I sat at the downstairs bar, mostly empty at 6:30 on a Thursday, and ordered a la carte.
Charcuterie: Toscana, duck ham, Negroni, and blackstrap ham ($14), n’duja ($5, that’s how it came, hadn’t touched it yet). Everything was great except I thought the Negroni was a little too bitter, though it might have been good with a cocktail instead of 2013 Thevenet Morgon ($65).
Terrines: headcheese, pork, foie gras. Headcheese was pretty good, pork was excellent, foie gras was as good as I’ve had in my life. At some point I got a bottle of 2010 Scholium “The Courier” ($75) since it was clear the Beaujolais was not going to last.
Chanterelle raviolo, Anaheim chile “espuma,” purslane ($15). Really good.
Asador pork three ways: glazed cheek, grilled rack, smoked belly ($20), cauliflower ($8), creamed endive (normally $8 but comped by the bartender who wanted me to try it). All really great and good portions.
Service was excellent and friendly. Total food cost for the meal was $78 ($86 without the comp), which seemed entirely reasonable…
The wine list was awfully skewed toward the high end, the two excellent bottles I got were among the least expensive. Nevertheless the markups were reasonable, and you’d have a hard time finding those retail. They sealed the unfinished bottle in a plastic bag with a handle, then put that in a fancy Gwen logo shopping bag.
I enjoyed my leisurely (3-1/2 hours) meal so much I forgot to walk around and check out the rest of the place.
