Valentine's Day Evening, the wife and I were very excited to try the newest restaurant in Redding. We were skeptical because of the disaster View 202had become but still gave it a try. 6:30 reservation, got there a little early so had to wait a few minutes to be seated. Ambience is very nice. Pretty much the same as the old View 202 with a few upgrades. New upholstery for the booths, new tables, Fresh paint job and new light fixtures through out and a unique mirrored back wall. Felt just like walking into View 202 but after a facelift. We got to our table and the host stated they were out of Cocktails menus and to just ask the server what the signature cocktails are. We let her know that we do not want an entire cocktail list verbally communicated to us and would like a menu as soon as one comes available please. 7 minutes later we got a menu. Only have been open a week, with a half full dining room and out of menus. Strike 1. First round of cocktails: I ordered "The M.E" $16, a sort of jazzed up old fashioned. It was great! Well balanced, great flavors, and not overly sweet like some places old fashioned cocktails. My wife ordered the Sirene Spritz $13. A floral and Citrusy Aperol Spritz. It was a little too heavy on the Orange flavor for her liking but I thought it was light, flavorful and delicious. If you like Aperol Spritz it's definitely worth a try. Appetizers: I ordered the Black Mussels $19. Mussels in a spicy tomato broth with grilled bread. This dish was fantastic! My favorite thing of the night. Mussels were steamed perfectly and tomato broth was light and fragrant. Not much spice though to be called a spicy tomato sauce. However still delicious! The wife ordered the local sourdough crostini $15. Grilled sourdough with burrata, tomato's, and micro greens. My wife loved it, mild flavors, and very simple. However it did fall a bit flat. Needed a balsamic drizzle or even some flaked salt to bring all the flavors together. It was good, just missing something to seal the deal. Also pretty stingy on the amount of burrata. Second Round of Cocktails: I ordered the Orange Marmalade Sorbet Old Fashioned $16. An old fashioned with a scoop of Tangerine sorbet in the glass. My god this drink was HORRENDOUS. WORST COCKTAIL IVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE AT A DINING ESTABLISHMENT. The drink was warm, bitter, and unbalanced. Gave the drink a vigorous stir to melt the sorbet to cool down the drink and hopefully make it taste better but no. The tangerine sorbet was disgusting and the whole cocktail tasted like a big glass of Orange DayQuil Cough syrup. Strike 2. The wife ordered a blackberry lemon drop $14 as none of the signature cocktails really sounded good to her. Drink was light and refreshing and well done. So shoutout to the bartender for a solid traditional style cocktail! Entrees: I ordered the Branzino $42. Seared Branzino with Saffron Risotto, Tomato's, and arugula salad. Branzino is one of my favorite fish and if it's on a menu I usually order it. However this dish was a COMPLETE fail. First things first I was expecting a filet of branzino with a nice crispy skin, but no it's a whole fish; head, tail and all stuffed with shallots and lemon. Not a problem for me as I eat fish like that often but wasn't expected and should be mentioned in the menu description or the servers should let guest know when they order. Moving on, The fish: skin was wet and soggy, not crispy as it should be, there wasn't an ounce of seasoning just the over powering flavor of undercooked shallots. The fish itself was cooked very well, moist, light, and great. Just not an ounce of flavor which made it uneatable. The Risotto: this is where things were really bad, I love a good risotto but this was TERRIBLE. THE RICE WAS COMPLETELY UNDERCOOKED. It was damn near raw rice. Crunchy like eating salted peanuts on an airplane. Flavor was decent but couldn't get past the crunchy rice. I let the server know about the issues with the Branzino dish and he kindly removed it from our bill. Strike 3. The wife ordered the Spezzatino $32. Braised pork with tomato sauce and mixed vegetables served over polenta. She loved it. Polenta was cooked perfectly, pork was tender, tomato sauce was light and fragrant. However the vegetables were hit and miss. The inconsistency of size of the carrots lead to some pieces to be complete mush, some cooked well, and some being as hard as biting into a raw carrot. Knife skills need to be worked on in the kitchen to maintain consistency. We did not stay for dessert. Total bill after the comped Branzino dish was $124. So pretty good prices which is nice as everything was hit or miss. Overall experience is mediocre. The ambience is nice, very romantic for a date night dinner. Service was good, but the food and drinks are hit or miss. Will probably try it one more time in a few months once they've established a good routine and worked out the kinks of newly opening. read more