Restaurant Review: 1789

I'm not sure why I'd never been to 1789... I guess I tend to be more into "New Food" rather than being a meat-n-potatoes kind of guy (probably why I prefer Charlie Palmers over Mortons, etc).
1789 does all those little service things that make you go, wow everyone else really sucks. The manager met us at the door, and when I told him my name he didn't have to go to the computer for the reservation, he knew right where we were sitting and our waiter came to walk us to the table. Everyone's courses were presented simulatneously. Chairs were pulled out and napkins refolded. And aside from all that, our waiter was just really really good at what he does.

The amuse was a cucumber sorbet with watermelon sauce and tiny lime peel on top. Not going to lie, I didn't hear him say cucumber which is one of my least favorite foods no the face of the planet, but it was pretty refreshing.

Next I had the sweetbreads (I freaking love sweetbreads). They came on top of creamed corn and a bit of a beefy clear sauce. Kind of an odd dish for August, but the corn was cool and it was actually not too heavy. There were two orders of really good looking tuna sashimi at the table, and a creamy steak tartar. The flavor was really good on the tartar, but I tend to prefer mine chopped a little more finely. (just cuts down on the in-your-faceness that you are, in fact, eating raw beef).

After the apps, we had a pasta course with an al dente pasta topped with roasted peppers, olives, and parmesan cheese. The cheese was pretty freaking good.

And then the lamb. Oh freaking lord that was good. I mean, it was just lamb, but they like, rubbed crack on the outside. It was served with a bacon-y cabbage saurkarut type of concoction and perogies w/ creme freche. Yeah, it was good.

Then we moved onto the cheese course... I'm a HUGE bleu cheese snob having grown up near Maytag which is one of the better and bigger purveyors in the country, but this stuff on the plate last night had a mild smokey flavor and may actually beat the maytag.

I ordered poorly at dessert. There is only so much you can do with a berry shortcake. The real winner was the cheesecake, which tasted like the richest oatmeal cookie you've ever had. THere was also a mint/chocolate/berry sundae that was really good. It was garnished with a chocolate covered mint leaf that I thought was really clever.

All in all, definately a top 5 best meal ever member.