I had dinner at this new American restaurant on 2nd St this Friday. I had tried to do lunch when it first opened, but, I was misled by an employee. They hadn't opened for lunch yet. The waitress said they are open now. You can still sense some of that new venture confusion. They opened about six weeks ago. The first thing that I was told was that it was a "scratch" kitchen and that things are cooked to order. Translation - the kitchen doesn't have it's act together yet. Didn't matter to me. I wasn't in a rush or hungry. Surprisingly, my meal was unaffected. I had the pork rib eye for $22. It was a plump, bone in "chop" with a berry (forget which) compote, Boursin flavored mashed potatoes and broccoli rabe. I don't love fruit with my meat (I remember being confused when Peter Brady asked for pork chops and apple sauce), I prefer vegetables. They also may want to reconsider the less is more maxim. However, can you really get overly mad at generosity? The potatoes were very good. They seemed to reverse gears here. The Boursin wasn't very noticeable. I wasn't longing for it anyway, so, it didn't change my opinion of the execution. The rabe (the odd reason I ordered the dish) was fine. Plain. Maybe some oil. Side note - rabe and a hoppy IPA is a toxic combo. The plating was more aesthetic than utilitarian. They piled the chop on the potatoes. You needed to rearrange things to cut the meat. The menu was smallish. Four apps and five mains. The apps were a deviled egg thing, tuna tacos, and two I've already forgotten. The main were shrimp and grits, filet mignon, a pasta (I think) and another dish so blase that I've forgotten it a mere three days later. And that is my main criticism. It's just so "normal". There isn't a real draw. Now, I know that bodes well for any new establishment around here. Not many suffer as much from gastronomic (and the regular kind) ennui as I do. Not many grave distraction. A nice, normal place has a place in downtown Sanford. The real competition in this genre is Smiling Bison and they aren't open for lunch and their experimental ethos (maybe it isn't anymore - I haven't been there in a while) and menu choices may scare people. Perhaps this the way to go. The Honda Accord isn't the best selling car because it's cutting edge. And the room was full when I was there. Speaking of the room. There is a bar room on the right. It has seats at the counter, a communal table in the center and two or three four tops at the window. The room on the right had a bunch of four seaters on the left wall, two two seaters and a group table in the center and a few two or four seaters on the right wall. The decor is cute. Uncluttered. The color scheme is mostly light blue and white with black tossed in. They are emulating that shabby chic/ farmhouse chic style that all the gastro pubs and modern southern places love. Like I said, I wasn't blown away. I didn't see one thing on the menu (an ingredient, a flavoring, a technique) that I hadn't seen (many times) before. The shrimp in the shrimp and grits I saw a few tables eating seemed tiny. The menu would be small for lunch let alone dinner. The bar had craft beer, but, most places do now. Sanford, alone, has two (about to be three) breweries and a few beer-centric bars. The place looked nice and the service was excellent. But, there are few places I return to because of my desire to see (eat) it all. I don't think District made a strong enough impression to lure me back, but, it's good to know it's there the next time I come to try out a new restaurant in Sanford that Yelp and Google say is open but really isn't. An entree will run you anywhere from $16 to $28. It's a pretty fair value.
*FYI - La Sirena Gordita is closed and Celery City took over the spot. They are also going to refurb their old space one door down. The new brewery isn't open yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment