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| - Usually, I give places like this a 5 star unless you make my local foodie mad which the bar server did, so you get 4.
Super excited to finally see smoke open up in Lawrenceville after their presence in the Waterfront proved underappreciated. Came on a Saturday night, so we waited for a little bit [40 minutes is normal] before getting seated at the bar [something KB and I actually prefer] The place is warm and inviting, decked out in wood and engulfed in some of the most their elaborate aromas from their chorizo, to their tacos, and mac & cheese.
We had been eating and drinking our way through Lville from Slice to AWM, so we ordered small. KB had the mac & cheese and a side of the broccolini [her faves], and I had a the taco special which was a chicken with arugula, strawberries, blue cheese and pecans [pretty much my favorite salad dumped into a taco]
The mac&cheese is awesome. It's heavy and creamy with thick, sharp cheeses, a dousing of pepper and breadcrumbs that much makes you as happy as a 5 year old with a blue box. And there is a healthy portion of it. Honestly, it's called a side, but this clearly could be your entire meal. The broccolini was similar, doused with cheese and breadcrumbs, not leaving much to the delicate vegetable dish you may have been expecting. Unfortunately, this dish was a bit disappointing as most of what you taste is smoke. It completely overpowers the vegetable and put a sad pairing taste to the wine [the place is BYOB] we had brought from AWM. [we weren't expecting that flavoring in our Italian greens]
The taco was nice, I loved the blend of the pecan and blue cheese and offset with the strawberries and pepperiness of the arugula. It was also a nice size for a taco. Mounds of fillings. There is a lot of cheese clumped right in the middle, which was a shame, less would have been better, and it would have made the dish overall less heavy.
The disappearing star went for the attitude of our bar server. She started out great and helpful with specials and uncorking our wine. The checked in regularly and stopped an appropriate amount of time in order to start a tat of conversation with each patron. However, that's when things turned sour.
We had gotten into conversation about the evening and logically, the wine that we had dragged half way across Lawrenceville for here specifically. She seemed intrigued as KB mentioned it to be one of her more preferred and then offered her a taste. She accepted, poured herself a small bit, tasted it, and complimented it as a polite patron no matter her personal taste.
Then she asked for feedback on food. Naturally, as foodies, we love giving it.
We noted lovely blend of cheeses and consistency of the m&c, the unique twist on the broccolini, and I expressed my concern for the amount of blue cheese that was overpowering the taco. With each remark her blatant 'F-U' face became more and more visible. Now, we love this place and want to see it thrive so, we would have believed that feedback that had more depth than just "It's great" would be welcomed. We were wrong. By the end she seemed positively irked, decided it was time to move to other diners, turned, and violently dumped out the rest of the wine. Message received.
We decided the desert was best to go [but it was truly amazing pie - and was devoured later that morning], rounding out our dinner before we made out for the grapparia for a digestion drink.
All in all, this place is an above average establishment for food and atmosphere, as long as you adjust your expectation to a trendy Lville hotspot [waits and attitude] and definitely a place that will [and has been] returned to.
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