Admittedly, Shauna and I were at Caffe Siena together for restaurant week and we usually have very similar opinions on food/service so I apologize for any overlap. The quick and dirty review - food was exceptional, service was mediocre and the environment was uncomfortably warm and lackluster (though not terrible). As my appetizer I ordered the baked eggplant - and wow - I almost wish I could have ordered it for dinner. It was a generous portion stuffed with fresh mozzarella and a light tomato sauce. I honestly thought nothing would outshine this starter but the sea bass was a flaky, tender and flavorful delight. It was topped with thinly sliced vegetables and sat on a bed of potato gratin topped with a most delicious lobster sauce. For dessert I tried to be "good" and ordered the mango-berry sorbet. I did indeed get sorbet. And it did indeed taste like mango-berry. Not much more I can say on that.
As for the service, our waiter was very sweet but the timing of our experience was not very good. Our reservation was for 8 PM and we didn't leave the restaurant until nearly 10 PM. We also sat with finished entree plates for a notable length of time.
Perhaps my biggest complaint was the temperature. If you have not been to Caffe Siena before, the kitchen is viewable from the restaurant. It's a large cut-out in the wall and the prepared food is actually placed on a visible counter for the servers to pick up. Now anytime you decide to combine the kitchen and the dining room it's super important that the heat coming off the kitchen is tempered by a solid A/C system. I'm not sure what was going on but the front door of the restaurant was propped open, the ovens were going full force and by the end of dinner some of us were sweating. The smell that came out of the kitchen also permeated into the dining room so it smelled like I was standing over the frying pan for most of the night. My clothes also smelled after leaving. If you've ever worked for a restaurant before, you'll know what I'm talking about!
If Caffe Siena could match their ambiance and service to their food, I'd be a recurring customer - no doubt.