Dine About was back on in October after a brief respite in September. Unfortunately, in September, due to births, impending births, travel and other excuses, for the first time in it's history, Dine About did not take place. But, a core group of diners made up for it in October dining at RN74 - a restaurant in Michael Mina's empire. This was a "make-up" after a water main break in August closed the restaurant on the night of our reservation (see Aug09 write up below).
In attendance this month were the Phan's, including a first appearance from Reina, 3 weeks old - perhaps our youngest member to make dinner; the Cho's with baby still in utero; Peter - his first DASF appearance; and the Carter's, including 10 week old Zoë making her 2nd Dine About appearance.
Expectations were high for RN74, given that it is a Michael Mina restaurant. On style and hippness, RN74 knocked it out of the park. The service was also particularly good. Appetizers and desserts shined, but main dishes, as we often find, were lackluster. Value was on par - not a bargain, but not over the top. All in all, we had a very enjoyable dinner, we felt like we were part of a fun scene, and all the food was solid. I would recommend RN74 to anyone looking for a hip night out with some very fine food.
On to the scores. . .
Food: 83. Appetizers were fantastic. Agnolotti pasta with inspiring shitake mushrooms, tempura mushrooms, and the blue prawns were favorites. Hamachi got mixed reviews. None of the main courses surprised us, but all were well done. Halibut was perfectly cooked, but a little bland. Chicken was also on the bland side. Duck was enjoyed by some, but not others. Green beans seemed to be everyone's favorite. We ended on a high note with excellent sweets: pumpkin beignets, bread pudding, and a cool and delicate panna cotta (still not as good as Zuppa, though.) The coffee served with french press service was outstanding - felt like I really was in France! We also chose on of the wines on their "train schedule board" which lists their wines that only have limited supply left. After we ordered the Launois champagne, it was removed from the board. I nice gimick.
Service: 92 Started off with a hitch, but a quick recovery and flawless for the rest of the evening. The hitch was no plates for our 1st course - we used our bread plates until the manager noticed their mistake. Our waiter was friendly and knowledgeable telling us about the founding of the restaurant and it's decor (inspired by the RN74 thorough way in France - with subtle references to the old train stations in France).
Atmosphere: 93 Very chic style. Creative lighting, music was on the loud side but we were still able to converse with ease. The baby's liked all the noise and both slept like, well, babies!
See you in November!
Saturday, October 03, 2009
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