Ambria, Tribute to Spain

LTH,

Went to Ambria tonight to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Ambria? Ummm, Gary, didn't you say you'd never darken Ambria's door again after a poor experience 6-7 years ago? Yep, but hey, it's been a while and I heard from a friend who dined there recently the Tribute to Spain was quite good.

Maybe it's an Ambria feng shui negative vibe thing, where the 'space' and I are not compatible, but, while not a bad meal, Ambria's Tribute to Spain just didn't thrill me, nor did Ambria itself, service wise.

My main problem with Ambria is inconsistency, take the first course of 5 tapas selections. Right out of the box the olive tulle had a displeasing burnt flour taste, but the last tapas, fresh sardine with piquillo pepper, was terrific. This one course is an accurate reflection of our meal.

Peeky Toe Crab, terrific, Monkfish, mine rife with connective tissue, impossible to cut/chew/eat, Ellen's Monkfish, delightful. Squab, breast section, succulent, leg/thigh, tough, with an inexplicably inedible flap of gristly skin attached to the thigh.

Rack of lamb with artichoke and piquillo pepper pave with judion beans was quite good, nicely done, meaning rare, and perfectly matched with a 2001 Dominio de Berzal Rioja. The Pedro Ximenez Bodegas Toro Albala Montilla-Moriles paired with dessert was terrific. Incredibly viscous, raisin/prune, yet not overly sweet. Though I would have preferred the Montilla with cheese as opposed to sweet.

Far as overall service, I am tempted to get really picky, suffice to say some of the staff are consummate professionals worthy of a top tier Chicago restaurant, others, more suited to middle market Wichita.

Ok, one more quibble, what the hell is up with having to walk across the Belden Stratford Hotel lobby, fight your way though Mon Ami Gabi's bar only to find yourself in an, eh-hem, well used bathroom. And, to make matters worse, we were seated next to the whiniest Son-Of-a-Bitch I have encountered in 15-years.

This S.O.B., who was about 35, did not stop complaining how no one understood and/or appreciated him to his poor beleaguered parents for 2 solid hours. Fortunately Ambria uses lightly serrated round tip knives, instead of sharp tipped Laguiole steak knives, or I would have stabbed the S.O.B.

Of my recent top tier Chicago dining experiences, Everest and Avenues, Ambria is not in the same league and, in fact, takes a back seat to restaurants with less lofty aspirations such as Blackbird. It's going to be more than 6-7 years until I cross Ambria's doorway.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Far as overall service, I am tempted to get really picky, suffice to say some of the staff are consummate professionals worthy of a top tier Chicago restaurant, others, more suited to middle market Wichita.

Please justify this unprovoked assault on all Kansans (including our Major Domo) and all those who, like me, have never been there but who have found lasting enterainment in the Wizard of Oz (except for those flying monkeys, which still bother me).

David "When in Wichita, Check out the Vortex" Hammond

Well, I don't remember if the service reminded me of home ("Here's your amuse-bouche, hon") but I will say that the last time I went there, with my wife's parents, visiting from Wichita, we saw something that definitely said we weren't in Kansas any more: the guy next to us was dining with a MUCH younger lady, dressed in a decidedly revealing electric green shimmery polyester dress, which hardly seemed to cover her (quite large) bosoms at all (in fact, she seemed to have a problem with them almost wanting to jump out).

Imagine that fellow, letting his daughter dress like that! She could catch cold!

(As far as shocking the wife's 'rents goes, right up there with the time she stuffed a package to them with the classified section of the Reader out of the recycling bin and they found their gift surrounded by half-nude guys offering their stuffed packages at 1-900-RIDE-MY-STALLION.)

Yeah, it's been a long time since I've been back to Ambria, and likely to stay that way; the scene has passed it by and others are more impressive, even if I did like the Viennese-ish room.

G Wiv wrote:Far as overall service, I am tempted to get really picky, suffice to say some of the staff are consummate professionals worthy of a top tier Chicago restaurant, others, more suited to middle market Wichita.

So, Gary, I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. You don't have to get picky...but if the food had been perfect, would you give the service another chance? Sometimes poor service is surface--your server is brand new, or your server just broke up with his girl/boy friend. And sometimes bad service is rooted in the core of a restaurant. The former being forgiveable, the latter being unacceptable.

Do you get a sense of which scenario you experienced?

-trixie