Ciello, Angela Hartnett in boca raton

[jj2244]

i went to dine at Cielo, in boca raton, florida. the restaurant has been open for a short while. Ms Hartnett had been at the restaurant the previous week.

what a disappointment.

first, although the service was attentive initially, toward the middle and especially the end of my meal, i was constantly looking for my server, having to ask senior serving staff to "find" him, or even requesting their personal attention to replace his. overall, however, the staff were competant. remarkably, one of the staff attended to his fly in the middle of service at another adjoining table.

the menu selections and their descriptions were mundane. the execution of the dishes, even more so. a roast rack of veal had a strange texture, as if it was previously frozen (although, even if that were not so, the meat had a peculiar texture. the taste was adequate, if bland). the veal sauce reduction tasted as if it was thickened and not carefully and slowly reduced. the accompanying "roasted" potatoes were greasy. desserts were remarkably mediocre.

endive and roasted pear salad was horrible! the endive was brown on the edges...spoiled, not wilted. the poached pear unripe and tasteless. this presentation should have been an embarassment for the restaurant. the dish was cleared virtually untouched. remarkably, neither our server or the kitchen staff questioned this!!

pumkin ravioli was extremely light, coated with a lovely butter/sage sauce.

tagliatelli bolognese was disappointing. the pasta was lovely but the sauce extremely bland.

those who may attend this restaurant with expectations, knowing of ms. hartnetts history with gordon ramsay and with the connaught, will be truly disappointed.

Edited March 26, 2007 by jj2244 (log)

[annecros]

My goodness!

I knew of the opening, but had not been there nor read a review.

[jesteinf]

That is interesting. We were just there on Saturday night and had a fabulous meal, probably one of the best I've had in Boca.

For my appetizer I had the Maine lobster spaghetti. The pasta and lobster were perfectly cooked and had a wonderful tomato sauce with just a hint of chili. For my main, I had the salmon served with a salad of endive, capers, and anchovy. The salmon was again cooked perfectly and was obviously extraordinarily fresh. For dessert I had a an excellent warm apple torte. Service was friendly and attentive.

We would definitely return.

[annecros]

That is interesting.  We were just there on Saturday night and had a fabulous meal, probably one of the best I've had in Boca.

For my appetizer I had the Maine lobster spaghetti.  The pasta and lobster were perfectly cooked and had a wonderful tomato sauce with just a hint of chili.  For my main, I had the salmon served with a salad of endive, capers, and anchovy.  The salmon was again cooked perfectly and was obviously extraordinarily fresh.  For dessert I had a an excellent warm apple torte.  Service was friendly and attentive.

We would definitely return.

←

Comforting. Will have to see for myself next time I visit Palm Beach county.