Anyone who has been to the Mission district of San Francisco will think they have just walked in to Flour+Water but only you're in Atlanta. Everything here looks and feels eerily like it, but only bigger. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, especially, the menu... The pasta and 'ZA section is even titled "Flour & Water" for crying out loud. Ballsy, dude. Some pasta dishes that garnered acclaim at a NYC resto or two even made it on here. Holy moly, Michael White! Don't get me wrong, I like the look of the place. The space was built out handsomely unlike that previous Asian fusion dumpola. The place looks lovely and all that shit but I still can't get past the whole identity borrowing. Now, only if they could duplicate the taste. Speaking of which...
(Fried padron peppers, lemon, sea salt)Deep frying these peppers naked is a bust... It turned it into tasteless baby food. On closer inspection they kinda look like an 60 year old man's ball sack... All shriveled up and wrinkly, dripping with funky liquid down it's legs. When you bite into them there's no pop... Just mushy, bland and oily. They should just roast them in the wood fire oven. Duh.
(No. 246 meatball, san marzano, basil, parmesan)Ahhh, the 5 dolla meatball... Too bad it didn't make me holla. Not really my kinda ball of meat because it was a bit grainy, dry and lacked the classic meatball flava like how an Italian grandma makes them. The watery San Marzano sauce looked like the drippings from the bottom of the can they came in. In the beginning it was just a ball on a plate, but at least now, they've dressed it up to justify the $5 price tag for 20 cents worth of meatdust. Been there, done that. Never again.
(House-made ricotta, preserved wild mushrooms, parsley, lemonpork rillette, grain mustard, parsley
wood oven roasted eggplant, chilies, mint)
The wooden shingle boat-like thinger that it came on was softer than the bread itself. Everyone's gums were bleeding after one bite. Shit, we're not that old for our gums to bleed eating bread... Yet. It even chipped the knife I tried to cut it with. These little tasting jars were ok, nothing crave-worthy about it that you'll want to rush back here for. The 2 slices of B&B pickles were really chintzy... Yup, I said 2 slices, 1 normal size, the other fit for a chipmunk. The rock hard bread basically ruined it, lightly toasted fresh bread is cooking 101. I took a piece home... Needed a door stop. Shhh.
(Margherita- san marzano, mozzarella, basil)Yeah, boooyyeee!!! Until I tasted it... Zero char on the bottom, barely around the cornicione, the mozza looked really thin and watery, almost to the point it had the consistency of melted store bought thin sliced mozza from a ziplock bag. The sauce... I don't remember, it was that thrilling. The crust was dusty, crackily and dry with a few raw looking spots as if they didn't rotate it in the oven nor lifted it up to the dome. For a wood oven 'ZA, it needed a lot more work. That's too bad, I had hoped for better from these experienced cooks with their pedigree background.
(Close up of da lil Queen)It's better than Papa John's, I'll give them that.
(Trofie- chicken liver, pork, and beef bolognese, parmesan, parsley)Was there anything to look forward to after that dismal display of apps and 'ZA? Help me, Obiwan, you're my only hope... And the answer was YES! This pasta dish was pretty decent and redeemed itself. Pasta was cooked spot on. The meaty offal sugo (not really a bolognese) had good flava. The cheese was ricotta instead of parmesan as the menu stated... But it was all good. Nice little dish.
(Agnolotti- butternut squash, mascarpone, local mushrooms, browned butter, shaved hazelnuts)Based on all the media hype, people were jerking off all over each other's back about this dish... I think some of it got on the plate. The pasta was cooked properly, the filling was fine, the shrooms were nice and woody, but there was sometime not right with the brown butter sauce... It was acidic and way over salted. Mebbe a few more trips to NYC are in order to get this dish right. Just sayin'... Don't believe the hype, you'll just be left disappointed. Next.
(Pork sausage rope- wood oven roasted, cherry mostarda, arugula)Don't even get me fucking started with this visual... Eh, fuck it, you know I'll go there anyways. I swear, I saw this thing on the grass this morning when I was walking my dog. How do you not bust a gut or fart uncontrollably when this thing comes to your table. Seriously, did this come from a gag store? Anyhoo, it was similar to the meatball... Dry, grainy and lacking any fatty flavor you expect from a sausage. It was like eating sawdust. You pierce the casing and it all falls out like sand. Are they actually tasting the food during menu development? Pretty disappointing.
(Roasted beets, tarragon, sea salt)Nice little side dish and well executed... C'mon, it's beets after all, not pizza Napoletana .
(Wood oven roasted cauliflower, sultanas, parsley, capers)Cauliflower itself has no taste, roasting them helps but not by much. Adding a little duck or pork fat woulda made a helluva difference (screw the vegheads). Shit, even a splash of the overplayed truffle oil woulda done the trick. Or even a squeeze of lemon.
This place has all the right elements to make it a success (not that it isn't already with the steady stream of people coming in) but sometimes hype does a disservice to a place making it better than it is. When it is full, the sound level is almost unbearable as most people have complained and those giant metal lamp shades throughout the dining room does nothing to help dampen the decibels either... They're kinda useless like the Cone of Silence. The service was attentive and unintrusive. Overall, it needs a little work across the board, especially, the food execution. You might be able to get away with copying other restaurants far away from this city but you better be able to execute it flawlessly or else you'll be called out on it.
Maybe in a few months they'll get it right and be original.
2 Stars.
129 E Ponce De Leon Ave
Decatur, GA 30030
678-399-8246
http://www.no246.com/
2 comments:
I said the same thing with I went. The foundation is there, execution totally lacking. I went back for a second trip and had the Trofie, which was very good - especially after the bartender gave me some chili-infused olive oil for it.
Maybe in a few months they'll have worked out the kinks. Positive side: the wine list is good and the service is solid.
Glad someone had a similar experience. Maybe in a few months, they will develop an original menu on their own and executed properly. Get rid of the pizza like they had planned in the beginning because it is not good. Italian inspired cuisine needs to be simple but with fresh flavors. Back to basics.
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