Ok I need to be very precise, so hopefully this info gets into the right hands. 1st off I live with a knowledgeable chef, I like to cook, and I'm from Texas and spent some time in the California food scene.
Based on review, pricing, and atmosphere I'd say this spot should be happening and a suspenseful eatery, But the meals that both the wife and I had were far from expectation.
Bread: should have been warm or slightly toasted.
Appetizer - Straciatelle: Mostarda, cannelini bean, calabrian chili.
So this dish came with Mostarda, but no Calabrian chili. The beans were good, the mozzarella was good, they also added a fried breaded broccoli, which was weird tasting, as well the beans were fried to a slight crisp. So basically you had cheese, a sauce and two crispies and none of it seemed to compliment each other. Note: everything was cooked correctly, just weird combo.
Recommendation: maybe try and just not bread the broccolini and add some lemon zest. Or season and pair a better dish.
Dinner: wife dish - New Duck Dish
The Duck was amazing and cooked perfect, but also came with a apple slaw (I guess) and a sunchoke. The slaw tasted like a weird paring along with the sunchoke. The sunchoke was the saltiest thing I've ever tasted - too salty.
Overall the dish was very runny and too salty and once again weird seasoned thought parings (to the taste).
Recommendation: Don't over salt, it's a nice restaurant so the slaw shouldn't have consistency of sauerkraut, but a more fresh look. Maybe serve in a mini cast iron to help burn off (reduce) some of the liquid.
Dinner - coulotte steak
white roots salad, black truffle, barley miso, parmesan, Brussels sprout fritter
Steak was not juicy, or properly tenderized (which this cut can be). White root salad tasted like weird noodles texture wise. Barley miso had no miso taste. There was mint, parsley and fresh fennel that over powered the truffle taste, which I only tasted like twice. I felt like nothing tasted like it belonged on the dish. Again weird parings but was plated well.
Overall I ate this in a hurry to get to a hopefull desert.
Desert: chocolate pudding with merengue and a fruit.
Honestly I think they used marshmallow paste instead of merengue, tasted just like a toasted marshmallow, which I was ok with but - cheap.
This tasted good and I have a sweet tooth like nobody's business. But literally you could take a bite and crunch down on sugar crystals, that's how sweet it was. I devoured it and my wife couldn't handle the sweet. On the ride home I think I got a headache from how sweet it was. This was sweeter than the chocolate peanut butter cups that you can get at Trader Joe's, and I LOve those things.
Conclusion: I felt bad spending my money at this pricier restaurant. I felt like some things were cooked to perfection and plates were plated well considering, but whoever came up with the pairings either lacks taste, or the chefs working there botched things up, but I think it's the latter. I might, a strong might, come back to try something else on the menu, but it's been a long time since going to pricier restaurants that we had such bad dishes as this.
Service was awesome, and the vibe seemed ok. But based on the inconsistent reviews, it seems this place lacks consistency, looks like I got lucky on the service.
I know a guy in the area looking for a job that can fix this menu or problem. read more