Wanted to try this place for a long time, so I got a reservation during the restaurant week. I regard this place being one of the impressive ones: six options for each course is a generous and courageous move.

Appetizer (complimentary) Sourdough + plum + dill Dill flavor is pronounced, with subtle sweetness and wheat aroma. The plum’s texture and the grain texture from the sourdough blend well together.

Sweet potato roll + butter The butter is whipped, judging from the air bubbles. The roll is slightly sweet and a bit dense. I like the large sea salt grains on the top: elevates out the savoriness of the sweet potato and adds a bit of crunch.

Real Appetizer Broccolini Salad Surprising good salad. The broccolini, I believe, is blanched with oil and salt so the green vivid color is well-kept. The flavor comes from the broccolini, the aromatic oil (either olive or a seed oil), the creamy tart green sauce on the bottom, the nuttiness from the almond, and the sweetness from the golden raisins. The tender crunchiness from the broccolini goes well with almonds’s crisper crunchiness and the chewiness from the freekeh (drum wheat), which was drenched with sauce and the oil. I loved how the freekeh bounced on my teeth and tongue. Every single bite, due to the different combo of components attached on my fork, resulted in different sensory experiences.

Entrees Pan-seared Arctic Char Though it is arctic, it is super warm-hearted. There are many components here: super-crispy skin but tender salmon, poppy salmon roe, sweet crab meat with cucumbers, zucchini, radicchio, and potatoes sitting on top of the lemony, avocadoy(don’t quote me) green sauce. My favorite thing? The potato! These sliced mini potatoes retained their exterior crunchiness(imagine GBD) though drenched in the sauce, and the inside is perfectly mealy. The tender crab meat at the bottom was a nice-touch. Had to eat with spoon was tricky.

Roasted Duck Medium-rare yet tastes a bit tough. The skin is not crispy, but tender. The flavors, if tasted sparsely, the tartness of the Bearnaise sauce and the bitterness of the turnips stand out the most. The duck is well-seasoned, maybe too well-seasoned. There are prosciutto bits mixed with the wild rice and the saltiness is overpowering and overrides all other aromatics. There are just too much strong flavors in one plate, and the individual elements are bit overwhelming. So far, my least favorite dish here.

Dessert Sorbets(Strawberry Prosecco, blueberry, and plum) The three spoons of sorbet with 2 sugar cookies. The Prosecco flavor is quite obvious, and there are large chucks of strawberries in the sorbet, and this flavor melts really fast due to the Prosecco content. The blueberry and plum sorbets are tart-forwarding, and more elastic when I dig in. There are some bigger ice crystals but I am okay with that. Quite refreshing indeed. (I paired with English breakfast tea to counterbalance.

The service is accommodating. They don’t have the 4-course lunch i wanted, but they were willing to add to my existing restaurant week combo to make a 4-course lunch. They also gave me a market strawberry when they brought me the check, which was fun.

One thing to note is that their menu is not updated online; the real menu is only presented in person. I have seen other menus with/without beef carpaccio in the appetizer, and with/without wagyu brisket in the entree. I think this is actually a good sign: meaning the kitchen actually checks on their stock quality and quantity to make adjustments before service. I view this as the sign of being responsible.

The dining room is a white-table cloth slow dating vibe, and the tavern side is more up-beat quicker causal side. I heard good things about the burger, but I don’t feel right spending 3 hours sitting by myself consistently waiting for the food to come again. I feel they should adjust the speed for people who meant to come here to EAT ONLY vs. people who meant to come here to EAT AND TALK. So don’t come if you don’t have disposable time, but if you do, then you will definitely enjoy.