Had dinner her last night and it was a decent experience. We went a la carte rather than tasting menu as most of the interesting options seemed to be on that side. Our captain was friendly but somewhat hesitant during certain parts of service. Almost felt like the front of house is still deciding on what level of service they are working on delivering for this restaurant concept. Since our reservation was at 6:30 we almost had her undivided attention at the beginning but towards the end when we needed the check she was more or less slammed with two additional tables seated simultaneoulsy that needed incessant attention. Silverare changes, refills and clearings were done so they weren't noticed at all so I take that to mean that it was done perfectly but I'm not a front of house expert. Our captain arrived with each course to explain the dishes. The room itself has a few nooks that are off the main "see and be seen" middle area and it was very entertaining to see some guests begin to freak out if they weren' sitting in that main area. One couple put up enough a fuss that they were being lead to a side nook that they were given the middle table of the restaurant that was obviously meant to be a four top. Amuse consisted of 4 tiny puff pastries filled with a ricotta like cheese ( I forgot the name). Nothing revolutionary but a fine way to start the meal. Bread service brought mini baguettes, olive bread and sourdough. I believe they mentioned that the dough is shipped frozen from Paris. The mini baguette was dynamite. Excellent crust and a yeasty interior. Butter was whipped to an airy consistancy and I think was flecked with chunks of olive. I started with the Sweetbread "Meunière", Egg Purse wild mushrooms, toasted brioche. The sweetbreads were perfectly cooked with a terrific crunch followed by the soft goodness underneath and the poached egg on top took it to a level of richness that I thought was out of this world. Vegetables were cut to diamond like precision and the sauce poured tablside took this dish to another level. The toasted brioche sticks sopped up any remaning sauce leaving an totally clean plate. My companion started with Tender Ricotta Gnocchi lettuce, prosciutto, xérès vinegar. To me they seemed more like perfectly quenelled gnudo rather than gnocchi. If I'm not mistaken our captian mentioned that there was no potato used in the preparation. They were tasty and well seasoned but also very conventional. The one truly inspired part of this dish is that the lettuce was either blanced or cooked to a point that it tasted like the essence of lettuce. Never has its taste been more pronounced or delicious to me. It was like having lettuce straight from the garden for the first time in my life. If would almost say you could tast the chlorophyl! My main dish was the Beef Tenderloin, Braised Ribs contrast of carrots, "jus de cuisson". Unfortunately the tenderloin was so generic to me that it almost felt like convention food. It had been requested rare to medium rare and came out closer to medium which I wasn't particularly distressed about but the flavor just wasn't there...and it was dry. The braised ribs on the other hand were sheer perfection. All of the food porn in the world that shows perfectly carmelized and glazed beef doesn't live up to the image of that meat on a white plate at Adour. Complex in flavor it was a perfect mix of salty, crunchy sweetness and fat. Sauce was poured tableside and was everything it needed to be. The perfect thicknness, rich and velvety. The vegetabe accompaniment while miniscule almost upstaged the meat. two or three pieces of potato were once again the essence of that vegetable. Soft to the point that it almost didn't require chewing but not at all mealy or mushy. It's been said you haven't truly eaten until you've tasted perfect potatoes and I finally think I know what this means. The carrots were great too. See the lettuce and potato description. There is some serious vegetable cooking currently going on at Adour. My companion had Adour Lobster Thermidor swiss chard fondant, armagnac. It's served out of the shell and for someone who rarely eats lobster my companion found it to be quite good but it's definitely not something she would order again or switch her over to a crustacean lover. The bite I was offered revealed some perfectly cooked lobster in a luxurious sauce that almost tasted of the ocean...in a good way. For dessert I had the cheese plate and thought the selections were terrific. By the time it was delivered our captain was a bit rushed due to the new seatings and all the drama ensuing when individuals didn't want to sit in the area. My companion had the apple souffle and I can assume it was out of this world as I wasn't even offered a bite! We had an excellent bottle of 1999 Neuf Du-Pape for $90. I am the furthest thing in the world from a wine expert but I found the list to be well set up as far as navigation and the prices were reasonable for a restaurant of this calibre. A very long selection of by the glass and half bottle too. I found that Adour is serving perfectly prepared food with simple yet very precise presentation. Sauces and vegetable preparation were the standouts. Nothing new or revolutionary is coming out of the kitchen but I also don't think that was the intention of this concept. Can't say I would return for a second visit for dinner but I would love to have some glasses at the bar and try their bar menu. Seeing as the bar and "lounge" is so small that might prove to be difficult.
