What started off as what could have been a bad dining experience was quickly turned around. Simon, the owner, did recognize that we were waiting a long time for our table...and then when seated, we were asked to move to the back of the restaurant. It wasn't a great start to our experience...
To make up for it, we received complimentary glasses of champagne for our hassle (usually $20/glass). The hassle wasn't anything a little alcohol couldn't fix - and bubbly at that!
Our first course was cauliflower soup with caviar, smoked salmon and edamame (sp?). Simply amazing - I have never taken so long to saviour a soup in my life. We also let our server choose the appropriate wine pairings, which were def. on point.
Another minor hiccup - barely before I could finish the soup the main was out on the table. I politely requested to the server to make sure there is a little more time between the main and dessert. He recognized what I was getting at - and gave us our main course wine pairings on the house. They may not have got it right, but they did their best to rectify the situation. The main was an organic salmon with a variety of root veg puree (mostly varieties of beets). It was amazing. The salmon was perfectly cooked. I am guessing they seared it on the skin side, and then put the cast iron skillet in the over (not sure though).
Dessert was a wonder lemon meringue pie with graham crackers and ice cream. I'm not typically a sweet tooth person - but this was an excellent balance of not being too sweet.
Final verdict - I had been here once before and was even more impressed (I did winterlicious this time, so you gotta account for that). This is the BEST restaurant I have been to in our fine city. Love it, and will definitely being going there again for special dinner occassions.