| rev:text
| - Greenhouse Tavern, located on Cleveland's fun and trendy E. 4th Street, came to me loaded with expectations. Chef/Owner Jonathon Sawyer was voted Cleveland's top new chef last year, and Greenhouse has been featured in publications outside of Cleveland as one of the most exciting restaurants anywhere.
We arrived a few minutes prior to our 7 o'clock reservation and took a seat at the bar. My first impression of Greenhouse Tavern was the disparity of decor between the two long walls (the restaurant is no more than 20 feet wide and probably 100 feet deep). On one wall, behind the bar, were miles of bottles - wine, beer, and liquor - nestled in what appeared to be reclaimed wood shelves. On the other side of the restaurant, miles of monochromatic paint. It was oddly dull in contrast with the fun bar side.
My wife and I ordered a draft cider and a brown ale respectively, while we waited for the rest of our party. Our bartender was friendly and attentive.
When it did come time to sit down to dinner, we were walked to the back of the main floor so that we could ascend some stairs. Most of the dining tables here are on the second level, in a small section in the very front, and a similarly small section in the very back. To get to our section in the back, we went up what appeared to be a fire escape. Metal stairs with metal railing. The walls were painted red to help make it appear more finished, but this was not a finished space. As we entered the fire escape, I saw two members of the kitchen staff dragging a huge bus tub of uneaten food scraps, across the ground just outside. Not an appetizing sight.
We were seated along one of the long walls, the ladies in what looked to be a reclaimed Church pew, and the men in chairs. I had to be asked to scoot in at least a dozen times to make room for wait staff and patrons to get between my chair and the person's behind me. The layout of tables required this. This is just unacceptable when you are dining at a restaurant that is supposed to be one of the best in Cleveland.
On to the food... I can talk about quite a bit of food, as we are a share-happy group. And some of it was quite good. I was moderately impressed with the chicken wings and the devils on horseback (bacon wrapped dates). Less impressive but still perfectly good were the foie gras clams, the fifth quarter (mac 'n' cheese w/ chicken livers), and the Bread and Butter - just grilled bread with butter.
Unacceptable, though, were two of the entrees, the steak frites and the pork chop. The steak was something out of a Denny's or Waffle House. No more than 3/4" thick, slightly overcooked (it's tough to cook a steak this thin mid-rare), stringy, and flavorless. The buerre rouge was good, but I shouldn't have to dip my steak into a flavored melted butter in order to enjoy it. The pork chops were even worse. 1/3" thick, dry, like crackers. The frites were just fries. No salt on them, and no salt on the table. Yet, there was probably an entire teaspoon of rock salt in my wife's pot du creme.
The final straw was the couple next to us. The "gentleman" who was sitting next to me, one table over, had his left foot up on the "Church Pew" that my wife and this guy's gal were both sitting on. His shoe was completely filthy, untied, and disgusting. One reason you go to a restaurant that costs some money is to avoid the riff-raff. Not so, here.
The pot du creme was good, by the way. The salt was well placed. My Jeni's ice cream, which was cognac soaked figs in goat cheese ice cream, was very unique and delicious.
But overall, our dining experience came up far short of expectations. I mean, it wasn't even close. I have had dozens of better meals at far less "exciting" restaurants.
In summary, I can't help but to think that Greenhouse Tavern is just riding the hype wave, and that a lot of Clevelanders have bought into that hype. Our friends had been here two other times, and their most recent visit (before this one) was terrible. They thought it was just an anomaly, but it wasn't. Greenhouse Tavern's approach is a display of arrogant environmentalism. Their mission statement is more concerned with sustainability than it is with good food - you can read it for yourself. A restaurant's mission must always first be great food. That Jonathon Sawyer thinks otherwise is evident in his mediocre food.
A huge, huge disappointment. So many better options around town.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)