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| - I'm a bigger fan of Carson Kitchen than I am of S&P. The dishes here sound great and most of them looked pretty good, but I was underwhelmed when it came time to taste what we ordered. The location is great, with amazing views and a date-night sophistication and service to match, but I can't eat the ambiance.
We started with the dish my guy was most excited for, the crispy oysters, which were beautiful!... but flavor-wise, they didn't have much going on and they were oddly served fried yet cold. We didn't even want to finish the dish after trying it.
Disappointed, we moved on to the carrot risotto: the sweetness of the carrots offset by the salty pecorino was lovely, but my dining companion felt the dish itself was undercooked.
Then we had the venison tartare, which was only mildly gamey but I did not care at all for the sweeter flavor accents found in the cherry mostarda. The tongue and cheek agnolotti was richness on richness with little flavor aside from the sauce it was drowning in. Again, the fresh pasta looked beautiful but the filling was an unremarkable mush. It has since been removed from the menu.
The wine and cheese sundae dessert was almost a hit, with a great juxtaposition of merlot ice cream and a thick cheesecake blondie, but this was another dish marred by cherries- this time in brandied form. Again, we ate around them.
I'll be back to try their HH, but I'm not rushing to do so. The menu has enough variety that I'm sure there are other things I'll enjoy but again, I prefer Carson Kitchen- I can pretty much throw a dart and be pleased with anything I order there and I was expecting S&P to be a step above. In all regard except for flavor, it was.
Note there's valet. It's not mandatory, but if you opt to park yourself available spots are limited and you'll be gifted a look that clearly suggests you should dine elsewhere. Maybe I should have expected that in Anthem, but I'm not a fan of people being in my car, and I'd prefer to spend more of my money on food.
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