A birthday celebration was the excuse to spend $125/person on the 6 course (with extras) tasting menu. The first dish was the most unique and the standout: daybout scallops with corn ice cream, cornbread crumbles, and ancho chili, a sweet and savory combination hors d'oeuvre bookending with dessert. But after the wonderfully creative beginning, the subsequent dishes got less exciting. The swordfish confit with puttanesca relish and crispy panisse was decent; the scallion pancake was ho-hum; the cheder apple galette was good; the chocolate cremeux was standard. The greatest disappointment, if not offense, was what should have been the pièce de résistance: Where the menu had a kuro blue wagyu, a couple people in my party had requested a meatless option which the restaurant assured me was possible when I made the reservation. But instead they swapped out the expensive, premium, special cut of meat with a piece of uninspired broccoli. The contrast was so stark it felt almost disdainful. And the sentiment was reinforced when I directly asked the chef where the substitute was for the wagyu, to which he curtly said “there” pointing to the pathetic piece of broccoli on my plate. But this is not a comparable alternative in any capacity. One is a protein, the other a vegetable. One is an exotic cut of meat, the other is a commonplace grocery item prepared without any culinary distinction. This amounted to little more than merely removing the meat from the meat dish as their way of accommodating the request. But this is more of a cold snub than the warm hospitality they advertise online as being “happy to accommodate all requests to the best of our ability with proper notification.” If that’s the best of their ability then it’s a lame effort.