Gather FOOD + DRINK — Restaurant in Rocky River

We made a spur of the moment decision to have dinner here on a Friday night. Based on the reviews we were willing to eat much earlier than we would have liked because the only available reservations were 5:00 or 8:30. The dining room is small, intimate and very tastefully decorated. We started with one cocktail and a glass of Chardonnay. The cocktail was excellent and the wine list, both by the glass and by the bottle offers good selections at reasonable prices. We then shared the tuna tots. This is somewhat of an odd dish with the mixture of classic tater tots and raw tuna. It was a generous portion and good, though. We ordered the bread service which was probably the only slight disappointment of the evening. Despite being baked in house (according to our waitress), the “focaccia” was more in the nature of basic supermarket Italian bread with a light coating of classic focaccia seasoning on the crust. It was definitely the type of bread one would expect to be complimentary at this level of dining. We’ve had bread service elsewhere that is truly special and worth the extra charge. The entrees were delicious. One of us had the pan roasted cod off the regular menu. It was perfectly cooked. It was accompanied by mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus and a very nice lobster sauce. The other of us had the duck breast special which was, again, perfectly cooked, very flavorful and accompanied by an interesting and delicious mixture of spatzelle, artichokes and a few other goodies. Hats off to the chef for being able to take canned/jarred artichoke quarters and doctoring them up to be flavorful and delicious and almost completely erase/mask the citric acid inherent in this convenience product. Overall, this was a terrific meal at relatively reasonable prices ($128.00 with two cocktails, a glass of wine and tax). ...

Gourmet Guy Cafe's may have a condensed menu compared to neighboring diners but that focus showcases the quality and creativity of their food. I was visiting for the first time as part of Cleveland Burger week and of the 5 burgers I indulged in, Gourmet Guy's entry was a ringer. The meat was cooked perfectly and juicy with that crisp outer edge to provide a little bit of char crunch. What really elevated this was the careful pairing of topping that complimented each other while still allowing the burger to stand out. The decision to use brie as the cheese was genious. It melded with the beautifully caramelized onions . All the while hiding delicately in the background was the perfect hint of truffle oil. But then they go one step further and opt for arugula instead of ice berg, romaine, or greens. That light crunchy spice brought an extra brightness to the finish. If the burger wasn't enough, I was the first customer to have one of their new shakes. I chose the Oreo shake and it did not disappoint. I really enjoyed that it was not overly sweet. I could taste the ice cream, the Oreo pieces, and the creamy rich finish of the whole milk. It was a satisfying sippable. If you are a local or a visitor, Gourmet Guy should absolutely be on your lunch list. I look forward to my next visit to explore more...

I gave 5 stars because I didn’t want to screw up their rating. In all honesty I would have gave it a 3 star. Love the atmosphere. The lights were a little too bright for dinner service. The margarita comes premade and tastes like straight flavored simple syrup. The server told me to let it sit and it changes flavor. I kept coming back to it though out the dinner, and it still tasted like liquid sugar. Completely unbalanced. The tomato bisque was super acidic with no creaminess, or any other contributing flavors. I had the chicken pasta as a main. The pasta was cooked perfectly. Couldn’t be better. The flavors of the sauce was ok. I enjoyed the SMALL amount of vegetables in there as well. The chicken again was cooked to perfection. Crispy and moist. But again, no seasoning and had zero flavor. Finally the server was very attentive. Maybe borderline over attentive. But the standing over my joiner reading off everything we ordered to her when we were cashing out, I thought was a little odd. Seems like it would be a nice date spot, but I care more about the quality I get for...