I made my reservation through opentable and requested that the Chef prepare my girlfriend and I a Lunch Tasting Menu in order to properly experience what Simon had to offer. Upon checking in, the hostess made our arrival known to the Executive Chef, Sebastien Pfeiffer, who came out and introduced himself to the two of us. We were seated and promptly welcomed by our server. We were pleasantly surprised with the 4 main and 1 dessert courses that the Chef prepared for us. We began with a dish they called ""tuna dynamite"" that consisted of sushi rice and raw ahi topped with warm crabmeat with mirin and soy. An endive and watercress salad with apple, blue cheese and white wine vinaigrette with basil oil garnish followed. Beef carpaccio pizza with arugula and white truffles was presented third with a tandoori marinated wild salmon atop a cold black bean salad with red and yellow pepper oils after it. The ""junk food sampler"" completed the tasting and included a vanilla bean milkshake, peanut butter ice cream, homemade donuts, chocolate chip, cranberry oatmeal and peanut butter cookies, a Hostess-styled cream filled chocolate cupcake and a coconut, marshmallow and chocolate Snowball, regular and chocolate Rice Krispy treats, caramel popcorn and pink cotton candy. Regardless of the fact that the dessert was way over the top and far too much to consume, I found it to be very clever and tastefully done. Taking the avant-garde interior design of Simon, the adjacent lounge and the Sofitel Hotel at large, I was pleased to find that all the food was prepared and presented in a simple, unobtrusive style. A basic square plate was used to present all 4 main dishes and the honed simplicity of the flavors matched well. We were once again met by the Chef prior to leaving and had the opportunity to briefly thank him. Overall, I felt this to be an excellent experience. I took the extra time to make certain requests (i.e. the tasting menu) and was fully satisfied with the outcome.
Pros: Beautifully artistic decore, pleasantly simple cuisine
Cons: the price of the valet parking was a little on the high side
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