Natalia's — Restaurant in Macon

Dining at Natalia's was a long awaited reminder of the gift that is fine dining. The ambiance of the room was perfectly created theatre. The lighting and appropriations, beautiful, intimate. The music, a sophisticated quartet of smooth but evocative jazz.The service was flawless, personal and non intrusive. No request was necessary because it was anticipated and the discreet response resolved the thought before it formed.

The salad. The. Salad. Baby bib lettuce, tender and fresh, still living and green. Orange infused raisins, sassy springs of crisp,vibrant carrot coils. Tender-crisp poached, pear in its own perfect blush of orchard sweetness. A rich musty, cavey blue cheese, offering just a hint of an idea of mushroom along its creamy, rich, blue veins. A dressing that was modest, infinitely understated, that magically married- without fuss or apparent effort - the importance of the individual ingredient into a a teasing, tempting jazz piece that tasted the magic of the music. It was a provocative, sensual experience the likes of which made my body and brain drop everything. It called to me like a siren, and I answered. I savored every small bite of tender lettuce. I made that cool perfection of simple ingredients a slow delicious excursion into the music and mood of the meal, a trip along a road I had never taken. I knew these ingredients, but never this way.

The salad relaxed me, opened me and readied my senses for our second course: diver scallops with a charred endive. I have never tasted the likes. The tender flesh of this sea creature brought with it a breeze of salty air. On the outside, a perfectly brown, coarsely salted crust toyed with my fork in a gentle, playful rebuff as it yielded its tender inner flesh. In my mouth I bit the coarse salt, and explored the scallop's perfectly achieved buttery, crunchy resistance which yielded the tender, white flesh of a warm, light, flavor-rich ocean blessing. The scallops and their accompanying endive were adorned with a teasing, textured crumb topping and a umame pan sauce that asserted itself perfectly. It looked you in your proverbial eye and asked for your devotion. It let you know deliberately that you would never taste this anywhere else. Not ever again, and you had better not forget it, baby. I completely surrendered myself to it, closed my eyes and breathed yes, yes, yes.

I looked to my Beloved next to me, and we knew. We knew this night, this place, this food was magic, and we just let it happen.

Today,...

The food was fantastic but the atmosphere was not what I expected for a fine dining experience which was pretty disappointing.

We were at a bar table which is in a much smaller area that I thought would provide a little more of an intimate feel vs the much larger and more crowded main dining area. I called ahead of time in reference to the dress policy on their website in which I was assured that although the bar area isn’t AS strict they still had standards to which we would need to abide by. So my husband and I dressed accordingly. Throughout the evening I saw people in leggings and sweatshirts and jogger styler sweatpants which baffled me slightly. The bar got so loud at a few points my husband couldn’t even hear me without me shouting. The waitstaff were nice enough but not super knowledgeable about the menu which was disappointing since it was our first time there. When we first arrived for our reservation a mom and son walked in and wanted to place a to go order and when they were informed that this restaurant doesn’t do that they pushed to be seated; without a reservation and staff found them a table close to ours which I didn’t mind at first but she proceeded to complain about the lighting and the wine and I think only got an appetizer yet sat there; in leggings and a sweatshirt complaining about the establishment. Turns out they were not from around here but travelers. Also the website states this restaurant is not suitable to children so why staff sat them right next to the BAR shocked me.

Overall I suppose I was expecting a little more of a fine dining experience; especially with the fine dining prices we paid. Maybe we’ll try the main dining room next time now that I know that the bar area doesn’t really have the standards I was informed it would. I really hope this experience is not an accurate reflection of the restaurant as a whole because we really enjoyed the food and would...

I have to confess that I had all but given up on this once iconic eatery. the last time my family and I dined hear some ten years ago was in my opinion an extreme disappointment. It felt like the entire meal was all smoke and mirrors, focused almost entirely on theatrical presentation while putting a subpar product on my plate. It was sad....kind of like watching the soprano come out on stage one time too many when she's past her prime.

I knew that they had come under new ownership but had yet to try them again. I am so glad that I did. Everything that had faded has been remade. It's still obviously meant to be an over-the-top dining experience, but executed with class and taste. Not overdone at all in terms of environment and presentation.

Wait staff is very professional but also very friendly and warm and engaging.

The menu has returned to a true Italian theme. Everything that came out of the kitchen and landed on our plates was amazing and definitely worth it. Portions were much larger than you would expect. Most of the entrees could easily be shared between two people if you got the large size.

the prior original owner had let everything slowly deteriorate. Nothing about food preparation was done correctly. The fluff was overdone trying to cover up all of the technical mistakes.

Not anymore. I had some of the best risotto I have had this side of the European continent. The menu also features several grilled meat offerings, including that evenings special pork chop which I may have to go back and try. Everything my party had was done very well.

Desserts did not let us down either. I'm really not much of a dessert person but it was quite delicious, and surprisingly large portions. One dessert is definitely enough to split between two people.

I am very pleased to say I will...