The Chef's Table, Winter Garden

On Tuesday I ate dinner in this exclusive area of what is now a two experience dining entity on Plant St. I made a reservation, but, it was unnecessary. There were seven others dining while I was there at 7pm. Even though they label the area as a "chef's table", there are actually two other "privy" rooms back there. The main room I was in seats fourteen. An annex seats around twelve. And they have a private "wine cellar" that seats around a dozen. The decor is a bit "rustic". It's in an old hotel. That can make it either charming or declasse depending on your disposition. I would suggest that they iron the table cloths. If you are going to do the scraping the crumbs with the metal implement thing then take two minutes and steam or iron the cloths. It's also not great that the "busing" station and the orders are posted back there. The place has been open for six years. A married couple with work experience from the higher end Disney restaurants opened it. They aren't involved in the day to day operation anymore and I got the sense that there is some tension on the direction the menu should take. It seems like the owners or maybe the head chef want a more traditional fine dining experience and the people who actual run the kitchen want to do what is au courant. I think the way they compromise is that they choose an old fashioned base component and let the sous chefs "experiment" with the accompaniments. I could be way off, but, some of the dishes seemed to lack a consistent voice and this is how I reconcile it. There were some strange combinations. I had the salmon tartare, rack of lamb and peach or apple and blueberry crumble. It's around $55 for the tasting menu. There were around three or four choices per course. They change the menu as things are made available. The salmon was recommended to be Copper River and very fresh. I found it bland. They added alot of fresh mango and cucumber to the mix. The mango thoroughly overwhelmed the salmon. They also plated it with a  mismatched remoulade sort of sauce and a wasabi sauce that worked better with the fish, but, did not help the "remoulade". I'd drop both sauces. If you have to get your creative juices pressed, then do some finger painting or clay modeling before you come to work. Leave the food alone. When I responded (to a direct question) that the salmon was "over (sea) salted", they sent over their "famous" mushroom crepe tort as an apology. This seems to be their oldest and most renowned dish and this is why I think the original menu was 70's style traditional. It was ok. The mushroom and brandy sauce lacked flavor. The crepes were ok (a tad thick, but, probably necessary in this preparation). They fill it with whatever mushrooms are in season. They say the reduce forty pounds of them. I think all they had that day were button. They didn't have alot of flavor. They cover the "pie" with Gruyere from Austria. The rack of lamb was perfectly cooked. There were probably five chops in two pieces. I think they were from New Zealand. They accompanied it with two (in my eyes) mismatched sides. It was as if they just wanted to use these things or this what you get when you handcuff your creativity to seasonality. Side one was some kind of non-olive tapenade. It was superfluous at best and reductive at worst. Side two was a similar (this made side one even more questionable) compote/ragout of Sea Island Red Peas (Beans) with sauteed red peppers and dates or figs. All you tasted was some bitterish bean mixture with a hard texture. I was going to continue to ramble on how this whole sustainable, seasonal, locovore movement is sometimes a bridle to chefs who aren't able "choose a lane" with their menus, but, I'll move on to the dessert. The crumble came with vanilla ice cream. I really just wanted the ice cream. The crumble was served in a small flat iron pan. The fruit was a little sourish from the heat. The wine list was a little underwhelming. Their hard liquor menu was better. The bread and butter was fresh. The service was excellent. Knowledgeable and presentable. They have opened up a small dish (actually mostly full dishes without sides) area up front that they call a tapas menu. That room seemed nicer to be honest. It was pretty empty. It must seat around sixty. They could tidy it up a little. I can't say that the experience rates as highly as I expected it to. It's not in the CF Top Twenty. I need more in terms of execution and menu synergy. That said, they really try and that means that my next experience could be totally overwhelming. They care about the quality of the ingredients and want to make you happy. I'd still give it a try if I was you. $55 (really $70+ after tax and tip) won't kill you and the experience is still a holistic aberration in Central Florida. What I mean by that is that is a unique experience in its entirety.