One of the WORST meals I have ever had -- anywhere, and at any price.
I am, admittedly, a food snob. We all know that Tucson is not a center of Modern American cuisine. But even so, Feast is a GIANT culinary famine.
1. Service
A bit slow and disinterested. Our server only mentioned 1 of 2 specials. Used cutlery was not replaced until we asked.
2. Atmosphere
Typical contemporary design -- VERY noisy.
3. The Food
I can forgive front-of-the-house lapses, if the food is good. Unfortunately, the kitchen at Feast is a disaster. I agree with sandy13 about the menu.
No bread is offered at Feast - a foolish economy, when it keeps people happy while they wait for their food.
(a) Appetizer
""Spice-brined confit of pork belly, served over roasted turnips and chard with a molasses-stout glaze and crispy leeks"". Portion size was correct, but that's all. Pork belly, when properly prepared, is a sumptuous, silky, melt-in-your-mouth experience. While allegedly a ""confit"" (meat slowly braised in the animal's own fat), the pork had a fried taste and texture. The meaty part was dry (hard to believe given the fatty cut!). The glaze was thin and bland, the turnips were ok , and the crispy leeks were MIA. The chard was literally inedible. I tried, but had to spit it out.
(Every skilled cook knows that chard, a mature green, needs minimum 30 min. of cooking. The longer cooking enables the tough fibers of the leaves to be broken down by heat, rendering the leaves tender enough to be eaten.)
(b) Main Dishes
(i)""Porchetta ~ roast pork shoulder, spiced with mace and oranges and served with a beurre rouge and a warm salad of sunchokes, pancetta and Brussels sprouts tossed with whole grain mustard.""
How is it possible to cook a pork roast, COMPLETELY surrounded by a one-inch strip of fat, and end up with a meat that is dry?!? I was stymied. The tiny amount of ""beurre rouge"" was watery, and had a slightly bitter flavor, as though the chef had used orange peel with the white pith still attached. The sunchokes/sprouts were BITTER to the point of being inedible, not helped by their drowning in what appeared to be plain whole grain mustard. I left it, virtually untouched, on my plate.
(ii) 2-piece Fried Chicken Special (with request for dark meat only)
My companion's chicken arrived with only 1 piece of chicken, some white/pinkish gravy, and a small leafy salad. A few minutes later, a server brought out a second piece of chicken on a small otherwise naked plate -- no apology.
The chicken was not greasy (fried at correct temp.), the gravy was fairly tasty, and the salad was unremarkable. The chicken breading was slightly overcooked, and more importantly, 1 of the 2 pieces of chicken was mostly chicken back, with a small bit of thigh meat. MR. LEVY, PLEASE READ THIS: there is only ONE use for a chicken back in a professional kitchen, and that is to make stock. Never, never try to serve this bony mess to anyone, even if you try to cloak it in a breading. Unbelievable.
4. Conclusion
Spend your hard-earned dollars elsewhere. Support local chefs who are professional and competent. How this place is still in business is a mystery to me -- and the place was PACKED on a Wednesday night.
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