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| - We met some friends at Hearthstone for dinner. They are located in the Red Rock near Yard Bird. We went on the weekend so the "see and be seen crowd" was there, which made for some pretty interesting people watching. I must say that I didn't care for the restaurant. First, it is extremely loud, headache-inducing loud. Now, I expect a popular place to have some noise but when you can't hear what your dinner companions are saying, that's a problem.
On to dinner. We had the Charcuterie variety to start, which was a variety of meats and cheeses with toasted bread on the side, $15.00. It was a large portion, enough to feed a party of 4. The guys had halibut with risotto, shortribs and I had the fried chicken. Portions are very generous, but Hearthstone is pricey. Four entrees an appetizer and 2 beers ran up a tab of over $200.00. And while the restaurant was nice, the servers were attentive and polished and everyone else enjoyed their dinners, I've had better for a whole lot less money.
Here's my tip, AVOID the fried chicken. Heaven knows that they give you enough of it, the server brought out a steaming plate of 1/2 a chicken, which could easily have served 3 people. So why am I griping? There is a trend in restaurants nowadays to bake chicken until it is 3/4 cooked, cool it, bread it and fry it. I am fully aware of why they do this, it takes a long time to fry chicken and they need to turn tables. But if you aren't going to cook it correctly, don't offer it. This monstrous hybrid was coated in a 1/4 inch thick layer of breading that was as hard as a rock. Worst, when you actually removed the breading, the chicken wasn't seasoned and was rubbery! Here's a tip. Brine it in buttermilk before you bake it and it will be more tender!
Anyhow, the rest of my party had a good time, when/if you go just be prepared to pay a lot, hear a lot of noise, and avoid the chicken!
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