| rev:text
| - I was very excited to go to Notion last Sat night given its superlative reviews. Overall I would agree with many of them that this is a very different restaurant that what is typical for Pittsburgh and reminds me more of my meals in Chicago or other larger cities. However, I would not say all was impeccable. Some thoughts below.
I arrived alone as my date was parking. Parking, needless to say, is a nightmare around E Liberty without valet so plan ahead. Apparently they will be getting valet service, but as of now they do not have it. I stood awkwardly in the entryway until a fairly chilly, arrogant man greeted me. Greeted may not be the right word. Suggested that I was blessed to be in his restaurant may be better. In any event, I was escorted to my seat at waited. After a long spell I was met my the waiter, who was extremely friendly - the opposite of the man who met me at the door. After a long wait where I wait by myself (sans wine - painful) until my date arrived and eventually we ordered.
Two amuse bouches came - both lovely. I loved the green-custard-roe creation. Extremely interesting. The cider was nice too. Next came my first course. Asparagus. Lovely. Interesting. Great balance of flavor and texture. But the egg yolk portion of the dish was so rich as to be hard to eat. My date's korean tartare won. Next was may scallops, his turbot. Both amazing. The winners of the night. I particularly loved the peas! So big and fresh and toothy. The turbot was perfect. Next was my chicken. Pretty good, very tender, but not as good as the fish. (I was also starting to get quite full here- although the portions are small, the food is rich). For dessert, I ordered the yogurt, he the Meyer lemon. The Meyer lemon with sesame cake won hands down. No contest. Awesome. The food is truly amazing, but truthfully, not something I could eat often. I was stuffed (although admittedly, I do not have a large capacity!)
Alcohol - they did not have their liquor license, so offered a *free* wine flight. I loved the concept of free!! The error here on my part is that by doing so I did not get a glass of wine until after the two amuse bouches. And my interminable pre-ordering wait was done entirely soberly, which was painful. It would have been *nice* if I was offered something to ease the parking wait, but perhaps that is pushing it. The wine was fine, pleasant. The sherry at the end was fantastic.
Service: With the exception of the man who "greeted" me, friendly and eager. But a couple things to iron out - at one point we got the dishes of the table next to us. But truly nothing that will not be ironed out in the next weeks-months. But the arrogance at the door cannot be overlooked. THAT has to be fixed. I don't know who that was as I did not come in contact with him again, but he needs to warm up and realize that the diners are his customers.
Atmosphere. Lovely, spartan, clean. However, it was fairly loud with customer voices. Some sound attenuation there could be helpful. And some music to warm it up would be very welcome. There was some barely-discernable classical music that just did not work. It had a a bit of a staid feel without a better music situation.
Overall the food was interesting, creative, and imaginative. The atmosphere was clean and sophisticated, if a little staid. A better sound system should address that. Service was good, but more time will iron out the bumps it I am sure. Valet parking a must. I imagine this restaurant will continue to evolve, and I look forward to coming back!
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