Margaux - August 4, 2007

Her perspective: D

A brasserie is an informal French cafe serving beer, wine and simple, hearty food. I wish I had known this before I went, it would have changed my expectations. I was expecting a fine dining restaurant from what I had heard about this restaurant.

The waitstaff was somewhat casual, which didn't seem to fit to me. The floor had obviously not been swept and there were ants running around under our table. The appetizer plates were sitting on the table as part of the setting under the folded napkin. Both of our plates were dirty and mine was chipped. I also noticed that all the tables had linens except for the largest table in the center of the main floor dining room which seats 10 comfortably.

Our server did not seem very knowledgeable, although she seemed pleasant enough and did seem to really be trying. However, she was quite inattentive.

We did not get our bread until shortly before we got our appetizer, which leads me to believe that, even though we had a reservation, they were not ready for us. However, it was served hot and was very good. Our escargot was tasty, very hot and not gritty, but the menu stated that they would be in garlic butter. They were served mostly in olive oil with a little bit of butter and little bit of garlic - not what we were expecting. We did not get a salad included with our entree, which is unusual for even the low end of fine dining. My friend and I ended up sharing a 14 oz. ribeye. It was cooked perfectly and was very tasty - served with mashed potatoes, asparagus and a very well done bearnaise. The meat was quite tender. We both really enjoyed it.

At one point, I noticed the host running down the stairs to seat a party that was waiting at the door. On his way down, he picked up a small ramekin of ketchup that had apparently fallen off a plate earlier. It appeared to have fallen upside down, but he just picked it up and no one ever cleaned the ketchup up off the stairs. I was hoping that no one would slip and fall.

We asked for a dessert menu which mentioned that a list of dessert wines, cognacs and ports would be on the wine list. When I asked to see the wine list again to see the dessert wines and ports, the server stated that she might need the bartender to come out and talk to me about them since they just printed new wine lists and these were not listed on there anymore. When she returned, she was carrying a bottle of port, mentioned two more and did not mention any dessert wines at all. I ordered the flourless chocolate cake and a drink on the dessert menu called Vanilla Royale with vanilla cognac and espresso. My friend ordered a Keoke Coffee. When our drinks arrived, mine was room temperature and served in a snifter. I was confused since the menu had stated there would be espresso, I was expecting a hot coffee drink. The server seemed confused as well. She stated that she had never served one of them before and that's what the bartender gave her. She asked if I wanted something else and I asked if they had Godiva liqueur. She said yes and I ordered a Godiva and coffee. She served the cake without any forks and I had to ask her for them. When she brought my new drink, it looked white, which made me think that they had used Godiva White, which is not what I had asked for, but something I would still enjoy anyway, so I didn't press the issue. The chocolate cake was very good, not too rich, but still rich enough to require coffee with it. We took our time and savored each bite. However, there was a hair on the rim of the plate when it was served. We could see back into the kitchen and only one chef was wearing a hat or hair restraint.

To sum up, I was not impressed with the decor, atmosphere or service. The food was great, but I'm concerned with the numerous health code violations I saw. I will most likely not be back any time soon.