, service, preparation, and presentation are all world-class. The place is popular enough that we were not able to get seated for lunch without reservations, but as we had heard great things about it, we made a reservation for dinner that same evening.
The menu fits on one sheet of paper, and consist of a very well-curated assortment of starters and mains to satisfy the meat and fish lover looking for rich, sumptuous food. We ordered the warm tongue on greens with chipotle mayo to start, a duck confit with pureed yams and greens with baked quince, and rockfish that seemed to have been prepared en papillote, served in a garlic infusion with olives and giant capers, with a quite buttery polenta, along with a nice bottle of Malbec to wash it all down.
A basket of thin warm slices of brown boule with a small pot of peppered butter arrived promptly at our table, and, as we gnoshed, we wondered why the wine was taking so long to arrive. When our tongue was up, the manager graciously brought us the lovely plate, and seeing no drink at our table, inquired whether we had drinks coming. When we mentioned having ordered the wine along with the food, she gave us our starter and immediately hustled: no contrition or hand-wringing, just immediate action. Not five minutes later we had our wine & sparkling water exactly as ordered, and though we had roughed it without drink for the first few bites of the tongue (which would have been better served on a warm plate), the recovery was as swift as it could be. I think you can tell a lot more about the character of a place by how they handle an error than by seeing everything go exactly as planned, and in this instance Espíritu Santo shone with grace & professionalism.
The duck was rich and tender, and well-paired with the pureed yam, while the astringency of the quince was the contrast needed to experience the first blush of the ducks richness over & over again. Likewise the rockfish was firm and juicy, and along with the very buttery polenta quite an experience, punctuated nicely by the occasional giant caper, and reprised with every sip of the long-tailed tannins in the Malbec.
Dessert was very much up-to-par with the meal, and the ristretto quality of the single-pull espresso that accompanied it was quite perfect.
This is one of those places that will definitely have us counting the days until we're in the neighborhood again so we can explore the remainder of the menu! read more