Rsvp

»RSVP, West Cornwall CT

A Marian Burros rave a few years aback in the NYT. A 29 (!!) Zagats rating. We had struck out the last two years re snagging a reservation. Lucked out this year! It was our anniversary. We were excited.

The person who handled reservations (whom all the other diners knew as Charles and whose other roles include maitre d and waiter and partner) made double-sure--when we made the res and again...+READ A Marian Burros rave a few years aback in the NYT. A 29 (!!) Zagats rating. We had struck out the last two years re snagging a reservation. Lucked out this year! It was our anniversary. We were excited.

The person who handled reservations (whom all the other diners knew as Charles and whose other roles include maitre d and waiter and partner) made double-sure--when we made the res and again when we confirmed--that we understood the price fixe nature of the meal, which would take 3 hours and include many courses and wouldn't work for picky eaters or vegetarians or vegans (though they could accommodate food allergies).

It was, indeed, a big deal. But we ended up a little disappointed that no one dish was brilliant--though some were quite good--and the many courses didn't feel part of a coherent or well-paced sense of a whole. We left, more stuffed than delighted.

BYOB is always a boon. No ice bucket for our white, but when we asked for one, Charles offered to whisk the bottle back to the fridge and bring it out for refills, which worked fine.

Good bread and sweet butter. Amuse to start a curiously heavy sandwich: prosciutto and cheese and roasted tomato on a small hard roll. Good flavors. I might have made it at home for a fine lunch, w/ cut up carrot sticks and an iced tea.

Lobster et. al. salad on radicchio was overly chilled and heavily sauced, so you didn't get the full flavor of the delicate shellfish. A parmesan soup needed salt and was still not very flavorful (other dishes benefited from additional salt as well). As for a nicely poached egg in a red wine reduction--again the sauce was a bit strong and, well, wine-y. I heard another diner rhapsodize about the combo of tastes.

A lovely chicken quenelle, w/ a nice presentation. Fois gras in a crepe w/ a sour cherry sauce--fancy (much buzz from other diners when they heard fois gras), and my husband esp.liked the sauce, but it didn't come together. (Always on the look-out for sour cherries, I asked Charles where they got them, expecting to learn about a farmer's market one town over, but he said most ingredients came from NYC). St. Peter's fish in a romaine leaf--nice sauce, fish a bit over-done (but I'm a rare-fish fanatic--my husband quite liked it). The last main course was a Shepherd's pie. I thought it had too much butter and cheese, so it was, to me, overly rich and a bit greasy, but my husband thought the high fat content was what made it so tasty. I'm sure I'm forgetting a course or two.

And then two desserts, both very good. First, a lovely Napoleon, w/ fresh raspberries and a well-made custard. Charles said a famous movie director who had dined at the early seating that night had asked if the Napoleon were made there (the answer, of course, yes) And then, unaccountably, overwhelmingly, a second dessert! You'd expect maybe a cheese course or a little plate of bite-sized petit fours or candies, but not a second full dessert of profiterole w/ home-made ice cream and chocolate sauce. That said, it was delicious. My husband had a cup of decaf coffee, which he pronounced very good.

The service was excellent, a mix of relaxed and professional. You got to watch the (French) chef do his thing in the open kitchen. The decor was charming--a sweet room, decorated in French bistro decor (edging on bawdy--a kitchen towel displayed w/ the "four main food groups--all types of wine--the light switchplate in the restroom, w/ the switch as a particular part of Michaelangelo's David's anatomy!). We heard Charles tell another diner to help himself to the shelf of liquers after dinner (and Charles and the chef were companionably sipping wine and then Glenlivet through the course of the evening).

Reservations hard to get because there aren't many tables--the night we were there, the chef served 9 dinners at the early seating and 8 at the late. The couple at the table next to us were regulars, as were several other diners, known by first names and particular dining/food preferences (at the next table, a cup of ice appeared, unbidden, for the water glass for the wife and instead of the fresh raspberry Napoleon for the husband a freshly whisked zabalione over fresh raspberries). And the folks at that table said they come weekly(they eat this much once a week?!?) when they're in town. And they said there's very little repetition among dishes--the chef is always coming up w/ new ones. All the other diners were raving about the meal (and cheerfully groaning about how full they were).

To us, it was excessive and uneven, w/ no really high notes (or balls hit out of the park, to pick a different metaphor). Perhaps Marian Burros wasn't wrong in proclaiming it the best food in western CT. But in more absolute terms, in our clearly idiosyncratic assessment, it fell a bit short in both concept and execution.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (1 Reply) (by sundeck sue, created July 12, 2010)