| rev:text
| - We had our first Heritage experience last night and it was decidedly mixed.
Positives: Five star server (Kevin). Craft cocktails (Paramore, Manhattan). Dessert (Chocolate Tart). Ambiance (mostly great build-out and vibe).
Not all positive: Food. My wife and my opinions differed to a great extent. I found most of my food overcooked and, strangely, lacking "pop" on the flavor side. Trotters in Trotters & Escargots were overfried, dry and tasteless. Escargot were completely lost in this dish. Grilled Octopus were tough, tasteless and, again, this dish had nothing to define it. My pork chop, to be cooked medium rare, was overdone. No matter the source of the pork, if it's overdone, the quality will not save it. Same here.
My wife had the Peanut Oil Whitefish. She loved it. I gave it an OK. She also found the trotters and octopus good.
We agreed the sheer number of ingredients in each dish is way overkill. This certainly contributed to the lack of definition and focus. Also, we had 7:45 reservation on a very busy Friday night. Service was prompt but it seemed the kitchen must have been pushing really hard to get these creative and unnecessarily complex compositions out.
The (really) bad: Despite making reservations more than 24 hours in advance, we were seated at a two-top table that sits open in the midst of the main (side) dining room. I believe there are 3 of theses tables and they should definitely be saved only for walk-ins if not removed altogether. They are isolated from the ambiance while at the same time being smack in the middle of the traffic patterns. Ugh. Fortunately, Kevin was able to move us to a far better table a couple steps away. Host was completely indifferent to our dissatisfaction. Heritage may have eked 2 stars out of me if we had been forced into what would have been a very abbreviated dinner at that table.
TIP: if you have read the menus online, be sure to READ YOUR MENU at the restaurant because your dinner menu will appear the same but will be different. Neither good nor bad. Just be aware.
Of course Heritage is a great addition to Madison dining. I am sure it will have a long and improving run. We will be back soon, likely not on a weekend, to check on the food. And PLEASE, not those tables for us!
|