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| - I cannot think of a single soul in the Western valley who does not hold out hope that Tivoli Village will succeed. With an envious location and a pleasing architectural design, it's the kind of place where you just know you will want to go - except for the fact that just about everything there is a serious disappointment.
Ogden's Hops and Harvest is the latest attempt to occupy one of the four pillars of the Tivoli Village's main square. I do not claim to be an expert on the comings and goings of restaurants within Tivoli Village, but as an outside observer it still looks more than half empty and it's already had more than its share of failed eating establishments.
Approaching the front door, one feels overly enthusiastic. The layout of Tivoli is warm and inviting and just about every location within the Village has an entrance that, well just feels right. Your enthusiasm quickly fades when you enter the main floor as you start to wonder what the architect of this layout was thinking. Walk toward the back and you will find a bar whose position and design defies all sense of logic: there's a whole side of the bar that pins you in a corner - how uncomfortable. I never gave the second floor a look, but I have to hope it must be better than this.
The staff was delightfully pleasant and the bartender had a whit that could charm the feathers off a peacock. These factors alone could make Ogdens good enough to revisit - that is if you are not planning on eating anything.
I know I am probably someone who completely fails to appreciate haute, so take that into consideration before judging the next few paragraphs.
I simply do not get the menu - which is probably the easiest way to explain it. Just one small page of items from appetizers to dessert which I can only assume is some type of artistic statement by the chef. The problem is none of it seems to make any sense, at least not to me. I am certain there is some section of society that will find this kind of haute simplicity appealing, I just don't know if there are enough of them to keep a place like this in business. It was Friday night and no one was knocking down the door to get in, so I may just be right about that.
Interestingly enough, the food itself was both a disaster and a success, which makes the whole concept of this restaurant even more confusing. The seemingly signature Oggie's Doggie was nearly indigestible and could easily ruin your appetite, whereas the Crispy Polenta Bites were a surprising delight, an interesting and unique dish.
As with any review, this is bound to upset a few of those interesting people who simply love this type of haute cuisine (and quite possibly the chef himself), but over-all I came away feeling Ogden's Hops and Harvest is not going to make Tivoli Village the kind of place everyone hopes it will become.
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