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| - Let me begin this review by saying that this is a very special restaurant and that there's some marvelous cooking happening here. I'll also say that the fact that it has four stars and not closer to five is also telling how it borders on novelty (and given all of the attention it's gotten in the media, that's not a huge surprise). I imagine we weren't the only tourists there...
Several years ago I drove up here from upstate NY and had the duck in a can, which was terrific, and no pretense of overeating, and left feeling warm and comforted. Two years ago I came with a group and we got the pigs head (for two!) This was one of the most decadent offerings I've seen anywhere (with a lobster stuffed into the head of a pig fried in duck fat...) We all took part, and our eastern European friend, who had zero fear or inhibitions about eating *all* of the animal gleefully consumed the brains, eyes, snout, etc... It was the summer and everything was great.
Fast forward to last March when I visited with B and way over-ordered on the advice of the server. Everything seemed overdone--a level of fat (and I know that's what we're there for) that simply overpowered us. We got the eponymous pig's foot, which was mostly a gelatinous case filled with leg fat surrounded by goopy, somehow stringy cheese mashed-potatoes. All of the appetizers were, on the other hand, over-seasoned--too salty (the tripe), or too sweet (the salmon head). Dessert was nice--I got the maple syrup pie, which tastes like the real deal (amber best grade!) She got the burnt bread ice-cream, which was unremarkable aside from its name...
The service was unfortunately C+. It was a busy night, but we waited fifteen minutes to order dessert and another ten just to get the check. They were, at least, very friendly and accommodated us quickly when we pointed out a mistake on the tab.
And so I wish I could give APdC 3.5 stars. I'm not sure if I'll go back after this, but for those of you not tl;dr yet, here's the pro-tip for two:
Order one entree to split
Order two appetizers: one "exotic" the other a salad
Enjoy the excellent bread but don't eat it all!
Share a dessert
You'll be absolutely stuffed, but not regretting it all the next day as we were.
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