10 people strong, DASF dined at Orson this month. For the first time in history we dined on the 3rd Friday of the month - our fearless leaders the Phan's were in Europe earlier in April. Expectations were high for Chef Elizabeth Faulkner's innovative share plates and specialities from the wood fired oven. A little too innovative it was! But, kudos to Phu for putting together a fantastic tasting menu! And - we even got our own menu (helps in writing the blog 2 days later!)
Note - a learning for future DASFs. We should avoid pre-ordering. When our #s change it's very difficult to order the right amount of food and our value rating suffers (read - hit our upper end at over $100/person).
In attendance - the usual suspects - The Phan's back from Italy and Vienna; The Carter's/Brown's (Mollie's parents make yet another appearance at DASF!); Avis sans John (who stayed home with the kiddos); Cecilia sans Victor (partying in NYC); and Tim and Dani just back from Miami.
Ratings:
Food: 85 - hits and misses and overall just too many different flavors competing for attention. Example - chocolate fois gras appetizer - some liked it, most found it to be a dreadful combination.
The good: Duck fat french fries with butter bearnaise - how can you go wrong?! Salads were great (octopus tender; biodynamic greens/beets salad full of smooth flavors). Carrot dumplings got rave reviews. Pork buns good/but forgettable. Roasted pig pleased. Desserts were very good (chocolate french toast tasty; rosebud creme brulee with sensual; blue potato ravioli with citrus salt unexpected) - but they brought out 15 dessert plates for 10 people!
The bad. . .and the ugly: foie bon bon (see chocolate fois gras notes above.) Mixed reviews on the Cod and Halibut. Who ordered the Blood Sausage? Thumbs down from all.
Service: 93 - very friendly and attentive. She was really trying to to ensure we were all happy.
Atmosphere: 85 - this is where I thought Orson really fell down. Main dining room was edgy and cool, but we were upstairs where the decor consisted of plain black walls, black table cloths and spot lights on the diners (better when bright lights focus on the food.) The restauranteurs were going for a Citizen Kane like feel, just felt dark and plain to me.
"Jon on the Jon" - unisex bathrooms, Jon's favorite since he says they're much cleaner!
All in all a very fun evening - great company, conversation and a roller coaster of tastes! See you in a couple weeks for the next DASF.
