Part Three (Restaurant Review)

            The experience of fine dining has always created conflicting emotions in me.  As I got older and my tastes matured, I developed an appreciation for elegant, expensive, gourmet food.  I cherished the few times my family and I would eat out at “nice” restaurants, where I could indulge in new tastes and smells and observe food presented to me as art.  But with this type of eating comes a whole new etiquette, which can, at times, make me a little uncomfortable.  I am expected to act, dress, and eat a certain way.  I must develop a persona much more rigid than my own.  Although it’s quaint having my chair pulled out for me, I find it weird when someone puts a napkin in my lap for me.  I never know how many times I should thank a waiter for their diligent, almost obsessive water refilling before I sound repetitive.  And I feel like a slob when a server feels the need to come around with a special tool to scrape away my breadcrumbs from the tablecloth.

            When I read the description of Graham Elliot, I figured I was in for a different kind of experience.  I imagined lots of activity around the bar, and young people and loud music.  When Graham Elliot said he wanted to “redefine fine dining” my first impression was simply that he was going to combine the atmosphere of a hip hang out for the upper class with tasty food.  This had made me just a little uneasy.  I knew what to expect at other high-end restaurants.  I had the protocol down.  But if this was “redefined” fine dining, than what was different?  How much had the protocol changed and how should I act accordingly? 

            When I walked up the stairs to the dining room of Graham Elliot, the first thing I noticed was the man standing by the glass doors, at the ready to hold them open for guests.  Two young women in small black dresses greeted us and escorted my family and I to our table.  The dim lighting and relaxed ambience of the whole place was not what I had expected, nor the simple decorations and tasteful setting.  I had expected the new wave music that played in the background, though its volume fit in just above the murmur of an eclectic mix of restaurant patrons.  To my left, an elderly couple and a young couple dined together, while two women in their thirties sat at a table behind them.  To their right sat two couples in their forties and behind them was a family of three (their daughter about my age).  Then there was my table, my father with his two children, both in their twenties.

            The waiters were just as the website described them.  They wore dark jeans and blazers; they “did away with tuxedoed servers.”  And yet despite the less formal dress, my waiter was as cordial and attentive as any I’ve had at other restaurants.  He was friendly but professional.  Behind him was a company of table servers, dressed in black, who made little eye contact and almost never spoke.  They cleared plates and filled water glasses; they moved like a silently in and out, drawing as little attention to themselves as possible.  Everything was so efficient.  It still felt like fine dining, and yet I was relaxed and simply enjoyed myself.  Bowles perfectly created the atmosphere he set out to make.  

            I had never eaten a multiple-course meal before.  It was exciting and extravagant (and made me feel pretty spoiled).  I was thrilled by every part of the experience; impressed by the way each dish was artfully presented, and always excited for the next round.  Chef Bowles took familiar dishes like the Caesar salad and chicken noodle soup and made it his own.  The salad was broken down into its basic elements, and then stacked back together in a completely different way.  Normally a chicken noodle soup consists of chicken and noodles floating in a broth.  Bowles had just one noodle wrapped around a single piece of chicken and then added a carrot marshmallow to create a surprisingly sweet flavor in his thick, salty, gravy-like broth.  He took food I had expectations of and presented them in an unusual and unexpected way.  It made every aspect of my meal a new and enlightening experience.