. . . "2"^^ . "0"^^ . "First, let me say that I *desperately* wanted to love Renegade. Chef Michael O'Dowd, while at Kai, gave the Valley the most exciting restaurant experience we'd ever had. The food was inspired, and breathtaking in its perfect execution... every time. So it was with great anticipation that we visited his new venture. Husband and I gave it a few months to work the bugs out, then headed there recently with two of our biggest foodie friends.\n\n7:30 PM on a Saturday night and, although there wasn't a parking space to be found for miles, the restaurant was filled only to about 20% capacity. That's never a good sign. The wine selection was pretty limited and uninspired (seriously... meh.), so I ordered the Dragon's Breath cocktail. The presentation was awesome, with the drink coming in a little flacon, separately from the smoke-filled snifter. The first couple of sips were pretty good but, after the smoke cleared, it tasted like a syrupy, generic version of Grand Marnier. Couldn't drink it.\n\nOur table ordered the pork belly app, the venison lollipops, and the trio of fish tartare. The pork belly and the venison were both pretty good. Not the kind of good that makes you wake up at midnight craving the dish, but definitely good. The tartare, which I was so excited about, was a miss x3. The salmon was bland beyond the telling. The ahi, finished with chipotle, was so heavy-handed that it killed my taste buds instantly. The corvina, not normally a fish I like too much, was the best of the three, with a nice balance of salty and smoky.\n\nEntrees were the biggest bust I could imagine. One of us tried to order the scallop dish but they were out. So, we had the filet dish, the flank steak, the New York, and the ramen. Among these, only the flank steak was decent. The New York strip (my entree) was bland, uninspired, and literally not even worth eating. The ramen was a disaster all the way around, with overcooked, rubbery lobster, foie gras MIA, and the broth flavor totally at odds with the rest of the dish. All but one of us left most of our entrees uneaten on the plate.\n\nI've seen and heard many comments about the service at Renegade. Our server was friendly and competent but completely uninterested (or unaware) of what a large percentage of food and drink was going back unconsumed. No, we didn't complain about the lack of quality or palatability, but any decent server in a high-end restaurant pays attention to such things and at least inquires. I would best describe the service as sterile, and that description translates to the surroundings as well.\n\nI had heard that Renegade was edgy, with an urban vibe permeating both service and decor. Maybe, if some generic mega-chain tried to \"do\" urban and hip, could you get that feeling. There was nothing urban, hip, or edgy anywhere to be found. Maybe the Shea corridor didn't like the vibe and they toned it down already, I don't know. But we could have been in any of the other 300 boring restaurants in the Valley. Where was the spark that MOD brought to Kai? Not in the decor. Or the service. Certainly not in the food.\n\nOh, and about that band in the bar... They were playing classic rock. That's certainly urban and hip and edgy. Of course, they were so loud that we, in the very farthest corner of the dining room from the bar, couldn't hear ourselves talk. (Don't get me wrong, I don't mind loud music at all, but the classic rock thing just seemed desperate and out of place.)\n\nI'm so sad about this experience. Maybe we hit on a bad night. Maybe the utter lack of patronage was due to other things going on in the Valley. Or maybe Renegade just isn't all that, and the other people dining there last night were -- like our group -- on their first and last visit to Renegade. \n\nSigh."^^ . "1"^^ . "2013-11-03T00:00:00"^^ . "0"^^ .