We had lunch with a few friends here, our second time in this restaurant.
The exterior can easily be described as charming, being a very
nicely restored old home. The gardens, walkway and entrance are very well kept and inviting. This feel is continued inside in a spacious reception area and the theme of a early 20th century home is well done. Nice, soft background music, a collection of small dining rooms, and smart choices of materials all keep the noise level pleasant. Finishes and furniture don't bear a lot of scrutiny, as some are less than high quality, but there are high points that add a little "wow", like a few copper table tops and wood floors. One aspect of the restaurant that is very nice are (?) the restrooms. They are well decorated, tasteful and stocked with nice soap, towels and lotion, a nice touch right in line with the overall concept.
Our group can be a challenge for a server, and today ours was smart enough to not be too intrusive and take a good humored approach. On another occasion this discretion was not so well practiced. Service is informal, but competent, and needs are met with little drama, and don't require prompts from the guests.
The menu is well written, with very intriguing descriptions that always make it hard to choose. Today we were pleased to see we could order pizza, as last time we ate at Cedar Creek it was evening and we were informed that in order to maintain a high level of gourmandise, pizza was not allowed at dinner, unless ordered for carry out. But back to today. As usual, there were a couple of off menu specials.
We chose an asparagus/crab bisque, and a thin Italian sausage-black olive-red bell pepper pizza. Bread came right after placing our order, and the infused (or just cloudy, at any rate not very flavorful), olive oil was on the table so we started nibbling. Cedar Creek serves a nice little basket of pretty good baguette, and is happy to keep it coming for the table, something we really enjoy. I like a bit of salt and pepper in my olive oil, but the tiny "American Airlines first class" shakers were not inviting, being very much out of tune with any restaurant that fancies itself as a fine dining eatery.
The soups and salads for the table came quite quickly. The salads are very nice, with a nice mix, and good size. Our soup was a disappointment. It was a thick cream soup, and the asparagus completely overpowered the crab, a pity because there were big chunks of what seemed to be fresh crab meat. Also it was very much under seasoned, but a few shake of salt took care of that. I imagine in a community like Sequim low salt usage is appreciated.
After the first course, the waiting began. I missed the opportunity to check the clock, but an estimation is that it took more than 45 minutes for the 3 pizzas we ordered. Long enough that we were left wondering and uneasy. When the pizzas came out, ours was first, and it was on the dark side. The edges of the crust were dark, just short of a burned bitter flavor, but the middle underside was not too bad, a golden brown color. The cheese on top was quite dark, and had the bubbles and texture that comes from too long in the oven. We chose to eat it, not wanting to wait any longer, as the rest of the pizzas were coming and were cooked properly.
Our Italian sausage was links cut into pieces, and lacking the kind of spice and fennel I associate with this kind of sausage. I detected in one piece the flavor of red bell peppers, and the canned black olive slices were used generously. Our friends pizzas were pepperoni-roasted garlic. They were cooked just right, the cheese melted to the proper point, crust done just right and the pepperoni generously tucked under the cheese, so it couldn't crisp up. It is amazing how thin they can slice pepperoni nowadays.
Dessert was offered perfunctorily, but not sold well. A pity, because the listing the server gave us was very interesting!
Overall, this was a good pizza meal, but for a restaurant trying to maintain a fine dining atmosphere and pricing, it was a second disappointment. Even pizza can be done at a level that makes you take notice, as has been proven by more than a few other places. Fresh, flavorful Italian sausage, roasted red bell pepper puree, cured Italian olives would make this rather fine crust sing! At about $30 for a 13" pizza, a cup of soup and an iced tea, I am sorry to say this is another overpriced Sequim restaurant.
No comments:
Post a Comment