The bar is set quite high and nearly attained...
Quiessence is one of my favorite restaurants in the valley. There is much to enjoy and highly recommend this little gem (also recommend their lower key sister restaurants also at the farm). High marks are earned for a remarkably creative menu and lovely space. My partner and I tend to choose Quiessence for a celebratory meal and usually choose the tasting menu which when ordered for two allows one to taste most everything on the menu. After living in Europe and traveling to far corners of the globe, I am admittedly something of a food snob. My bias belief is that the higher a restaurant attains the less forgiveness for error.
Our rating for the 12 plates we tasted on Saturday, 9 would earn 10 out of 10, 2 would rate at 8 and one a 3. I would gladly concede that the 8's where of the same creativeness as the 10's and perhaps not quite to our taste preference. The 3 rating was surprising and keeps me from placing Quiescence on my global list of favorites. The 3 in this case was the swordfish. 'Slightly' salty would be an understatement. Whether this was 'as planned' or a very salty faux pas is hard to know. We did suggest to our server that she may want to mention this to the Chef; whether she did and whether there was an answer we don't know. Very noteworthy were the Salmon, Meat Balls, Gnocchi and Eggplant Soup.
I am not a fan of noisy, over decorating venues and for us Quiessence is spot on. Pleasant music is played at a volume that compliments the experience and allows for great conversation. Décor that is subtle and doesn't over power.
One more suggestion that may be more of a personal preference is the lack of personality and sincerity of the service staff. Service is always attentive and pleasant, but have never felt that the servers allow any of their personality to become part of the experience. Perhaps we are in the minority and there are more that prefer a less personal service.