after dinner sneeze

t says:  So, the gang had the chance to hit up Aldine during their opening week.  There are lots of opinions amongst us, so we’ll do this round a little differently.

October 2014, Party of 4, Friday Dinner.  

re: Location/Ambience:
v says:  are we allowed to ding them for burger.org’s ugly sign underneath?
t says: no, that’s not fair.
a says:  well, one thing is that it was really dark in there!
t says: what are you – like 60?  j/k.  I will agree with you – none of the pictures turned out!
a says: and it was a little “cold” in there – not very homey.  But what was good was the space between tables, and the big windows – but of course it was night, so it’s not like sun was coming in.  maybe they were going for “sexy” and “modern.”
t says: it did come a long way since the times of Noche.  I’d be interested to see how that space evolves as they find out how they’re going to run things.

re: Menu:
a says: the menu was stupid – totally stupid.
t says: it’s true – while grouping items into “vegetarian,” “meat,” and “fish” sounds like a good idea, there really is no indication of how big or small each dish might be.  Like, for example, the carrots dish was larger than the rabbit dish.  I think Serpico might do it better.
a says: as I said, the menu was stupid.  tell us a little more.  knowing “Duck. Quack. Water. Salt” is not helpful. and the prices gave no indication to a plate’s size or presentation.
g says: and it was hard for people to tell us exactly how much to order.
a says: yea – three dishes a person is a total up-sell… unless you are unlucky enough to get three small dishes by accident – but how would you know?

re: Food:
a says: both of my dishes were solid (rabbit rillette, and sunchoke soup), but nothing quite blew me away
g says: but my carrots were really good! and i think my cappeletti may have won me the meal.
a says: I feel like if his “shtick” is being inventive, he could have taken more risks.
t says: my dishes were also pretty good (pork belly and squid, the duck breast), but nothing crazy.
v says: the portion sizes were erratic – mine had three medallions, and yours was the whole duck breast
t says:  the wine was really good.
a says: yea – nice and food friendly – the white Bordeaux had good rubber.
t says: their red wine list looked a bit weak – so we brought our own.  Of course, they messed up and told us $25 corkage on the phone, but then charged us $30 (but fixed it).

re: Service:
a says: the service was kinda cold.
g says: i dunno if she was “cold” – she was friendly, just not so knowledgable that we would find her helpful.
a says: but for example, the wine service was nonexistent!
t says: that’s true.  We did pay corkage on one bottle and we did buy a whole other bottle, and they didn’t pour our wine once after the initial pour!
g says: i think they need to tweak the experience overall — i am sure with more staff training they will be able to guide customers to a better dining experience, from navigating the menu to smooth food and wine delivery to the tables.
a says: if Aldine and Townsend came together, that would be a good restaurant.  the atmosphere and service that Townsend had would have been nice here.
g says: You know – the server (minus that one girl we didn’t have) seemed a little nervous and unsure.
t says: yea – they’re probably still working out the kinks – maybe it’ll get better with time.

re: Overall:
a says: back to the food: I think they want to be Fond – good food, good service, very chill, no pretentiousness, but this place doesn’t do that.
g says: I think they can get there!
a says: I’m not damning them to hell – this is just what happened!  Cuz, like, the overall atmosphere they were trying to give was one of high service, high quality, etc … but in the end didn’t quite reach the expectations they allude to!  oh, and the menu: it’s garbage!

So there we go – a lot of voices, no pictures, and just the raw, uncut, real deal review.

Oh!  I found the photos!

the duck breast in all its glory!  a sizeable amount for sure!  flavors were pretty good, too – probably the best dish of our dinner.

chocolate mousse, coffee, peanut.  it was ok, but the “butter[cream] sundae” was better – more textures and flavors.