Rotten is a bit too strong to describe my first visit to this restaurant, which opened in the summer in the space previously occupied by Bitar's. But after all the early raves I'd been hearing from friends in the neighborhood, ever-desperate to acquire another good haunt for Germantown Avenue, I wasn't especially impressed.
We waited 20 minutes past the reservation time for our table, and I spent most of that time trying to get the attention of an overwhelmed bartender for a drink. It could have been the deafening roar of the room, despite the sound-baffling cushions on the wall. But I practically had to stand on a chair to order a glass from the intriguing list of wine values. Wines marked up only $15 per bottle - a steal worthy of the restaurant's name.
Service didn't improve much at the table, where we practically had to beg for water, and advice on that wine list - a range of two dozen international choices available by the glass or carafe - was sketchy at best.
The kitchen, meanwhile, run by former Max & David's chef Jared Cohen, wasn't having its best night. There was a memorably vivid Thai coconut green curry broth for the mussels, but too many of the mollusks were piled high and dry over the broth beside grilled toasts that were strangely stale. The eggplant cheesecake, a clever savory take on the classic dessert, was pockmarked from overcooking and too densely rich, flaws accentuated by the fact it was essentially cold on the plate. A similar lack of reheating dimmed what otherwise might have been a stellar blueberry cobbler.
