Good News for Bistro Twenty Seven
Thursday, Nov. 1 at 1:45 p.m.
Earlier in the week, a Restaurant Week diner wrote about their less than stellar meal from Bistro Twenty Seven. But a few Richmonders had a different experience. Kevin Korda said, "We found out about Restaurant Week a little late and only made it to Twenty Seven. I had dined at Twenty Seven once before and found it very enjoyable. However our most recent experience during restaurant week had us asking, 'Why are we not here every night.' We had six in our party and I am still not sure what my favorite was. It seemed every time I tasted something new it was better then the last. If we had to pick our one favorite dish, the pork loin would have to get top honor. I have never experienced such moist and tasty pork as his. Chef Carlos out does himself with every morsel."
And out-of-towner John Sewell concurs: "I am … working in Richmond on a project. I have used Richmond.com to help find my way around and I wanted to chime in on Restaurant Week. I went to Twenty Seven with a group of co-workers. We saw the Restaurant Week menu and jumped on it. Why not have a great meal for a good cause! My entire party started off with the soup, a cream of asparagus; it was great -- so much so several of us ordered a second bowl. I then ordered the chicken and spinach cannelloni, one of my co-workers ordered the salmon, another ordered the pork. I can't recall what the fourth ordered. As the entrée came, we were taken by the presentation. Tom, who had ordered the salmon, fell in love with the cannelloni to the point we ended up swapping dishes. All of it was great! They were able to pair a couple of wines perfectly with our entrees! The service was great and then we got to dessert. I had the chocolate tart washed down with a great glass of Cabernet! I also sampled the coconut cake. Yummy!
"The meal at Twenty Seven was so good, when Friday came, we discussed dining options, and even though we had just been there the night before, we opted to go back and change up our orders. I finally got my cannelloni and I can say I loved it! This was a great week for a great cause, and Twenty Seven was fantastic! I really think this is one of the hidden gems downtown and I can tell you while on the project I will be back there many times. They have a great menu with a great and reasonable wine list that never disappoints!"
-- Let us know about your Restaurant Week experience. Send Karri Peifer an email at karri.peifer@corp.richmond.com.
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A Restaurant Responds
Thursday, Nov. 1 at 10:15 a.m.
The last few days we've been hearing from plenty of Richmond diners about their experience and now we finally have word from one of the participating restaurants. The folks at Amici Ristorante had this to say: "Great response all week, only downside (unfortunately), as usual, lots of cancellations at the last minute make some people not able to take advantage of the good cause… But thanks to everyone [for participating]."
And diners are still sharing their thoughts. Kate T. loved the fried green tomatoes and she-crab soup at Michelle's at Hanover Tavern and says that the "service was slow at the outset but improved – overall, a great dining experience in a unique setting."
And Belinda W. Carroll who is a longtime fan of Julep's New Southern Cuisine checked out its Restaurant Week menu on Thursday night, remarking that "Julep's is typically spare and precise in its portion sizes, so that you could have a five-course meal and feel sated vs. stuffed. Again, they stayed true to form so that three courses provided the perfect meal." She said the "chicken was succulent and flavorful, the side of au gratin potatoes, creamy and satisfying and the broccoli rabe, tender crisp. This is always my 'go to' restaurant to take out-of-towners when I want to show them what Richmond has to offer, culinarily speaking." Finally Carroll was impressed by Julep's owner Amy Cabaniss: "We drove the owner, Amy, crazy with changing our group number at least three times. And she was very patient and kind."
-- Let us know about your Restaurant Week experience. Send Karri Peifer an email at karri.peifer@corp.richmond.com.
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Hungry Times
Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 2 p.m.
Details about last week's Restaurant Week continue to invade our email inboxes. Here are a few more samples.
Jodie Strum has this to say about The Track: "I am not surprised to see that others were just as disappointed with their meal at The Track as my party was. I have eaten at the Track before and thought it would be an obvious choice to show a recently transplanted couple one of the lovely non-chain restaurants that Richmond has to offer. The food was tasty, but so miniscule we couldn't help but laugh as it was delivered to the table. We left after spending close to $200, which included a bottle of wine and the mandatory 20 percent gratuity, and finishing our meal in less than five minutes, debating on our way out where we could stop for dinner. I can't help but think the money we spent would have better served the Foodbank as a direct donation if we were going to, ironically, walk out hungry. If restaurants can't provide an adequate-sized meal and still make a profit, then they should not participate in Restaurant Week. By doing so, they do a disservice to both the Central Virginia Foodbank and their patrons.
After dining at Zeus Gallery, C. Craig Blades discussed his "great experience." "Seafood was fresh. Wines/desserts excellent. Service a little slow (it was packed). Ted (the owner) made the rounds to each table (I always like that). Who cares if their kitchen left for Carytown. Food was to die for. A+ Keep it up!"
And Sara D. had a "great night out" at Julep's."The ambiance was wonderful, the entrees were good and the dessert was amazing. Was a great pick for restaurant week and I'll definitely try them again."
We'd like to hear your experiences – good or bad – about Restaurant Week. This includes you restaurant owners. Send Karri Peifer an email at karri.peifer@corp.richmond.com.
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Deeeeeeeelicious!
Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 11 a.m.
Why go to France when you can get the taste of Southern France right here in Richmond? Megan Van Fleet shares her Restaurant Week experience with us.
"We took advantage of the Restaurant Week experience on Thursday at Millie's. We have been there before for their ever-popular brunch and also for dinner once, so we were excited to go back, since both had been pleasant experiences. This night was no different. We arrived a bit early to avoid the crowds, which is usually the only unpleasant part of dining there, and were quite successful.
"My husband started with the cassoulet, which rivaled the one we ate in southern France. I had the shrimp bisque, which was delicious as well. For the main course I had the quail. I was a bit thrown by the little birdie legs and wings (I used to be a vegetarian and am still shocked when my food looks like an animal), but one bite and my concerns left the building. It was delicious. The pomegranate gastrique was perfect and the veggies fresh. My husband had the petite filet, and while it certainly was petite, it was great. A savory foie gras demi-glace impressed his usually boring palette.
"Dessert still lingers in my dreams. I ordered the spice cake with pumpkin gelato. I love pumpkin and the gelato was fantastic. It couldn't hold a candle to the dark chocolate pate that Jim had. It was so decadent: very chocolate-y, dense, but not overwhelming, and it left me wanting more.
"Millie's has always been a great experience, and our waitress took great care of us. I hope to see them on the Restaurant Week lineup next year too!"
-- Let us know about your Restaurant Week experience. Send Karri Peifer an email at karri.peifer@corp.richmond.com.
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Good Times, Bad Times
Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 4 p.m.
Don't you wish dining out could be easy? For Sarah E. Miller, it was. She and her husband celebrated their one-year anniversary on Saturday by dining at Hard Shell.
"The server was wonderful; she was attentive and engaging, but not overly chatty and didn’t hover," she says in an email. "I had the lobster cream dip as my appetizer and salmon with mashed potatoes and asparagus as my entrée. The dip was yummy, not too rich and the tortilla chips were the best I’ve ever had – so light and fluffy. The salmon was moist and delicious and the asparagus and potatoes were tasty as well. My husband had a house salad and shrimp with scallops and rice and he loved his meal. The scallops were huge and so tender and meaty. We both had the key lime pie for dessert and took another piece home for the babysitter. We will absolutely dine there again."
Hungry yet?
Then there's the hard part about eating out. Sometimes the experiences just aren't great no matter what the setting is. For Jennifer L. Pearson and her date, a meal last week at Bistro Twenty Seven was something she'd rather forget.
"I had been to Twenty Seven before and had never been impressed. I so want to like it though, because of it's beautiful space. We thought that Restaurant Week would be a good excuse to try it again," she writes. But that's where the good of the situation stops.
"I had one of the worst meals I have ever experienced at Twenty Seven on Friday evening. Nothing on the Restaurant Week menu looked terribly appealing, and for that matter, even the regular menu left something to be desired. The bistro salad was tasteless at best, with a sad attempt at creativity by adding unripe pears (with tomatoes on the same salad??). My fish came out so over cooked that it was like rubber. My date's pork resembled a cafeteria entree with a gelatinous like sauce smothered over it."
So, what do you have to say? Restaurant owners, this is also a chance for you to speak up. We'd love to hear from you. Send Karri Peifer an email at karri.peifer@corp.richmond.com to let us know about your experiences last week.
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Service Matters
Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 3:30 p.m.
Bob Owen and several of his friends hit the town last week during Restaurant Week and tried out three restaurants. Bob says that Restaurant Week is a "wonderful idea that would seem to have only winners." He says that he didn't have "outright negative" experiences, but service contributed to the group's overall experiences. Here's what he had to say:
Bacchus: Three of us all ordered different things for each of the three courses, and we all thought the nine offerings were outstanding. The grouper, in particular, was fresh and cooked to perfection. The ambiance was great, and the server was attentive, but not overly so. The restaurant was full, with people waiting to be served, so we moved to the bar probably a little sooner than we normally would have just to let others have the table. Was my first trip there and I will definitely go back.
Rowland's: Two of us had good to very good food in each of the three servings, but the service was barely adequate. We have dined at Rowland's several other times, and found the service very good to outstanding, so it was a little disappointing, and the restaurant was only about half full. Of course that was Monday, which may have just been a little slow anyway.
Track: Four of us were very much looking forward to a great experience, but left a little underwhelmed. Several of us had dined there before and liked everything. But this experience was only ordinary. Our thoughts, along with those of the diners sitting around us, were that the portions served in each course were VERY small. We discussed where we should go to finish dinner. I know that generally American restaurants purportedly serve overly large portions, and that Americans generally eat much too much, but I was not prepared to start addressing this problem on Saturday night. We moved on up the street to Can Can, to order appetizers and another bottle of wine.
-- Let us know about your Restaurant Week experience. Send Karri Peifer an email at karri.peifer@corp.richmond.com.
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Your Thoughts on Restaurant Week
Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 1:15 p.m.
Well Richmonders, Restaurant Week is over. It was great while it lasted, but now it's gone and we'll all have to wait another year for a discount sampling of some of Richmond's hottest restaurants. While that prix-fixe meal is still lingering on your taste buds we want to hear from you.
You had 20 restaurants to choose from and only seven days to dine, so which restaurants did you pick and why? How was the food, how was the service and will you go back for again – we want to know all this and more.
So diners, restaurant owners and staff alike, how was Restaurant Week for you? Send your thoughts, your reviews and your feedback to karri.peifer@corp.richmond.com or click on the link below. We'll feature your answers here throughout the week.
-- Karri Peifer, Richmond.com
React: Click here to send me an email.