Present Company Restaurant — Restaurant in Simsbury

Present Company has a wonderful setting with excellent attempts at culinary creativity, friendly staff, and a handful of opportunities to improve the value it’s able to deliver, none of which seem insurmountable.

It must be said that a creative, seasonal menu, with an elaborate wine list, and well-cared-for historical structure, is a type of restaurant that I’d love to see more of in Hartford County. Present Company seems well within reach of becoming an excellent and high-value dining experience.

It is, after all, a privilege to be able to to charge a $125/head meal (3 courses starts at $87, doesn’t include bread for the table, and drinks run an additional $25-40/person for 2 drinks a piece).

At the current price point, charging more for bread is slightly odd (the bread isn’t house-made, however the accompanying butter is). Similarly, a patron’s request to skip desert and add a second first course likely doesn’t need a $12 up charge: if the intent is to discourage this behavior, just don’t accept course substitution at all.

At the current price point, allocating a single server across the entire restaurant, is slightly odd. Investing in a second server, allowing for a higher level of service, ability to provide more context around course times, wine pairings, and more seems like a worthwhile opportunity to explore.

At the current price point, course timing is pivotal: yawning gaps between courses without intervening bites is again, odd and seemingly inappropriate. Our courses arrived 30 mins after seating, 120 after, and 150 mins after. A main course likely should be served within 60-90 mins irrespective of the price point, however that is likely something that the team is already aware of and working on.

All of the above is to say that, Present Company should focus on making customers feel like there’s undeniable value. It looks like the vast majority of reasonably-written critical patron reviews (i.e. those that seek to review, not vent) reference a similar list of possible improvements, and I hope that there’s a willingness to consider these on the part of the team.

There is clearly a market for fine dining in the area, and everyone in my party would make Present Company an annual, if not slightly more frequent, trip, if a handful of things are improved.

Thanks for taking the time to establish and operate a creative outpost. If you’re open to reflect on possible changes, it would be greatly appreciated to see some of these improvements made...

My second time eating here - the last six years ago, I believe when it first opened - and I came away disappointed. In the review of my first visit, I found the food quality mixed but I applauded the intention and raved about the highlights (the lamb was to die for). The service was excellent and the mood fun, and relaxed in a warm New England mill setting. Expensive but great value and loads of upside.

Unfortunately, to me at least, the restaurant has failed to find the upside and slipped on some key ingredients to a what should be, considering the price, a memorable dining experience.

The dining room is e still lovely: small, warm and cozy. It would also have been comfortable but for the conditioning running on a cool evening in May. Diners were bundling up and no one on the staff noticed or inquired about this.

Otherwise, the wait staff was attentive, polite, and accommodating in handling a few special requests. No problems there. The service, however, was inordinately slow. Not of the "let them enjoy their meal" variety but of the, "this kitchen is malfunctioning" kind. And a few minutes watching the kitchen at work confirmed this observation. There was a casualness of pace or hesitancy of movement that indicated either inexperience or lackadaisical direction.

The food was fine but few of the dishes that any of the six of us had rose to the level of noteworthy, among them though we're the pappardelle, the first course mushroom entre on the chefs menu, and the crispy kale salad. The remainder were eminently forgettable. The sea coast mushroom was tasty but dry. The same could be said of the skate but add "too salty" to the description and the mirepoix with demi-glaze came across as a scattering of lightly steamed carrot slices with a drizzle of sauce. The root vegetable dish, on 5 other hand, was inspired and tasty.

The bottom line is that this restaurant will give you a good meal in a lovely setting but you will leave with little sense of fine dining and even less of value for your dollar, as you are locked into a minimum of a three course prix fixe menu of decidedly mixed quality at fine...

Having dined here a few times, Present Company does a good job in its attempt of culinary creativity and having a friendly staff. But they have an opportunity to improve the value it’s able to deliver. The food continues to be very good, however, I'm not a fan of the 3 or 4 course only options for $87 and $107 (no A La Carte) - one of which is dessert. If you want to swap out the dessert for a starter, they charge you an extra $12. Order a small metal container of bread (not house made) there's another $4.50. Have a bottle of wine or a couple of drinks each your check will be over $300 w/ tip for two people (3 course without dessert option). With the 3 course option at $87, is the starter $25, entree $45 and dessert $17? That's a bit pricey - especially when one of the entree's is a Cauliflower vegetarian dish). Again, the food is good but at their price point they are in the same if not higher end of a Michelin restaurant (which they are not). That said one would expect the service to justify the higher prices. The servers are friendly and professional, but at these prices one would expect a bit more. For example, instead of just plopping down the food and walking away it would be nice if there was a bit more engagement by explaining/reiterating what the dish just served entails. I've been to several high end restaurants and it is a nice touch by the servers when they explain your meal giving the patrons a sense they are in lock step with the kitchen. It must be said that the creative seasonal menu with a very good wine list and beautiful, historical building, is the type of restaurant we love. So, if the high price is not an issue, you will have a good meal. But for me I can get good food for much less at other nearby...