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For the past year, there has been a trend in fine-dining restaurants serving what chef David Ansill has dubbed "snack food for adults," which means tiny portions of chic fare for high prices. I don’t like this. I think it is pretentious. Besides, I do not savor little bites of expensive food at dinner hour. I want a meal.
My friend Marianne and I discussed this over dinner at James, a new Bella Vista restaurant owned by chef James Burke. The site, which was once Michael’s, has been gutted and turned into a modern multiroom spot with a bar just off the entrance. There are hardwood floors and black trim, but I could not clearly detect colors because the restaurant was dark. In fact, Marianne and I asked if we could sit in a room that was better lit than the others. Two votive candles on the table didn’t help much, although our server brought the lights up a bit.
He then brought menus and a wine list, which was difficult to read because the print was small and in a light ink. Marianne chose a glass of Pinot Grigio ($8) and I chose a Campanas, a red wine from Spain ($9). Warm olive and rosemary rolls and thick slices of French bread slathered with softened butter took the edge off our appetites as we discussed what to eat.
The menu is odd: It is a one-page list of dishes with no demarcation of appetizers, pastas and entrées. Marianne noticed there were no salads on the menu. Then, a gentleman with a soft Spanish accent came over. Marianne speaks Spanish fluently and they happily chatted for a while. He said a salad was on the "lounge" menu.
We decided to share the pappardelle with duck ragu appetizer ($16). The menu description stated it consisted of "hand-cut pappardelle with duck ragu, shaved chocolate and orange." Our server set the dish in front of Marianne and then reached over me to divide the pasta between two plates. We each received four pappardelle, or "ribbon pasta," topped with a few tiny bits of duck ragu. Chocolate is used in making "mole," a rich Mexican sauce, but I could not taste the chocolate or orange.
The garden salad ($7) from the lounge menu was tasty and not a bid overdressed. We liked the use of frisee, as it added a fine texture to the greens. The baby Brussels sprouts were uncommonly good and showed Burke’s culinary imagination. But because the room was dim, Marianne thought they were, at first, olives.
We had a hard time deciding on entrées. Since the pasta and salad did not satisfy our appetites, I nixed fish because it is light and ordered the pork tenderloin ($24). Our server was keen on the scallops ($21), so Marianne took his recommendation.
The menu described the dish as "gently cooked pork tenderloin, heirloom kale and turnip gratin, salt roasted pear and hazelnut sauce." My plate contained a 3-inch piece of tenderloin that was difficult to cut. There was one slice of pear on the plate and a bit of gratin. I politely told our server the pork was overcooked and he took it back to the kitchen.
The menu said the scallops were "sautéed … with curried cauliflower crema, duck cracklings." Marianne received a long rectangular white dish containing three nicely cooked scallops and a dollop of puréed cauliflower on the side. The scallops were translucent inside and very fresh and the cauliflower was creamy.
There was no charge for the pork on the bill. Service was OK, but the server should have asked if we wanted more bread.
While it is the responsibility of a restaurant critic to describe a meal and service in a restaurant, it is also his or her responsibility to tell the readers if they are getting value for their money.
When Marianne and I arrived home, I put the kettle on for tea and cut each of us a hefty slice of Termini’s chocolate fudge cake with a generous scoop of Turkey Hill chocolate mint chip ice cream.
It worked. We were no longer hungry.
One-and-a-half tips of the toque to James.
James
824 S. Eighth St.
215-629-4980
Credit cards accepted
www.jameson8th.com
