Big Week Bayona/ Lilette/ Cochon reports
Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:51 pm
We had friends in from out of town this week and we let them choose the restaurants and they hit two home runs, but unfortunately, one major strike-out.
Bayona was a hit. I have some issues with Susan Spicer's taste, but her touch is perfect. What I mean by that, are things like her Garlic Soup, which is really best described as a garlic infused roux, and her insistence on maintaining that awful-sounding duck jelly sandwich thing. One of our group had the Garlic Soup and liked it--nobody had the duck jelly samich, thankfully, but those are the issues of taste that I just don't get. Her touch with food is impeccable, though. Everything was done perfectly. It was just in her signature simple style. I did have the best sweetbreads I ever had--without any doubt--the best. Don't forget this place the next time you have a craving for sweetbreads. Her new pastry chef is awesome, too. The deserts were really exceptional. Excellent service. Good, boisterous Mardi Gras crowd.
Lilette was fabulouso. I love the variety and range of the menu--very ambitious. We probably shared six or seven appetizers between four of us, just because we they sounded irresistible. The only thing I didn't like on the menu were the oysters, flown in from the West Coast. I just prefer the local freshness, so we passed on those, but everything else we shared was over-the-top good. The entrees varied between seafood dishes and duck, nothing but good things to report. Deserts and wine all excellent. We didn't have a miss in the entire meal, from beginning to end. Great service, casual but prompt. This place is on my favorite few, for sho.
Cochon was a complete disappointment. We even left a bad tip, which we never do, unless the service stinks, which that service really did. Cochon is operating at a notch above Shoney's, right now. Truly, it was just plain atrocious. We had to constantly ask for everything, a glass, bread, water, ask for a dessert menu, then ask for coffee when the desserts arrived, because the waiter ran off for the dessert without inquiring about coffee...None of us could really believe a place like that could survive, much less prosper. If you've been stuck in Des Moines for a year, then Cochon might pass as OK, but if you have options, try someplace else, any place else.
Bayona was a hit. I have some issues with Susan Spicer's taste, but her touch is perfect. What I mean by that, are things like her Garlic Soup, which is really best described as a garlic infused roux, and her insistence on maintaining that awful-sounding duck jelly sandwich thing. One of our group had the Garlic Soup and liked it--nobody had the duck jelly samich, thankfully, but those are the issues of taste that I just don't get. Her touch with food is impeccable, though. Everything was done perfectly. It was just in her signature simple style. I did have the best sweetbreads I ever had--without any doubt--the best. Don't forget this place the next time you have a craving for sweetbreads. Her new pastry chef is awesome, too. The deserts were really exceptional. Excellent service. Good, boisterous Mardi Gras crowd.
Lilette was fabulouso. I love the variety and range of the menu--very ambitious. We probably shared six or seven appetizers between four of us, just because we they sounded irresistible. The only thing I didn't like on the menu were the oysters, flown in from the West Coast. I just prefer the local freshness, so we passed on those, but everything else we shared was over-the-top good. The entrees varied between seafood dishes and duck, nothing but good things to report. Deserts and wine all excellent. We didn't have a miss in the entire meal, from beginning to end. Great service, casual but prompt. This place is on my favorite few, for sho.
Cochon was a complete disappointment. We even left a bad tip, which we never do, unless the service stinks, which that service really did. Cochon is operating at a notch above Shoney's, right now. Truly, it was just plain atrocious. We had to constantly ask for everything, a glass, bread, water, ask for a dessert menu, then ask for coffee when the desserts arrived, because the waiter ran off for the dessert without inquiring about coffee...None of us could really believe a place like that could survive, much less prosper. If you've been stuck in Des Moines for a year, then Cochon might pass as OK, but if you have options, try someplace else, any place else.
