Gitano on Madison

[Fish]

What's the scoop ? I've driven/ridden by a few times and it looks good from the outside. Is the food any good ? The user reviews on Citysearch aren't promising, but you never know with Citysearch.

- S

[ScorchedPalate]

This is recycled from February, where I spent five days eating nothing but Mexican (and Latin American) food in honor of my birthday. Someday I'll actually get my website working again and get all these reviews posted.

~Anita

(edited to clarify my rating scales)

------------------------

Gitano: 0.5 stars (out of 4)

2805 E. Madison (Madison Valley); 206/709-8324.

What it is: A fancy pan-Latin restaurant.

Gringo factor: 8 (out of 10)

What made us try it: Nancy Leson (Seattle Times) gave this place 3 stars, and Min Liao (The Stranger) called it “authentic and adventurous.” (I have to disagree with both of them.)

What we thought: We were seated promptly for our 8 P.M. Valentine’s Day reservation, and that was the last time anything good happened. (Well, OK, the soup was pretty impressive, but the other courses... well, there I go getting ahead of myself.)

As we were seated, we were quickly presented with a basket of fried taro and yucca chips, which were properly salted but way too greasy. (I am a big fan of kettle-style chips, so it isn’t a general aversion to richness but rather to this specific form of sodden greasiness that indicated the frying temperature was too low.) The accompanying salsa was unforgivably bland.

The Valentine’s Day menu was a $45 prix-fixe affair, which included a flute of champagne, four courses (appetizer, soup, salad, entrée), and a chocolate-dipped strawberry for dessert. I have nothing against set menus, but I was chagrined that it hadn’t been mentioned -- either by the hostess who took my original reservation or the manager who called to confirm -- that this would be the only option.

The first course offered two choices: a ceviche of oysters, or roasted asparagus. We ordered one of each. The oysters turned out to be a single oyster in the shell, covered in what my husband termed “too much vegetation.” The roasted asparagus was drizzled with a super-garlicky aioli. I liked the sauce, but the spears themselves (about 8 in all) were woody and tough. Midway through this course, our long-overdue cocktails arrived: a banana colada (ruined by the addition of way too much lemon zest) and a pretty good mojito... but neither of which are what I want to drink with aioli or oysters! If they had come within, say, 15 minutes of our having ordered them, then I might have enjoyed them more.

Second course was a choice of the ensalada de la casa, or a smoked avocado salad. Again, we ordered one of each. My house salad had a few bits of roasted pineapple scattered about, along with crumbled bits of those same yucca chips (I’m glad they’ve found a use for the ones that don’t pass muster for the chip basket) but its base greens were the same boring mesclun served at midpriced restaurants everywhere. The dressing was forgettable. My husband was expecting a composed salad of smoked avocado and the other ingredients listed on the menu. Instead he got a plate of undressed green leaf lettuce (no trace of the promised avocado-oil vinegarette); a pallid, out-of-season, julienned plum tomato; and two thin slices of avocado that disappointed not only in quantity but in quality. The smokiness was nice, but the avocados themselves were bland, watery Fuertes (the smooth-skinned variety), rather than the rich creamy alligator-skinned Haas type.

Third course was a soup (no choice): a small cup of cream of asparagus with chiles. There was no trace of asparagus taste, but we knew they were in there, courtesy of tough little bits of stalk that interfered with an otherwise delightful soup. The chiles (guajillos?) were snappy and smoky and fruity. Overall the soup needed more salt and a trip through the strainer. Garnishes of basil chiffonade and tomato concasse were almost non-existent; you wonder why they even bothered.

Main course offerings were trout, duck breast, a vegetarian option (pumpkin custard served inside some sort of root vegetable which escapes me), and bife del gaucho, a rib-eye served in what was billed as a typical Argentine style. The steak itself was good: tasty, well seasoned, and properly cooked. The presentation, however, was a riff on old-school Continental French: a Roquefort compound butter (tasty, but unnecessary given the type of steak), and a drizzle of Malbec reduction (bitter). The yucca ‘mashers’ were disgustingly pasty, and the vegetable accompaniment was a train wreck: tough, withered green beans and diced onions overdressed in an oil-and-vinegar mix reminiscent of three-bean salad... served ice cold from the fridge.

The meal ended with a pair of succulent long-stemmed strawberries, dipped in chocolate that had the merest hint of chile powder. Very nice. We were also very pleased with the $28 bottle of Malbec we ordered; it was one of many reasonably priced South American wines on the list.

Adding insult to injury, the service was a joke. Our waiter apparently trained at the Chevy Chase Academy. After greeting us, he explained the prix-fixe menu, volunteering that we were welcome to add another dessert off of the regular menu for an additional cost. Then he dashed off before asking if we wanted drinks. After we finally managed to place a cocktail order, it took more than 15 minutes for the drinks to arrive... we were well into our appetizers before they showed up. All through the meal, this same waiter slapped plates down on the table with a thud. He consistently set my husband’s food in front of me, and vice versa. He dropped the foil from the wine into my empty glass and then proceeded to pour wine into it and serve it to me as if nothing was wrong. (And yes, I know that he noticed because he cracked a joke about it being a good vintage for foil.) He brought two whole courses to us without any silverware, leaving us staring at our plates while our food cooled. He also knocked not one but two other patrons’ drinks into their laps.

Before dinner, we had asked to have our complimentary glasses of champagne along with our dessert rather than as aperitifs, which the waiter said was no problem. But then he dropped off the strawberries without the drinks. When we reminded him that we wanted to have the champagne that we’d mentioned earlier, he looked at us like we had three heads. When the bubbly eventually came it was lukewarm and served in white wine glasses. And as a parting shot, the waiter again pushed us to buy an extra dessert off the regular menu. Tacky.

Total bill: $145 (including two cocktails, a $28 bottle of wine, and a generous $5 tip).

Would we return? Maybe if they apologized profusely and swore it was an off night. It’s hard to reconcile the tremendous hype this place has somehow garnered with the terrible reality.

Edited September 2, 2003 by ScorchedPalate (log)

[Fish]

Guess I won't be eating there, then ! Sounds pretty horrible.

OTOH, I make a point of never, ever eating out on Valentines Day. It's much nicer to have a nice romatic dinner at home and avoid the madness of restaurants.

- S

[ScorchedPalate]

OTOH, I make a point of never, ever eating out on Valentines Day. It's much nicer to have a nice romatic dinner at home and avoid the madness of restaurants.

Yeah, I agree. The only reason we ate out was because of the "all-Mexican, all the time" theme of the weekend. The underlying idea behind it was to get out and try all of the places that people recommended when we whined about Seattle's terrible mexican food predicament.

~Anita

[richards1052]

Regarding your review of Gitano's: we ate there once & to tell you truth I can't remember much about it. Obviously, unmemorable. Jimmy's Table was quite a bit better, though it too wasn't perfect.

But I would make one caution: I never make a final decision about a restaurant's quality based on a holiday (Valentine's Day) meal. Those are actually the worst times to go to a restaurant if you're going for a pure culinary experience. Too much stress & pressure on the chef and wait staff. They often have to prepare 3, 4 or 5 times their ordinary number of meals on these nights. I've had some of the worst meals at some of the best restaurants on Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, etc.

I'm sure there are a few restaurants that might be exceptions to my rule. But I've found the rule to be quite accurate most of the time.

[ScorchedPalate]

But I would make one caution: I never make a final decision about a restaurant's quality based on a holiday (Valentine's Day) meal. Those are actually the worst times to go to a restaurant if you're going for a pure culinary experience.

Agreed. If you scroll up, you'll see that (back in September) I said that I knew I wasn't giving them a totally fair deal, reviewing them on a holiday. But the results were so terrible that I couldn't imagine a complete turnaround. We weren't just talking about a few little foibles; it was a disaster from start to finish.

I don't think that I am alone in my disdain for the place. As I mentioned on the Harvest Vine thread this morning:

{Gitano} is hurting big-time.... there were 6 people in the bar, all apparently waiting for tables at HV, and 2 tables full in the dining room, at 7:30).

And the cocktails last night were pretty terrible (not that I judge a kitchen on the strngth of its bartender, but I do expect competence).

If they manage to make it to the end of the year without going under, we will give them another shot, as they will be the second-closest restaurant to our new house.

~Anita

[richards1052]

we whined about Seattle's terrible mexican food predicament.

~Anita

So true! I came here from LA where there's so much great Mexican food you'd have to eat at a different one every night for 2 years before you exhausted all the good ones (a bit of an exagerration perhaps!). I miss it terribly!

[richards1052]

If you scroll up, you'll see that (back in September) I said that I knew I wasn't giving them a totally fair deal, reviewing them on a holiday. But the results were so terrible that I couldn't imagine a complete turnaround. We weren't just talking about a few little foibles; it was a disaster from start to finish.

I don't think that I am alone in my disdain for the place. And the cocktails last night were pretty terrible (not that I judge a kitchen on the strngth of its bartender, but I do expect competence).

~Anita

I wasn't saying your review was wrong nor that you needed to justify it. I completely agree with your take on Gitano's (well, perhaps I'd rate it a tiny notch or 2 higher, but that's not enough to redeem it or make it worth trying again). I merely wanted to make that pt. about judging restaurants on 'normal' days rather than holidays. I've learned this lesson through horrible experience (as you have too I'm gathering).

[ScorchedPalate]

I came here from LA where there's so much great Mexican food you'd have to eat at a different one every night for 2 years before you exhausted all the good ones (a bit of an exagerration perhaps!). I miss it terribly!

I, too, am a former Angeleno; I lived in So Cal from grade school through college, before I moved to San Fran. I miss L.A. "plate food" of the restaurantes mexicanos even more than I miss SF taqueria burritos, and that is saying quite a bit.

Maybe I should give up producing my Seattle Mexican review site (since I didn't find time in the last 9 months to work on it) and instead just start a thread here. I know that this is a subject that's come up before, though, so I am weary of beating a dead horse. Still, I probably have a dozen unpublished reviews languishing...

What do you think?

~A

[thelastsupper]

Yes, share the wealth, please!

[richards1052]

I, too, am a former Angeleno; I lived in So Cal from grade school through college, before I moved to San Fran. I miss L.A. "plate food" of the restaurantes mexicanos even more than I miss SF taqueria burritos, and that is saying quite a bit.

Maybe I should give up producing my Seattle Mexican review site (since I didn't find time in the last 9 months to work on it) and instead just start a thread here. I know that this is a subject that's come up before, though, so I am weary of beating a dead horse. Still, I probably have a dozen unpublished reviews languishing...

What do you think?

~A

I think your reviews would be read by a large audience here. So I'd publish them here.

But what I'd really like to do is to encourage, inspire some local entrepreneur/restauranteur type to open a regional Mexcian restaurant that would be as good as say Harvest Vine.

BTW, for a little neighborhood takeout dive I liked Villa Victoria. I didn't say it was great, but I liked it. Anyone know if/when/where she'll resume operation?

[tsquare]

BTW, for a little neighborhood takeout dive I liked Villa Victoria. I didn't say it was great, but I liked it. Anyone know if/when/where she'll resume operation?

She has plans to resume in the same neighborhood. They are on hold due to some personal matters. Think good thoughts.