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| - I too, had great expectations for this new eatery in North Scottsdale. After looking at the rather extensive menu (should have been a warning), I was intrigued to give it a try. My date and I had reservations at 7:45 this past Saturday and was told by the hostess that there may be a 15 minute wait. I wasn't sure why she just didn't make the reservation at 8:00 pm, but not a problem. We showed up at 8:00 and were promptly seated. We were greeted by a nice flute of champagne which was a nice touch.
The table was a bit tight with my seat jutting out into the aisle. I felt that at any moment, I could have had something spilled on my head, so I scooted over to the side. Again, not a problem. Our server came by to ask for drinks and I mentioned that this was our first time, and wanted him to recommend something that would make us want to come back. He thought for a moment and thought some more. I tried to take the pressure off him by asking what other patrons have enjoyed. He again paused and then said the steaks were good and so was the salmon, but unfortunately, they had run out of the salmon. I asked him what he liked and he said that he hadn't tried that many items on the menu. That was a huge red flag and a training issue, but I still had my hopes up.
I ended up ordering the Foie Gras, and my date ordered the famous Caesar salad. Then for the main course, I had the seafood mix over rice and my date had the Prime rib eye, medium rare plus.
First issue was the bland bread they served. It almost seemed that the bread could have been baked a bit longer. It was served with some crystallized whipped butter that tasted sweet. I asked the server and he mentioned that the butter had honey in it. Again, appreciate the effort, but cold, crystallized, honey butter with bland bread was not appealing. I asked for regular butter and the next batch tasted the same, so I ended up passing on the bread. Next, came the Foie Gras and the salad. The Foie Gras was cold, almost slimy in texture and seemed undercooked. It should have been seared. It was served with some field greens and poached pear. The pear was the best thing on the plate. The crostini was so hard that it actually hurt to eat. Toast points would have been a better choice. I ended up eating the Foie Gras only because it was an $18 appetizer. The famous Caesar salad was very good with nicely shaved parmesan cheese on top. The romaine lettuce was chilled and the dressing wasn't overly garlicky so it seems that they fixed this.
So far, not very good. The main course came out shortly. The seafood mix was "just ok" with the two large jumbo shrimp being overcooked. The fish and scallops were above average. The rice was barely warm and a bit hard.
The rib eye was served on a room temperature plate, and was very under cooked. It was basically rare. This was a $36 piece of prime that Mastros or even Ruth Chris would never ruin. The only hot item on my plate was the small potatoes and that was because they were slightly charred. The onions were soggy and not crisp as they should have been served.
My date and I struggled to enjoy the evening. Thanks to the two champagne glasses and wine, we managed to survive. I wouldn't even consider the dessert. The entire meal was around $120 and I would have rather eaten at Mastros or Pane Vino, down the street.
I was really hoping for this to be a success. Living in Carefree, we don't have a lot of fine dining that's very close. I give this experiment 6 months if they don't drastically change their operations.
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