I'd read so much about this place before and after it opened. I had high expectations for it coming in.
One relatively mild Saturday evening Kay, her friends and I met up for a little foodie feast. The place was packed, the dynamic difference between those seated with reservations and walkins is more than I can cover in a humble food blog. Just go and see.... hmm.
I started off with the Harlem Nights house cocktail which had earl grey tea in it and something-infused bourbon. It was just ok.
I decided on the corn bread with honey butter and tomato jam as my first appetizer.
This is not what cornbread should look like, sorry. They toasted it which removed all the moist goodness that cornbread ought to have and made the crust inedibly, tongue-moisture-vacuum dry.
Like seriously I could feel the moisture transferring from my mouth to the cornbread. No bueno.
Next I had these adorably delicious corn tacos and tostadas which had yellowtail ceviche, salmon and a bit of avocado puree on each.
I could probably eat about 20 of these. They were really tiny and quite delicious. I've always been a sucker for yellowtail. I get the amuse bouche part, but after the cornbread I wished I'd just ordered two of these plates.
Kay ordered the other thing I'd thought about getting: the spiced duck liver pudding with duck pastrami and kumquats. Looking at their previous menu offerings there used to be almonds paired with this which would have given the crunch necessary to offset all the smooth ducky goodness. I liked the pastrami I sampled.
For my entrée they had a special lobster salad with pear and pistachio. It had a sweet note to the vinaigrette, but I forget if it was honey or not. There was also wasabi on the side in case you felt it necessary. I did, Kay didn't but I won't hate her for it in the morning.
There was a plate of red snapper with a lot of cauliflower and the famous mac & greens, but I guess my hand gets less steady when I'm mid-chow so those pictures came out a big fuzzy mess.
I brought an order of fried yard bird home for him and then realized I'd have to eat it myself the next day since it was interestingly spiced and the bottom was covered with greens (which I enjoyed). The bird itself was ok. It's hard to impress me with fried chicken though.
I guess what really disappointed me was that the things that were supposed to be amazing, weren't. It was like they were made for a palate not used to such cooking which I guess could describe most of the patrons seated in the reservation area. (bad me, said I wasn't going to comment)
After the initial allure is over, what will be there to keep people coming back beyond the dishes you can find elsewhere at places downtown that have no real connection to what I thought the restaurant was about? I suppose
time will tell if you want to summon an old cliché.
