| rev:text
| - I was introduced to the Fat Ox last night for the 2017 NYE celebration with a lovely prix fixe menu.
Our reservation was for 7pm - early enough in the evening to relax through each course and savor our food. And that we did for the first 3!
We were ushered in warmly, like family, and seated in a back dining room, which had a nice, intimate feeling.
From the prix fixe menu, I selected the table side Caesar salad, green tortellini, the Creekside filet, and the Meyer lemon tart.
The Caesar salad is made to order at your table, and they take into consideration all your preferences - if you're squirrelly about raw eggs, don't want anchovies, etc. My salad was perfect - the lettuce was crisp, dressing was tangy yet not overpowering, and dressed perfectly.
The tortellini, too, was flavorful. The pasta was al dente, ricotta filling creamy but not watery, and the presentation was beautiful - colorful & tempting.
My filet was cooked just as I'd requested - medium. It was tender and juicy. The porcini cream and gravy enhanced the flavored of the meat nicely. Everyone was happy with their main courses, except one if us, who ordered the short ribs. (She felt that although the seasoning and glaze was flavorful, the meat was rubbery - it wouldn't cut.) Our other friend, who ordered the guinea hen, loved her meal.
I liked the ambiance as a whole. Up to our receiving our main plates, our service was lovely - the delivery of our food was timed perfectly, the waitstaff attentive but not intrusive, etc. All the accoutrements made for a lovely experience - flatware had a nice weight, lighting felt warm & inviting, there are a lot of airy & open spaces, and the decor a blend of old & new.
As we were savoring our main courses, the live band began their first set. It seemed out of nowhere that the volume in the back dining room exploded - it was simply too loud. My table mates & I couldn't hear those sitting next to us in conversation, and there was no option to speak to anyone across the table, as the volume was too loud. We had to repeat ourselves in conversation constantly (none of us have hearing issues.)
After five or so songs, the lead singer began belting out Jennifer Hudson-like notes, which unfortunately weren't delivered as Jennifer Hudson would. Nevertheless, the music could've been digestible had it simply been lower in volume.
Sadly, the music volume shifted the tone on our entire dining experience.
After serving the first 3 courses and being perfectly attentive, our server went missing. It became apparent why - although we'd preordered our desserts at 7:30, they'd somehow sold out. Three of us ordered the Meyer lemon tarts (evidently most people eating last night did!), one ordered the olive oil cake, and the last ordered the tiramisu.
I assume our server didn't know how to mitigate the issue, thus opted to ignore us until we asked where our desserts were. Finally the olive oil cake and tiramisu were delivered, but with extra random, small bowls of gelato. As she delivered these desserts, our server did not acknowledge our missing tarts, thus we sat there looking at the gelato in confusion and disinterest. The three of us who'd pre-ordered the tarts finally flagged another server down (ours went missing again,) to inquire the status of our promised desserts.
So, as we sat perplexed in the status of our tarts, those who received the cake & tiramisu shared theirs.
The tiramisu was very good - the person in our party who ordered it, loved it. The olive oil cake was dense. The taste and texture reminded me more of a bread than a cake. It was served with orange gelato, which helped offset the density, while also add some much needed flavor. I think I'd have liked the olive oil cake if it had been made with citrus peel. But without such a pop of flavor, the cake to me, tasted too bland.
We were also promised an Amaro in the prix fixe menu, which didn't come until we inquired about its status.
In the end, the gelato sat almost untouched - I tasted them just to test the flavors. There was pistachio, espresso, and amaretto. Pistachio is my favorite gelato, but this one had a faint, almost indistinguishable pistachio flavor, which is a shame. The amaretto, too, wasn't strong, but the espresso was very distinguishable. The gelato was definitely rich & creamy, but alas, I'm not a fan of gelato in the wintertime.
So, the latter half of the evening felt as though we were micromanaging the delivery of an agreed-to contract and being placated with boring alternatives. That's unfortunate, because the first half of the dinner was delightfully phenomenal.
We chalked the negative experiences up to their being a new restaurant, and not yet having worked out their kinks. The bad news is that what went wrong, was handled sophomorically. But the great news is that they got half the evening more than right. And in the end, I'll go back for that Caesar alone.
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