Hubby bought a Groupon and we waited till the last minute to use it frankly because the parking lot always seems so empty at this place. Several restaurants have tried and tanked at this location. We assumed no reservation would be needed for dinner at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. Sure enough, there were two other diners. Nevertheless the pretentious maitre d' seemed horrified that we didn't make reservations (judging by the pregnant pause, the expression on his face - you know, that down-the-nose hmph that would have been funny if it were not so offensive - and the fact that he seated us at the worst possible table). Our waiter handed us the wine list and then asked us what we would like to drink (hint hint). what if i wanted a cocktail or, God forbid, a beer. The table of contents in the wine list said you could see a list of wines by the glass on page 9, but page 9 had been removed. The hovering wait staff eagle-eyed every move and interrupted conversations at every turn to ask questions, refill water glasses, sweep crumbs off the table. Unnerving. They even had a couple of waiters standing by the kitchen watching every move at every table. They seriously need some coaching on the art of being helpful yet unobtrusive. Unseasoned salad overdressed with unpleasantly-flavored olive oil but no salt. A little balsamic vinegar dressing was drizzled over the plate but I had a hard time scraping it up into my salad so the salad was overall bland and flavorless. It was a great idea - arugula, goat cheese, roasted beets, candied pecans - but not well executed. I guess they were low on pecans because there was only one pecan on my plate. No salt provided on any of the tables as if the little people can't judge adequate seasoning. Hubby said the crab cake was the best he's ever tasted, and he will be back for that. He had kobe steak and veal meatballs for the main course, and he said the meatballs were moist and tasty. The chicken, spinach, and pine nut raviolo was tasty. I couldn't detect any pine nuts in it - maybe ground up really fine? The raviolo was swimming in an overabundance of sauce, but I guess too much trumps too little. And it was OVERsalted, ironically, but edible. Could have used some of that seasoning in the salad dressing. The overzealous waiter actually asked my husband if he wanted a box for his uneaten entree while I was still eating mine. Again, it would have been funny if it were not so offensive. For me, I didn't think my portion size was enough for two meals. But how rude of the waiter to make a point of what a piggie I am :) I loved the tiramisu, although the portion size was small. Bottom line, I won't be back but hubby says he will return for the crab cakes. I don't see how this restaurant can make a go of it in this location unless they work out some of these snags.
