I can't believe this is supposed to be a really fine restaurant. It was just barely run of the mill ordinary. Which is a real problem because the prices are extremely high--$30 brunch and $40 prix fixe Easter menu. Not run of the mill for the area. The best word I can use to describe this place is lazy, from the decor to the food. The whole restaurant is painted bright kitchen yellow, with tacky fake French impressionist prints in the entrance dining room and not particularly interesting modern art elsewhere. The color has no relation to the lovely plank floors and brick fireplace. The overall impression is of a 1970s kitchen (especially with the 1970s-style brick tile entrance). Nothing French or tasteful about it. The table settings are cheap and tacky when they are desperately needed to create some kind of atmosphere. \r
The dinner menu was astonishing for any place that calls itself a fine restaurant. EVERY single prix fixe dinner entree from salmon to lamb to ham came with the same sides: whipped potatoes and sauteed escarole with no particular taste. That is just lazy. I cannot believe any well-trained chef even wants to serve the same bland sides for salmon as for lamb. But he obviously couldn't be bothered to come up with flavors for side dishes that enhanced the different entrees---Isn't that the very point of fine dining? The bread slices had no taste and mine was actually stale on one side (at first I thought it was toasted). They were served with rock hard flavored butter. The mushroom soup was overwhelmed with pepper and could have come from a can for all its subtlety. The set dessert was a chocolate mousse cake served cold--which meant your mouth tasted mostly the cold and then some chocolate. I think the new owner is banking on the restaurant's previous reputation, the wood floors and the fireplace to somehow do the cooking and create character all at the same time. It isn't working. At this price point, it's actually arrogant.
Pros: The server was nice.
Cons: The experience is nowhere near the price level.
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