Peck & Plume — Restaurant in Cary

This review is ONLY for the special Bubbles & Ice ticketed dinner & NOT for the actual "normal" dinner service, which we have dined in several times & greatly enjoyed.

We were excited to enjoy a well priced ($85/pp) evening of a 3 course dinner w/ bubble pairing posted for 6pm. We arrived at 5:40 & were told that the doors had to open at 6 so we should wait at the bar. No problem - we had a glass of cava & were happy to wait for the "doors to open." As all of us were being seated at the same time, it led to a huge group congregating at 6pm waiting to be sat. My husband & I had no clue that it was group seating. We were at a table of 6 - I believe there were 3-4 tables of 6 & another table of 8-10. While we enjoyed our company, had we wanted to have a quiet, private date night, this would have been a major disappointment. Truth be told, we kind of did want our own table as it was a special anniversary, but we took it in stride. I think its important for the website to market it as group dining if that's the case...

The atmosphere was very kitschy. Wedding chairs, wedding table decor, a bubble machine, & intermittent pours of dry ice into a vase of water on the table. Not really the high-end vibe of a champagne dinner.

The servers were AMAZING!!!!! Waters, champs stayed full - plates cleared, light conversation, everyone moving in unison, etc. They killed it.

The host/sommelier (not sure) kept ringing a bell for the start of the event, palate cleansers, discussion of food/champs, etc. Not to be snobby, but we were drinking Chandon and Veuve - great bubbles, but nothing extraordinary that required bell ringing. It ended up taking away from the event and we felt awkward eating our sorbet until the bell had rung granting us permission. There was way too much focus on unnecessary talking-presentation.

Caviar on potato passed amuse bouche was great but the second was a goat's milk and sorbet ice. It was odd. It was very tart and off-putting. The first course - smoked scallop crudo - was phenomenal. Amazing smoke flavor with well-chosen accoutrements. Palate cleanser of lemon sorbet with thyme syrup was very sweet. The syrup hardened against the frozen sorbet & was thick and gooey. The second course of rabbit, sausage, & whipped potato was yummy. Very well done! Next palate cleanser of raspberry sorbet and lychee boba was good - better than the lemon, but still overly sweet. I'm not sure how it worked as a palate cleanser with such strong flavors. The dessert was a mascarpone and strawberry panna cotta "cake". I found it to be strange - a mix of textures w/ random salty bits that didn't compliment one another. After the 6th or 7th bell ring, the exec chef (Greg Nettles) & chef de cuisine (Tyler Trice) came out -- clearly a lot of talent there & with the exception of the cleanser & dessert - crushed it! They very clearly took pride in their work and direction.

Our dinners at the restaurant (sans special meal) was always great, but this "wedding without knowing the parties" was a bit strange. The pours were generous, food (especially savory) good, & price was more than fair... I just really would have wanted to know about the seating, not been interrupted so much, & have more thought put into the decor and flow.

Also, there were missed opportunities. As 75% of us seemed to arrive by 5:45, we should have been seated right away with a special cocktail menu available to us in the back room. More money for you guys and more comfort to the diners. Also, would have loved to have had an opportunity before dessert to be presented a bill and add gratuity for the servers. 20% was already included in our pre-pay, but the staff was going above and beyond and could have been compensated as such. The $85/pp price point was such a good deal that you could have been creative and thought of extras.

We would absolutely return, but hope that this review (and other feedback) be taken into account. Events like this have A LOT of promise, but can be...

Well, let’s just say improvements could be made across a few different plateaus.

The background: I was tasked with finding a brunch location for my father’s 65th birthday. Finally found Peck & Plume, made a reservation for 4 in the early afternoon through Resy. Indicated it’s for a special occasion (see above) along with other details for the day.

First impression: My mother arrived first, and seeing as how I come from a background within the service industry, the hostess was rigid. I am more than understanding of requiring a whole party to be present to seat the table but to just tell a patron to sit down without any information and not indicate policy for party seating was unusual.

Enter my arrival, I see my mother sitting alone in the entry, looking confused, so I learn about the precedent situation. So I go to the hostess stand, she indicates she knew one person was already present and then seats us. Why not seat the individual already present without pretense to having the whole party there? Because the whole party was still not there.

The service: There is immense amount of improvement that could be set forth here. Don’t get me wrong, our waitress was pleasant and courteous, but after we (4 top) ordered drinks, it took nearly 20 minutes to get one MIMOSA to our table after 3 updates and a flagging down of the waitress. It was busy but not busy to the extent where drinks to not be delivered (this also included 2 separate requests for water that failed to be delivered).

The food: It was quite a shock when we learned that at the early hour of 1:30PM the kitchen already ran out of steak, a protein that was offered additionally as a salad topping. My husband and I had baited the menu and decided on a meal, and then come to find out that during the middle of brunch rush the kitchen had run out of prepped steak and only enough for one last order!

Nevertheless, it was indicated that there was only 1 steak option available and so my husband ordered another dish and I ordered the “covered last steak dish”. There was an unfortunate accident where the staff member bringing out our meals tipped her server tray and alas, there goes our entire tables meals.

The manager, knowing I’d need to order a new entree, was prompt to see to our table and remake all meals and take my new order. Keep in mind, I understand accidents will inevitably occur in this setting so I felt compassion for the waitress and the table next to us that were affected.

I won’t get into specifics here as to not beat a dead horse but it (I.e. the food) was all sadly underwhelming. There is nothing more than I want than to see a local restaurant thrive, especially when the location is prime for a host of customers, AND IN A HOTEL! But it was overpriced and underperforming for all four of us.

The atmosphere: It’s loud. The lighting flickered the entire we were there and I’m not talking a light dimming of lights, I’m talking about all overhead and wall sconce lighting going from ON to OFF sporadically during our entire stay. We genuinely felt it was a subtle way to play “closing time” as I was familiar with during bar shutdown. Another waitress literally apologized and said that they weren’t closing due to the lights going out for a longer stent than ‘usual’. The whole encounter was just bizarre.

The tab out: I can’t lie when I say it took almost 20 minutes to get a check. Our table wasn’t pre-bussed, empty beverages and plates scattering the table, multiple staff coming to the table to take the most random items but leaving clearly finished plates and never asking about other needs. It was boggling. At this point I stopped trying to justify behavior and boiled it down to poor staff management, lack of staff training, and lack of appropriate management oversight.

The final takeaway: As much as the location has the ambiance of a posh restaurant, we sadly won’t be back. If you’re to pay $24 for a brunch entree, the rest of the experience should be meeting that...

Overall tasty, with a few notable disappointments at this price range (we had the prix fixe valentine special at $65 per person, drinks additional- avg $8 for craft beer, $10-12 for a glass of most wines, $14 for most cocktails, 20% pre-tax automatic gratuity added).

Atmosphere in the lounge area was intimate and cozy, though I didn't personally find the high straight back chairs comfortable. We were there early (5pm), so it was not crowded until later. Lounge area stayed at a nice, low noise level though we noticed other areas of the restaurant were significantly (negatively) louder.

Cocktails were excellent and well- presented. We had the Seneca old fashioned and the Maker, both bourbon-based drinks with very different flavor profiles (both very good). So much so that the service faux pas I'll get into in a second was that much more noticeable.

Service: everyone was very nice, from the hosts to our main server and runners/servers who delivered drinks and food to our table. However, I have to note that our server took one of our cocktails before we were done, which we didn't notice until too late. For a drink that was close to $18 after tax & gratuity and had enough bourbon left in the glass to be missed when we reached for it and found it gone... that was the worst part of the evening (because it was a really good drink too)!

First course: the lobster dumpling bisque was top notch. Rich but not overly so, great balance. The salad was ok but kind of disappointing- maybe just not what we were expecting. Be prepared to use your knife to cut up some chunks of romaine and artichokes to dip in a minimal amount of raspberry dressing (which was good).

Second course: the halibut was the surprise favorite for us. Fish was perfectly cooked to a juicy and almost fluffy texture; the creamy sauce with hints of lemon was divine; the semolina pasta sheet draped over it was that wonderfully chewy al dente that makes you savor each bite and want it to last. Feel free to let your servers use my description if you want hahaha- I think this dish didn't get as much attention as it deserved. The duck cassoulet on the other hand was just ok for me. A very pretty presentation with nice colors, but a bit too salty for my taste, and about a third of the duck leg was overcooked (rubbery and hard exterior to the point that my fork couldn't easily break the surface of the overcooked section, dry and unpleasant to chew). The rest of the duck was tender and tasty.

Third course: we both had the red velvet cake and it was quite good and not the typical cream cheese icing with bright red colors (which i also enjoy). This one was a dense, darker brown cake, not fluffy, with a rich pistachio flavored thin sweet coating between layers, a delicious pistachio sauce on the side, fresh raspberries and a light icing on top.

Overall, I left feeling mostly appeased and actually full - portions were appropriately sized for a fancy 3 course meal in my opinion - not the regular gluttonous sizes I do expect from "normal" dinners out, but also not so small that you leave hungry and ready for some taco bell to fill you up, while you're wondering how much each dollop of sauce or garnish you left in your plate was worth. That said, at this price point, I'd say the taking of the cocktail early and the overcooked duck was much less acceptable. To be fair, we didn't bring this to the attention of the restaurant at the time, so they didn't have the...