Marigold by Jean-Georges — Restaurant in Charlottesville

went to this much touted new restaurant and was not impressed by most everything about it. The design and overall look of the restaurant is quite impressive and had me expecting great things. Alas this was not to be as I was non-plussed by the mere 5 entree selections that were themselves less than unique or exciting in any meaningful way. 1 steak choice, 1 salmon choice, 1 other fish choice, Believe it or not...fried chicken, and lobster. To add to these meager choices there were only cooked carrots, mashed potatoes, Brussel sprouts and I cannot even remember the 4th boring choice. There was only one soup choice, Tomato, and 3 or 4 salads all off which were probably the most esoteric choices on the entire menu, but frankly most of the listed components of the salads were unrecognizable to even the more sophisticated diner and the 3 vegetarian choices ( which I guess should be added to the 5 entree items previously mentioned were equally difficult to even guess what they would taste like. But overall my strongest impression was the same as one of the other reviewers here that commented that there is no focus to the menu selections.....6 personal pizza choices ( in a supposedly fine dining establishment), 1 Sushi and 1 Sashimi appetizer choice, 1 soup, tomato, and the previously listed Lobster, Fried Chicken, 1 steak choice, and 2 fish choices. Maybe with more focus than this hodge-podge of Sushi/Sashimi, pizza, fish, steak, and Fried Chicken the chefs could learn how to make their dishes stand out more than the less than exciting renditions of all these way too varied and unfocused offerings on their confusing menu. I will end with just one example of one dish that was inexplicably done badly. I ordered the Sashimi and what came on my plate was huge " CHUNKS " of way too thickly sliced pieces of raw fish. Sashimi's taste and presentation depends on a skilled Sushi Chef slicing very thin pieces. What was passed off as Sashimi on my plate was at least a quarter inch thick and overall big enough that I found I had to take it onto my salad plate and cut it up into edible bite size pieces. Otherwise it would have been like just biting into a big chunk of raw fish...not my idea of what the delicate nature of Sashimi should be. This restaurant definitely does not know what it is or what it should try to be yet. Maybe that will come with time, trial, and error, but with so many other better individual restaurants in Charlottesville for pizza, fried chicken, steak, fish, salads, Soups, Sushi and Sashimi, I will not be returning to this one any time soon. I will end with a positive nod to the front of house staff that were very friendly and efficient and made that part of the experience very...

We looked forward to the addition of this restaurant to Charlottesville. However, after 4 attempts to give this country club renovation a chance, we just can't go back anymore; the members club offers a better experience. The good: the CAPEX investment is exquisite. The restaurant and bar are beautiful. The bocce ball area is a lovely addition and the setting is gorgeous - A+ renovation. The bad: We have never had a satisfactory experience, much less one on par with either Jean-Georges or the expectations the restaurant builds for itself. Every single time we have issues with waitstaff, either at the restaurant or the bar. This is meant to be a premium, five star dining experience but staff lack commensurate sophistication and knowledge. I admit the place is in the middle of nowhere so its not a deep pool of fine dining staff, but they show clear lack of training - bartenders are uncouth (and don't know their wheelhouse); waitstaff vary in executing appropriate service; the French sommelier was pompous and insufferable. We did have a lovely waitress in summer 2022 (Raja?), but it's been a rare treat. The bar is visually elegant but the bartenders seem determined to make it a watering hole for $25 glasses of wine that has been "86ed" - that is industry speak, not a term you use around guests. Last night my father tried to compliment one bartender on his mixology skills and he replied "nah I flunked out of chemistry." Fine, but you just failed luxury hospitality and presentation 101 too. The other bartender was nice but seemed new: she confused bourbon and rye for Manhattans. Food was genuinely inedible on one occasion last month, while the wine list is frequently out of stock and bizarre - I've not seen a wine list so obtuse and flagrantly overpriced even in Dubai. Even the music playlist is inappropriate; last night it was a less tropical version of Tommy Bahama bars. This restaurant needs significant improvement in (consistently) executing the basics of fine dining and luxury hospitality - the quality of food and service is nowhere near the physical elegance of the restaurant or the price of a meal there. It's not a hard equation for the investors, but either they overlooked this aspect of hospitality or their management has completely missed the mark and someone needs to raise the flag. Hotel guests used to proper fine dining will decimate such poor showings, and I know VA...

We went to Marigold the other night. The food was very good but the service was mixed at best. The decor was sophisticated but the music was too loud for easy conversation. The covid precautions were nil.

When we walked in the hostess was wearing a mask but we soon saw that none of the guests or serving staff were. The tables were placed very close together. Due to the loud music people were having to talk very loudly. The waitress had to lean in close to our faces to talk and be heard. All bad signs.

Soon after sitting down a server brought us a large plate of sushi as the amuse bouche. Sadly none of us eat sushi so, after much explanation, it was sent back. The server seemed authentically surprised that someone would not want sushi. It's a shame such a large plate of sushi was thrown away.

One of us ordered the beef filet, another the salmon and the third the sea bass. We started with tomato soup, the fig and burrata, and the beet salad. All three were very excellent. The sea bass is served with mushrooms and miso which weren't our favorite but if that is your thing then you will be pleased.

Our drinks were another matter. When we sat down we ordered some drinks including a cocktail. The other drinks came out, but not the cocktail. After a very long wait it appeared. Then a server came over with two glasses of wine that they tried to convince us we had ordered. We sent them back. Shortly another server came over with the same wine that we had supposedly ordered. We sent that back. Eventually we found a manager who finally got us the wine we did order. The same problem happened with dessert wine - an order for madeira was replaced by red wine. Again the same manager intervened and solved it.

All in all, we wouldn't go back. It's a shame a place with such excellent food falls short in so...