I'm a local chef/restuarateur who lives in the area and have been waiting for what seemed like an eternity for someone -- anyone, PLEASE!! -- to take over the space vacated by the hapless, hopeless and clueless ""Nina's Place"".\r
I visited during the first week of business (I know -- I should know better) and tried the steak bites and the hazelnut chicken satay. The steak bites were OK -- perfectly cooked medium-rare -- but the peppercorn sauce was seriously lacking in the key ingedient. The satay, bite-sized pieces of grilled chicken on a skewer with a sprinkling of ground hazelnuts, lacked any seasoning at all, as far as I could tell. So bland and uninspired that I only had a few bites. What I had envisioned, and what could have been wonderful, was a toasted filbert take on the traditional spicy Asian marinade/sauce with garlic and chiles. \r
I'll visit again soon, based on the positive reviews that I've read here, and hope that my initial experience can be chalked up to opening-week jitters.\r
Best of luck to all of you at Graze!\r
Very nice wine list, BTW. Interesting, well-chosen selections, decent prices, and top-notch stemware.
Pros: Inspired/inspiring wine list
Cons: Bland preparations
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