Put me in the column of reviewers that say this is a highly overated restaurant that does not deserve its 'Five Star' Zagat rating. We were a party of two and we had booked our reservation a month in advance. The service was horrible. A party of sixteen booked a reservation one hour before being seated and our waiter, who happened to be the Wait Captain, was incapacitated when this party of sixteen was seated in our section. He was serving twenty people single-handed. We were having the nine course chef's wine pairing with a fixed price of $300.00 plus tax each. It was a dinning nightmare. The wines were served from 'Splits' and the waiter was so harried that he would open the wine and pour them immediately; as a result, the wines were so tight that over half of them never opened-up and were either tooth-ache sweet or just this side of turpentine. Certainly not worth the $600.00 we paid for an advertised Five Star ""Wine Pairings"" experience. The restaurant manager and the waiter kept apologizing citing the economy as the reason for the poor service, ironically not enough customers, and offering to give us "" the experience we should have gotten on our next visit"". Fat chance that is ever going to happen. The restaurant was as noisey as an internet cafe and had the ambiance of one, with all the I-Phone and Blackberry's going off. The service was so bad that the plates could not be handled when served due to the long wait on the keep-warm shelf. Kent Rathbun promises a five star backyard barbeque experience, and, on that promise he delivered: After the first three fish courses which were delightful, everything tasted like pasty grits and liquid smoke. On the plus side, the presentations were beautiful when they arrived. Most often the nine courses were served by impersonal kitchen help. My suggestion is that if you are one who has to find out for themself, as I am, go lightly and stick to a menu selection and select your own wine from their wine list.
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