| rev:text
| - I want to love every inch of Woods, but i just can't bring myself to it. Only because i went in with expectations.
When you've got Bruce Wood (Modus), Robin Singh (Pravda) and Anthony Davis (Sidecar), you're expectations are to be blown away. When you take over Colborne Lane's old spot, the pressure is intensified.
Overall, the food was great, the drinks were excellent and the service was extremely warm.The place pretty much looks exactly like Colborne Lane did, just minus the regal elegance and replaced with rustic chic.
The service staff are all extremely well picked - Robin's presence and service knowledge resonates in his staff. As a week old new restaurant, you slightly feel the awkwardness of servers getting to know their space, but that will soon subside.
In terms of food, almost everything i had tasted great. The drink list, wine list and cocktail list is excellent as well. I was delighted to see 18 year glen on the menu only for $16 a shot. Such great value there in the drinks.
So why doesn't this place have that wow factor yet. At the price point they are targeting, here are a few of my observations:
- Food isn't very seasonal at all despite it's promise to be exactly that.
- They have to work a bit on their protein in the main dishes. I had the duck and the dry aged ribeye. Both were great in flavour, but tough/chewy in texture. The duck's fat was clearly rendered too fast, drying it out slightly and the aged rib eye, well that should just sing for itself so i'm not quite sure what happened there. And i know Anthony Davis knows how to work with duck, so i suspect this might just be opening glitches.
- Appetizers are stellar. I had the tuna, the scallops and the venison capraccio. While all of them highlighted the protein really well, the rest of the plate was a little confusing (with the exception of the tuna). For example, the carpaccio has spicy cajun corn nuggets on it that overwhelms all flavours in the dish. Doesn't belong but the carpaccio itself was very well prepared.
- Desserts really didn't have any wow factor. I hope they fix this soon. Mousse, brownie, pecan tart, etc. I want to see something new and innovative from Bruce Wood personally, not just fresh takes on old classics.
- The furniture is extremely uncomfortable. Looks great, but those chairs need to go.
I'll be back - I want to give this place a couple of months before i consider it again. In the meantime, i expect this place will only get better. They have an A-team.
Best thing about the meal: Braised lettuce. Genius.
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