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| - A splendid evening at Cowell and Hubbard a few months ago encouraged me to make Zack Bruell eateries a destination for special nights with my wife. Though we certainly enjoyed ourselves overall, a few quirks in the food and service prevent me from assigning Table 45 a covetable 5-star rating.
The complimentary valet service, prompt and friendly, met us upon arrival at the InterContinental Hotel. Entering the restaurant, my wife rightly observed that Table 45's ambiance is quite distinct from Cowell and Hubbard. The latter has a very purposeful "let's go out to a nice dinner" feel, whereas Table 45 is perhaps patronized by business people looking for evening relaxation. Consequently, the decor feels more like an extension of a high-end hotel lobby than a quiet, romantic eatery.
The first quirk of the evening occurred when the hostess, helping the couple waiting in front of us, took our reservation, stated, "I'll be right back," left with the aforementioned couple, and then never returned. We waited around three minutes before another hostess arrived. We told her we were being helped, so she helped the couple behind us, and we continued waiting. Five minutes passed until another hostess arrived. Desperate, I re-stated my reservation and she took us to our table immediately. Strange.
Highlight of the evening: on my OpenTable reservation I had stated that, since it was my wife's birthday, I wanted a table in a quieter part of the restaurant. As a result, they kindly provided a secluded booth right by the kitchen. Indeed, Table 45 is not a quiet restaurant at all, so I cannot overstate how much we appreciated this.
Our order began with Glenfiddich scotch and steak tartare. The scotch---excellent. The tartare itself was also incredibly tasty but to our dismay the accompanying crostini was completely stale. My wife had a tough time getting over that, and I have to agree---it seemed oddly out of place given the exceptional quality of the rest of our meal.
Choosing an entree was difficult, given the melange of mouth-watering international options. I succumbed to one of the Thai entrees: half-roasted duck with stir-fried rice, orange glaze, bok choy, and thai curry sauce. Absolutely fantastic, though the serving of rice seemed unnecessarily small. My wife went for the salmon in mushroom broth with potatoes and scallions. Her blissful description: "First, a grilled texture and the flavor of smoke, followed by the sweetness and warmth of the broth. A well-soaked piece melts in your mouth like butter. Finally, a spicy finish."
We topped off our meal with macadamia nut mousse and poached fruit with marscapone cream. Delicious. As with every dish, the presentation matched the taste. Pleasantly, given my wife's birthday, the waitress kindly removed her dessert from the check.
My other complaints are minor, perhaps, but notable given Table 45's high price tag. First, the service is a little slow, particularly in water refills. Crowd is no excuse---the restaurant was half-full, if that. Second, the waitress said she was taking our desserts (plural) off of the check, yet only my wife's was removed. Not a big deal, but my wife and I would have gladly shared dessert had we known that only one was on the house.
Taken together, Table 45 is a very good establishment but perhaps not on the same level as some of the other elite Bruell eateries. Indeed, it is also telling that on a Friday night, getting a Table 45 reservation for any time slot was no problem, whereas availability at his other restaurants was scarce to nonexistent.
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