On my brother's recommendation, we dined here last night with our significant others. Being a beautiful evening, we requested patio seating and were seated on the half-full patio within a reasonable five minutes. Water, bread (four tiny slices), olive oil and balsamic arrived; we conversed and noshed on the tasty foccacia. When we flagged our waiter after his second pass by our table and kindly requested menus and a bit more bread, he obliged. We inquired about the specials and were given them, in rapid fire... it sounded like one kitchen sink of a dish with several proteins and a whole lot of risotto, perhaps some (too early for the season) asparagus. It took all four of us and a second (much slower) recital of the specials to have it down. I would joke, and later be pretty sure that our waiter was all hopped up on something...
Our order:
APPS
Baby Octopus app with olives and ceci beans
-very tasty, with tender octopi (who doesn't love this word?) black olives, tender (not from a can) ceci beans and a mop-worthy sauce
Bacon Wrapped Figs with mixed greenage
-The figs were quite lovely, although the bacon, which was either brown sugar or maple cured, was evocative of diner-style breakfast. The greens were fresh and dressed well.
ENTREES
Osso Buco with Porcini Mushroom Risotto
-my brother's: he had ordered this before and raved. he seemed to enjoy it very much. I did not try the veal, nor the risotto since my dish had the same one.
Rack of Lamb with Porcini Mushroom Risotto
-I ordered this Medium-Rare, to which my waiter replied "a man after my own heart," which made me foolishly hope that it might actually arrive as ordered. It did not. It wasn't a little over-cooked... it was well done, and not a moist well done. The risotto was also not very good... overcooked, yet also soupy... this rice had not been worked properly to release it's starch, and perhaps had some extra stock added to it (though not mixed in very well) just before plating. For the record, my brother's risotto looked *somewhat* better. Terrible plate of food. I ate two bites of rice, one bite of lamb, and cut the rack down the middle to expose the crime.
Fettuccine with Lobster and Spicy Tomato Sauce
-My girlfriend's dish. The pasta was housemade, thin and cooked nicely. The sauce was one-note, had no character or nuance. The Lobster made me cry. Half of a bug served in shell (which is okay) but cooked until DEAD DEAD DEAD. So overcooked, in fact, that it was difficult to separate meat from the shell, even though it was exposed.
House Lasagne
-My brother's fiancee's dish. She had ordered this before and enjoyed it, so ordered it again. Looked very satisfying, a healthy portion, and she verified it's goodness.
Overall, I felt like our waiter was oversat, although I never did see the upstairs dining room and have a hard time believing that he would have been given the entire patio as well as upstairs tables... He was inattentive, impolite, and moved so rapidly that he actually spilled the wine as his shaking hands poured it... and did a fly-by "how are we enjoying?" at full trot, a good twelve feet from the table as he uttered the "-ing" in "enjoying." It is difficult to say whether the kitchen botched the Lamb and the Fettuccine or the server allowed it to DIE in the window. The lasagne and the osso buco would have survived that sort of abuse far better, being that they aren't temperature specific.
Not worth the money. Too bad, I had hoped for more.