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| - The cuisine at Nora is really quite good. C had Fettuccini with roasted garlic-pancetta carbonara, poached egg, cured yolk, matchstick potatoes. I ordered the Pappardelle with lamb ragu, minted ricotta, bone marrow breadcrumbs. Both dishes were divine, washed down with a nice red. This was followed by Bombolini )homemade donuts, lemon gelato, macerated blueberries), which was very good. The ambiance is very nice; nearly romantic ... especially because they had a guitatist playing soft jazz. Service could have been better, but we very much enjoyed our time at Nora.
Food: 4 stars
Service: 3 stars
Ambiance: 4 stars+ (and thank you (!) for not having a TV at the bar)
The bad:
- Parking is impossible in this neighborhood. We pulled up to the valet spot in front, but no valet emerged, so we drove up and down the streets, but it's resident parking only everywhere. We returned to the restaurant to ask about the valet. The server informed C that they don't have valet on Thursdays (Grrr). No wonder the place was nearly empty. Fortunately, she told us to simply park in the valet parking area. Appreciated and free, but it sure would have been nice to know it before we arrived and wasted 15 minutes trying to park, especially since I had called to make a reservation.
- The hostess/server/bartender/busser needs a wee bit of training. After we arrived, we sat for about 10 minutes (without menus) while the she attended an adjacent table and prepared a martini. (Yes, one person to perform every function; weird). I ask about one of the wines offered but ordered a different bottle. When she arrived with it, she essentially ignored me, although I was the one who ordered the wine. She ceremoniously displayed the label to my wife, but not to me, although I ordered the wine. Then she poured a tasting into my wife's glass, without asking whether I wanted to sample the wine . . . that I had ordered. My wife indicated that it was fine. The server poured an generous amount into my wife glass and finally turned to me and asked if I would be having wine too. Grrr. This is not how it's done. Training needed.
I hate to continue harping about the service, but there were additional blunders. We were talking, drinking our wine and slowly persuing the menu. The server kept returning, often, to ask if we were ready to order, in spite of the fact that our menus were open; we were reading them; and, not much time had passed, making us feel unnecessarily rushed. After a few minutes we made our decision and closed our menus. Rather than taking our order, she took time to buss a nearby table, including stripping it bare, unfurling a fresh tablecloth and setting out all the dinnerware, glasses and napkins (about 10 minutes), before returning to take our order. When we asked what cured yolk is (an ingredient in one of the menu items), she responded nonesensically that "it's just cured in the kitchen." When we pressed for a better explanation, it became evident that she had no idea. But rather than saying, let me find out, she gave an answer that was not an answer at all, she told us something that made no sense. I checked on the internet and learned about cured yolks, but it was nothing like she described.
- Above, I mentioned that the ambiance was "nearly romantic." And I must say that it's really close. The un-romantic aspect was the bar. The hostess/server/bartender/busser made some incredible noise behind the bar several times, seemingly throwing empty bottles into a trash can (or something like that). Everyone in the restaurant jumped at the loud crashes. She needs to recognise that this is a quiet restaurant; not a brew pub. Other than that, the place is beautiful and intimate. And the cuisine quite excellent. We would return.
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