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| - First tried calling for a reservation for the tasting room (private room). I'm dinging a star from the review because I had to call multiple times to get everything correct: finally they just gave me the manager's email address and we corresponded that way. After you visit the restaurant you can see why they have so much trouble: they take the reservations from the front desk, and it's just too loud.
So I was in charge of preparing everything for 10 Japanese executives. Over email with the manager we created a set menu that had everything except dessert already decided. They did a great job getting everything ready for us.
Our menu was three appetizers (quail, crab cakes, jumbo shrimp). My guests liked the quail and crab cakes, but the jumbo shrimp was pretty ordinary for them. I liked the quail.
What I thought would be the most boring part of the meal got the most positive response: the iceberg wedge salad. The dressing was very good, and they way it's presented makes it appetizing.
Next up was the filet mignon. I had them cook the steaks medium with only salt and pepper. Vic&Anthony's has a lot of options for sauces, but I think simple is always best with great meat.
I met with Brian who manages all of the wine and explained the budget ($50 per person for initial drinks: beyond that each person must pay their own way). This is a typical way Japanese groups handle these outings, because it gives some slack on what drink choices are available. Brian suggested a magnum bottle of a good cabernet sauvignon, which hadn't even occurred to me. It really impressed my guests because you don't see magnum bottles in restaurants very often in Japan.
We ran out of wine just before they served the steak, so I went in half with one of our younger guests for a standard sized bottle of wine. I wanted to get an idea of the wine markup, so I asked for a bottle of something I knew they would have. Based on the price they quoted me, expect to pay between 2~3 times winery prices, which is a little on the high side for restaurants, but they brought out the decanter as well, so factoring in everything involved I can understand the higher prices.
On the tasting room: it's private but not closed off from the rest of the restaurant. Think of it like a VIP room in a club and that should give you a good idea.
The service charge was included in the bill (20%), and if you pay with a credit card they'll ask to see some ID.
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