Provincial French decor including paintings, ceramic plates, holiday bunting, various nicknacks and curios. Faux brick floor, in a clever zigzag pattern. Quiet atmosphere, gentle holiday music in the background. Elaborate table setting. Everything was designed in refined and good taste.
The owner greeted each table and made some small talks with diners throughout the evening. The prices were more expensive. The service was friendly and outstanding. The food didn’t meet my expectations. We were disappointed.
There was a long and excruciating wait for the main entrees. I understand they cooked everything fresh, but over an hour wait between appetizers and entrees was a bit too much. I didn’t know what’s going on in the kitchen. I was told they had a busy lunch crowd earlier.
I would think that a fine dining establishment should have known how to pace the courses. We skipped the desserts because of the long wait in between.
Complimentary salmon and cheese cracker hors d’oeuvre, bread and butter, and chocolates were served.
We ordered based on the reviews I read:
4*Beef Carpaccio- thinly sliced beef tenderloin, arugula, mustard dressing, capers, parmesan: it was excellent!
4*'Fole Gras' Pate-French duck pate, red berry coulis, buttered toast: excellent, texture was soft and delicate.
1*Roasted Rack of Lamb-New Zealand lamb, honey, minted jelly: based on our dining experiences, no restaurant can mess up this dish. Unfortunately the Wine Cellar missed the mark tonight for this most expensive entree on the menu. We ordered it medium rare, the meat was hard to chew even though the lamb was pretty raw. Not much flavor either.
3*Truffled Pasta-fettuccini- Italian black truffle sauce, mushrooms, and parmesan: it’s not the type of dish I usually order, but one review said the flavor was very rich, so I went for it. It was okay, not that impressive.
5* reviews we read gave us high expectations, and unfortunately the food didn’t deliver. I hope everyone else has better luck
