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| - I had a couple of wonderful special occasion meals here years ago. I can still remember how wonderful the homemade pasta was, and how romantic and elegant the various dining rooms seemed. I was looking forward to our re-visit but in hindsight, we should have taken the fact that we were able to get a prime time reservation for 8 people on very short notice as the bad omen that it was and gone elsewhere. The first disappointment was the state of the restaurant. It's a bit dingy and tired-looking, with visible nicks and scratches on the paint and woodwork. What happened to the elegance? Still, I wouldn't have cared much if the food had lived up to past glories. Sadly, it didn't. Save for a bizarre scallop dish that attempted to marry Asian-style seasoning with lentils, nothing was terrible, but nothing was great, either. Plating was fairly careless, and dishes arrived at various temperatures. Our server was nice and did his best to be the consummate professional, but something was just off. At times, he would launch into detailed descriptions of things we hadn't asked about, almost as if we didn't know what fine dining was and had to be led through the experience. When I actually had a question (I wanted to know what the meats on the charcuterie plate were that night), he couldn't give me an answer beyond explaining what charcuterie is. Thanks, but I knew that! Same with the wine - he was able to recite textbook descriptions of various wines, but when it came to putting together a couple of recommendations all he could do was say that Chateauneuf-du-Pape would be an excellent choice.
I see that this has turned into quite a rant, which I hadn't meant it to be. However, I was genuinely disappointed with our experience. This place was one of the kings of the Cleveland restaurant scene (and still has the reputation for being so), but at this point it's off my list.
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