The wine list has tasty offerings, though the prices seem to start around triple their retail values, with little under $30 per bottle. When I started this job, restaurants charged double retail, and wine was a lot cheaper to begin with. I agree that wine is better now, but I’m not sure these markups are going back to the winemakers. Cafeteria compounds the error by serving reds in glasses that would be a little small even for white wines. That all said, our 2005 Delas Frères Côtes du Rhône ($32) was an outstanding example of its kind. The Delas brothers get a lot of dark cherry-berry fruit into their blend, and it lingers a little on the palate.
Desserts are mostly familiar, and again good without distinction. The exception was the apple crisp ($8), which wasn’t crisp but sweet and spicy, with terrific gingersnap ice cream stealing the platter. The sorbets ($8) were mango (actually tastes like mango), raspberry (always the strongest sorbet flavor), and lemon (so-so). You can choose all three, or one or two.
Warm chocolate cake ($9) didn’t taste sufficiently of chocolate. Lemon panna cotta ($8) didn’t taste sufficiently of lemon, but that was because it was too creamy. Some will not regard this as a fault, but I like a lighter panna cotta that is more obviously a gelatin dessert. Those can be unmolded and will hold their shape; this one was served in an ice-cream dish.
The room appears cozier than it is, because the seats are covered in cork-look vinyl, and the floor with cork-colored vinyl tiles. Real cork absorbs sound. Smooth cork-look surfaces, however, reflect sound, as do plate-glass windows, a faux-marble bar, mirrors, and the fronts of TV sets. Background techno music might help with ambience; on a quiet early-weeknight visit, it was hard to tell. One great improvement to this room (in a space where a lot of restaurants, including Café L’ananas and Saffron, have come and gone) is a functional set of draft curtains at the front door.
Service was excellent and quick. Our waiter was unfazed by a complex order, sea-bass questions, and the tricky design of the room. There’s nothing obviously wrong with the location, but it has killed a long succession of apparently attractive restaurants. Cafeteria is pitched a little differently than this room’s former inhabitants, appealing to shoppers at lunch and those seeking a bar-restaurant at dinner. That may be a better strategy, and a better way to approach the menu.
Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com.
