What are the initial thoughts on César?
I went last week and while the food was good to excellent (a few excellent, a few good but nothing “all time great”) it’s clear they have a lot of kinks to iron out.
I initially booked at 8:15 (table, counter was booked). I put in the notes that I’d take a counter if they had an opening, as I like to see the action . I got a call a week before my reservation offering a table at 6:45 or counter at 5:00 — I declined and said I’d keep the 8:15 given my schedule. The guy said that 8:15 was no longer an option that they were consolidating to one seating in the early weeks. However when we got there at 6:45 only one couple was seated at the counter, and it didn’t fill the entire night.
The service was … odd? I saw several dishes served while people were in the restroom and some stacking of dishes, either where two came out at the same time, or a second was served before the first was complete. It wasn’t consistent, my table didn’t have that, but several around us did.
One of the chefs served one course and apologized profusely for there being no silverware on the table and told a waiter to grab some. The waiter came over with the silverware and said here is the silverware you asked for … but we hadn’t (it looked to me like a finger food course, and no other tables had silverware). The waiter seemed very confused the chef would have asked for silverware.
The staff was polite and attentive (I must have gotten 10 birthday wishes) but a little disjointed.
Overall it just felt like the staff hadn’t gelled at all. There’s definitely potential but if he gets more than one star this year it will be on reputation.
Lastly — no menu??
What have others experienced?
by jm44768
10 Comments
Looks delicious but the fish on the plate on the 4th picture is to small for its fish.
When I went to CTBF when Cesar was there, service was already a hot mess lol. I don’t think it has anything to do with them being new…
I’ve been to CT@BF maybe 12-13 times and loved it every time. Never had a problem with service. Heading to Cesar (counter) next weekend. Hoping for the best.
Thanks for the review!
Was there Tuesday and I agree with your take. Service felt as though every team member was hired that morning. Somm was the most polished, but chaotic overall. Some plates with 0 intros, both my wife and myself were wished “happy birthday”, no menu either. Wine list does have some well priced items which I was shocked to see.
Going to start cooking there in a few weeks. Will let you know if things get ironed out
Have u been to the old CTBF? It looks relatively similar, did it taste the same?
Last dessert looks like weed gummies
hmm, I am anticipating a youtube video from someone dining here. The frozen souffle looks subpar compared to CTBF. most of the otherstuff looks good, wolfe ranch quail specifically
Interesting, I ate there on the second Tuesday they were open and must have gotten lucky, because the service was fine. Our table immediately had a good rapport with our main server because we bonded over having the same unique watch, and had reasonably good service the whole night. He actually seemed familiar to us, but I forgot to ask where he’d worked previously. Our somm, Dylan I think, was excellent, and had some good choices for the pairing. He did say he had come from Saison to work here.
There were three early bites plus the uni brioche and the souffle that were carryovers from CT@BF. Standouts for me were an extra amazing nigiri-like bite that magically had layers and layers of flavor as you chewed, plus a textbook-perfect simple fish tempura with a mustard sauce. The larger dishes were surprisingly straightforward: a textures of tomato salad with burrata; fish in beurre blanc; and the quail. And we did get a menu at the end, but alas, no list of the wines.
Maybe relevant, but we sat two tables over from two relatively known restaurateurs, so maybe our section was getting a little better attention.
These dishes look like they are differentiating themselves from CTBF. The last Cesar post looked very very close and I like this direction.