We were excited to learn that there was a new French restaurant that didn't require traveling to…read morethe city.
I wish I could say I was excited after dining there for the first time but I have to say I was left somewhat disappointed.
I can overlook most things, but when dining out i go for the food. And the food was just OK. We started out with cocktails. Two of us ordered from the unique signature cocktail menu and one of us just decided to have their usual Kir Royale. Of these three drinks, the Kir Royale was the best. Neither of the others thought that their drink was so great that they would order it again.
A young man showed up at our table with three small dishes, asking, "Are you familiar with amuse bouche"? Yes I am. I don't need an 18 or year old to try to make me feel like he knows more than I do. It was condescending at best and just pretentious. He explained it was compressed cantaloupe with a mint oil and a touch of salt. If I had closed my eyes, I never in a million years would have tasted anything except a little bit of salt and a little bit of water. It was flavorless.
For appetizers, we shared the snails, the rabbit poutine, and the foie gras. Both the snails and the poutine came with a sauce, and the servers almost insisted on pouring the sauce over the appetizer. One of us opted to stop the server because why would you bring it on the side and then not let me elect how I want it on there. That just did not make sense. There's no theater here you're just pouring. The snails were served in a vol-au-vent and were kind of lost in the too tall puff pastry. Both the snails and the poutine were lacking some serious flavor. The best bite of the appetizers was the piece of foie gras which was served on a comparatively mammoth-sized sleepy zucchini bread and with pickled local strawberries. I didn't care for the combination and for the price, the two bite piece of foie gras was not worth it. (understand you can drive 3 miles to a restaurant that puts more of it on a burger for that equivalent price.-plus you get an 8 oz burger). The pickled strawberry did not work either.
We also order the "bread service." I don't like paying for bread but was intrigued by the bone marrow butter upsell. For $20 you get 5 slices of bread, some salted butter, and at most a tablespoon of bone marrow butter. Skip it. Not worth it.
For entrées, we ordered the salmon and the duck for two. The salmon was supposed to be seared, but the presentation side looked more like it had been steamed or poached. Perhaps they seared the skin side, but this particular diner did not like salmon skin, so that was lost on it. The diner did not like couscous, which was the side that came with this dish so they asked for the pomme puree as a substitute. The potato purée was also lacking seasoning and of course we got charged $8 for the substitution even though this potato purée is a side for other entrées.
The server who took our order recommended the duck. I'm a big fan of duck so our other dining partner indulged me and shared this entrée with me. The duck came with two breasts, two confit legs, baby carrots, cooked in duck fat and a frisée salad. This was probably enough for three people because we took home 1/4 of a duck breast, a whole leg and plenty of carrots. The duck breast was well rendered of the fat, and the skin was crispy. I like a medium rare duck breast but the underside was very rare as if it was never flipped in the pan. The leg was delicious (probably tossed in the deep fryer before serving to crisp the skin) but the carrots were heavy with fat. Very little frisée was served (almost as a garnish ) and it really needed more of it that acid from the dressing to lighten things up. Again the server tried to pour the sauce that came with it over the breast without asking if I wanted it first. I stopped them because I know how much I want and I know where I want it. I don't need you to do that for me.
One cocktail, one appetizer and one entree per person was $100 per person on average. No tax in DE
Service here is amateurish with training. I have already cited a few things. The waitress who took our order poured water for each of us spilling a significant amount when pouring one glass, said I'm sorry I misjudged. Bad depth perception, she said and continued on with her opening spiel which we got to hear in almost the exact same fashion as she greeted other tables. No offering to change the tablecloth of its two foot diameter circle of wetness. She just kept it moving.
We came dressed business casual. We were the best dressed there. Lots of shorts and casual wear. This is not a fancy place. People appear to come as they are.
I just did not get that I want to come back here feeling. Service was not great. Food was just ok and not ok for the price. Atmosphere is more American bar than French bistro. I am not super charged to go back.