Loud, busy, and fast. Our biggest issue: the dishes followed each other out of the kitchen far too quickly. It made enjoying, lingering over, and really appreciating any single course next to impossible. That’s a terrible shame because we loved something about most courses. The sheer inventiveness and creativity in approach is stellar and we’d go back in a heartbeat—but the pacing is so crazy fast that it really makes it hard to appreciate what the kitchen is turning out.
Bread service and sunflower cremaA pleasure, pure and simple.
Tempura lemons and broccoli with fennel pollen aioliFor the Lovely Dining Companion, no. For me, an emphatic yes. Loved everything about it, especially the lemons. I probably particularly loved it because they weren’t shy at all, didn’t seem to have been boiled or otherwise treated in any way to cut their acid or assertiveness.
Thai kohlrabi saladA fabulous dish. Don’t know that any kohlrabi I’ve ever had was put to such wonderful use. While we wouldn’t have mistaken it for noodles, it was a spot-on substitution and we both absolutely loved this dish.
Parsnip chawanmushi, grilled mushrooms with puffed nori
Grilled tandoori shrimp w/guajillo flatbread and cilantro chutneyNeither of us “got” the guajillo in the flatbread nor did we understand how it would work with the “Indian” flavors in tandoori shrimp (which, on its own, was terrific).
Coconut ash maltagliati w/"french curry"Too much. A bit…“pasty” and, overall, not a dish I’d care to repeat. It may be that it came last and we were both getting pretty full, but it seemed very starchy, filling, and just not appetizing enough.
Gypsy Boy
"I am not a glutton--I am an explorer of food." (Erma Bombeck)