CrescentFresh – As always, knew we’d get an honest and candid response to the new menu from you. We appreciate you offering your feedback. First, with the positives… thanks for the kudos on the beer program. Greg, John and company have really busted their humps trying to make Rustico’s program second to none. With 280 bottles currently listed, 30 drafts and the ever-popular real ale program along with a soon-to-be-launched “reserve list” of seldom seen products, we feel we’re getting there. Similarly, I am happy you’ve noticed the improvements with our pizzas. Chef Morales has been in the house a short period of time and we feel he quickly put his stamp on the restaurant before even touching the menu by making sure the first pizza of the day looked and tasted the same as the last pizza at the end of the night.
Now with regard to your other thoughts and observations… As you noted, we are transitioning from our old menu to Chef’s new offerings. The formatting of the menu you saw last night reflected that transition and the menu has been getting printed on a daily basis in an effort to stay current. With feedback such as yours, navigating the menu will get much easier quickly. We thought listing the suggested beer pairing directly across from the menu item would be self-explanatory, but after reading your comments and then taking another look at the menu, it became clear while we knew what this meant, someone looking at the menu for the first time could be feeling left in the dark.
To your comments about the food, please be patient! Chef Morales has proven in short order to be responsive to feedback and inspired by the owners’ visions of what Rustico was always intended to be – a celebration of the marriage of great beer with simply prepared foods of the highest quality ingredients. In fact, the mosaic of plates was an homage to and inspired by the mosaic artwork that greeted Chef (and all of our guests) the first time he walked through our doors.
While we obviously are becoming a destination for the self-anointed “beer geeks”, it also has become apparent in our first year through both our beer sales (our ten best sellers include PBR, Miller Lite, Bud Light, Heineken, Peroni, Yuengling, Budweiser and Amstel Light) and truly surprising wine sales that just as many folks (if not more) are coming to Rustico without any real interest in the wide world of beer. These are the same people who have indicated to us our previous menus did not have enough options and too many of the options were heavy comfort foods.
I think you’ll be happy with the finalized menu. While I don’t know if Chef has plans to bring in Elk, there is a beautifully seasoned NY strip steak that will fill any stomach. The trio of pork offerings – Fried pork belly with grits, Crispy pigs feet with chickpeas and a Virginia ham and aged cheddar sandwich is truly bar food to beat the band. The salted potatoes you mentioned are simply an updated version of the traditional potato skin and twice-baked potatoes. There will continue to be a house mac and cheese and one of the best burgers in the area.
Please know our menu (and Rustico as a concept for that matter) is an ever-evolving work in progress. The path we’ve chosen is, we’ll be the first to admit, uncharted territory. Having said that, in talking with our regulars who attend our beer dinners and in conversations we have had with industry champions of beer and food like Garrett Oliver and Bill Covaleski, we have an opportunity to truly raise the bar for what customers can and should expect when pairing beer with food. I’m sorry we weren’t able to offer some clearer explanation for you last night. My preference certainly would have been for Greg or Tim, your server, or Jon, the manager on duty last night, to have answered your issues and concerns directly over you having left so obviously frustrated. Give us some time – we’re going to win you over!
