Meritage — Restaurant in City of New Rochelle

What a great find! The décor is very appealing with white tablecloths, dark ceilings and deep teal walls adorned by black and white photos of Italian scenery. The result is a classy, modern and comfortable space that feels very welcoming. Speaking of welcoming, our waitress was fantastic. She was personable, attentive and knowledgeable. Really good service. Another welcome surprise was that the ambient noise level was so low, I was able to enjoy a great conversation with my date without straining and screaming across the table.

Drinks: All were great. There have been plenty of times I’ve had to send a drink back, but not here. If you’re a martini drinker, they do the Vesper martini quite well (James Bond would be pleased), and the Dead Sea Martini with blue cheese stuffed olives and a few drops of olive oil was a winner as well. However, the ultimate summer drink was the Tequila water. Delightfully refreshing!

Appetizers: The grilled shrimp on a bed of bright vegetables and nardello chile peppers was fantastic. Our waitress also recommended the fried eggplant with melted mozzarella, and I’ve very glad she did. It had the same satisfying, addictive combo of crunch and cheese of a fried mozzarella stick, but more elevated with the eggplant.

Entrees: At first glance, I was a bit concerned regarding the brevity of the menu. But, when enjoying locally sourced, seasonal driven, farm to table cuisine, this tends to imply that the chef has been very intentional in their selections. Thankfully, they also have a number of off-menu specials, so that between the cyclical menu and rotating specials there is plenty of variety. I enjoyed expertly prepared black sea bass of the perfect consistency, with gratifying crispy skin and impeccable seasoning, served atop a bed of tomatoes and broccolini. As delectable as the dish was, the duck was even better! Bold, mouthwatering, savory flavor appropriately cooked to medium rare, preserving the tenderness and juiciness of the meat. I’m starting to drool a little just thinking about it.

This little treasure is definitely worth another visit to see what new masterpieces the chef has conjured from the local purveyors. We...

This is the case of the good, the bad and the he ugly. Let's start with the ugly. If you've spent any appreciable amount of time in a bar / restaurant, you know the smell of dirty barware. You know, when they just dunk the glass in some water, instead of actually washing it. There are three possibilities here: they didn't wash the glass, they didn't wash the shaker, or the sour mix had been refilled in a dirty bottle too many times. (Before I get to that, let me point out the first drink I asked for, they couldn't make, because they didn't have any orange juice. So the second choice was a Sour) That drink smelled so bad I couldn't finish it. Then, there's the good. The shrimp starter was excellent. Although it was a bit pricey for 3 medium size shrimp (for the price I would have expected 4 jumbo), the taste was exceptional.

And, the service was good.

And now the bad; I had chicken parmigiano. You get nothing with that entree except that. While being a generous size, it was overcooked seriously, being dry, tough, and actually having blackened burnt parts. (You have to work at it to burn a chicken cutlet. You simply pan fry it on both sides for a couple of minutes, then put it in the oven).

Using my usual numerical grading, I'll give it a 72. Of course, rounding it up to Google stars it comes up to...

Eating at this restaurant was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in a long time. The food was mediocre at best. The service was completely horrendous from the minute we entered the restaurant. The owner greeted us (if you can call it that) at the door, asked us the name on the reservation and told us to “just take any open four top.” He did not seat us. We ordered and when our food came one of the orders was incorrect, but the server didn’t leave the 2 correct orders, he just walked away without saying a word. Ten minutes later, when we saw our server we attempted to explain what happened, and her response was, “well I don’t work in the kitchen.” Our food came eventually and we were underwhelmed. It was not worth the price, especially not the $48 veal Milanese which was all breading and very little veal, despite the owner telling us, “well, that’s how we make it and all our customers love it.” Needless to say we will not...