We went out to dinner last night at a new fine dining Italian restaurant. There was an issue when the bill was presented that is detailed in another thread about tipping and service charges so I won't get into that again.
We were seated at a 4 top that had 3 glasses at each place setting, a bread plate with butter knife, a dinner knife, regular spoon, soup spoon and 1 fork, plus a fancy fold cloth napkin where the dinner plate would later go. None of the 2 extra tableware sets was removed.
Craig ordered a large bottle of San Pellegrino water shortly after we were seated. It was brought promptly. No bread yet. I ordered a glass of wine when the water came. It came fairly quickly, though waiter assumed we each wanted a glass even though only I asked for
A glass. Still no bread.
Our waiter then asked about appetizers. We ordered carpaccio to share. It arrived after 5 minutes or so. No extra small plates for sharing and no bread still. The carpaccio was 5 large slices of beef that came from a larger piece of beef that had been quickly seared at very high heat, as there was a thin rim of sear around the edges. Dressed arugula and very thin slices of dried tomatoes and shaved parm were on top. Not mentioned in the description, but very prominent and obvious was that truffle oil was used. Given that there was a knock you over smell that very quickly dissipated and there was an odd after taste, I have to assume that it was chemical truffle oil instead of real truffle infused oil. The dish could have done without the truffle oil and would have benefitted from a sprinkle of finishing salt. Oh, there was no salt and pepper on the table. I did like the addition of the thinly sliced dried tomatoes. I didn't think to get a picture right away and Craig was hungry so...
Craig ordered osso bucco, beef shank, not veal. It came with various sides, none of which were risotto milanese. They also had pork shank osso bucco on the menu. I got fettucini made in a grana padano cheese wheel. I heard some odd noises so looked toward the open kitchen and water was busily scraping cheese down in the wheel. After a few minutes, he wheeled the cart over to our table and poured in very hot and wet fettucini in the wheel, then stirred and stirred, and stirred some more, then plated and served, asking if I wanted ParmR and ground pepper added. He then wheeled away the cart and went to get Craig's meal. By the time he got back, my pasta was pretty much room temperature. It was still good, but would have been a lot better hot. Craig's meal tasted okay, but half of it was inedible fat and connective tissue. Oh, the bread finally arrived shortly after our mains were served. They were baked in house, but were purchased frozen rolls that I've seen in the restaurant supply place.
We got double espressos and Craig ordered tiramusu to take home, which he said was "eh."
The restaurant was a 1 and done for us.
