The byo is as small as when it was the restaurant Gayle except for a new coat of paint and a new decorative theme. There were a good numbers of drawings on the wall depicting tall ships and seafarer images. I guess that represents the “Fin” part of the restaurant name. Then there was the one and only drawing of a horse. “Hoof”?
The new restaurant’s grill-centric menu reflects the Argentinean background of both the chef-owner and the chef who runs the kitchen. It also has several “seviche” items plus house made pasta and risotto. That is if you could read the menu. For mood purposes, the lighting in the restaurant was intentionally turned down. It was so dim that our dinner friends had problem reading the small prints on the menu and had to bring out their pocket flash lights.
Raw thin slices of yellow tail submerged in lime vinaigrette with small pieces of jalapeno, herbs and avocado. The freshness of the hamachi was definitely evidence with the excellent taste of the meat. The chef had skillfully used this subtler version of a seviche sauce to bring out the quality of the fish without masking its freshness and sweet taste. I was surprised by the amount of sauce on the dish which seemed a bit excessive. I would have loved to soak it up with a piece of bread, except we were brought bread sticks at the table. No bread.
Tuna Pineapple Seviche
This was one of the off-menu specials for the night. We liked the tanginess of the pineapple base seviche sauce but it also was a bit too overwhelming to the otherwise non-exceptional quality and taste of the fish.
Stuffed with ricotta and ham, then topped with pomodoro, and a white sauce and walnut pesto. We never quite figured out where or what the white sauce was but the cannelloni was pillow soft with the pomodoro being very tasty without the sometimes over-kill taste of acidity in so many red sauces elsewhere.
This gnocchi was made with ricotta instead of potato. It was sautéed in truffle brown butter with sage and capers and topped with shaved grana padano. We liked the gnocchi being sautéed with burnt edges around it which added some texture to the interesting chewiness but it easily came apart when bitten. There was no hint of truffle whatsoever but I wasn’t expecting the real thing in this dish anyway even with the gnocchi swimming in the more than abundant pool of butter grease.
“How big is the 12oz (every protein on the menu was listed with weight)?” I asked the waiter. “It’s about the inside ring of the dinner plate,” came his reply. Well, I guess the darkness in this restaurant has affected his vision too. The steak arrived at our table with plenty of room to spare before touching the inside ring of the plate. It looked beautifully grilled with neatly seared diagonal grill marks and a nice sprinkling of red and green peppers flakes and chopped parsley. The meat was seasoned just right for my preference, not overly salted like most steak places in this city. Also unlike most steak places in the city, the meat was of the lesser quality; but keep in mind that the dish was only at $24.00, with two sides.
I can’t say the same about the 10oz bone-in short ribs. The two skinny grilled pieces on the plate had more bones than meat. They were also on the boring side. Maybe this was the dish that could have used a bit more seasoning to mask the lack of taste from the meat. At $17.00, we got about $10.00 worth of uninspiring protein.
Consistency is a good thing, or isn’t it. Two of the four of us ordered the Mahi Mahi. Two of the four had a fish that was over-seasoned and over-cooked. There was so much salt and black pepper on the fish that it appeared the kitchen was trying to do a Louisiana style blackening but this was neither the case nor the intention, and we were left with two uniform pieces of salted dehydrated meat. On the other extreme, the grilled vegetables on the plate were very good!
All of the grilled dinners came with a starch and a vegetable. The broccoli rabe and stewed tomato was quite good. The acidity and sweetness of the tomato balanced the slight kick of the broccoli rabe very well. The Provencal fries were thick-cut steakhouse type fries seasoned with salt, garlic and herbs. I liked the slightly undercooked inside which gave them some bite and character. The first few tastes of the parsnip puree were sweet and smooth, however this sweetness could get to you after a few more bites and become a bit overwhelming.
I love banana, as a fruit. I have never been fond of banana as an ingredient of a dish or a dessert; but I do love bread pudding.
This particular one had a great texture. The pudding was not too wet, dry, sweet or overly buttery. It was nicely balanced and “bread-ly” with a nicely crisped layer topping the container it was served in. The most intriguing part was the nice firm pieces of banana mixed in. They seemed a bit undercooked with a nice rigid bite but that suited me just fine. I do not like mushy banana especially those that just disappeared into whatever it is supposedly a part of. And yes, I like my bread pudding warmed and with a scoop of ice cream.
Rice Pudding This was the first time I ever had al dente rice in a rice pudding. I am not sure if it was done intentionally but I totally loved it. The pudding had a consistency somewhere between a porridge and a soup. I enjoyed the texture of this not too sweet dish especially with the little bite given off by the slightly undercooked rice.
Of all the house-made desserts, I was most disappointed with this one. The crepe itself was very nicely done but the dulce de leche filling was too sweet with overly tastes of caramel and sugar.
The restaurant has a very ambitious menu with a kitchen that wasn’t quite ready for prime time yet. Interestingly, the much touted about grill side of the menu was the weakest part of the kitchen. With a background heavily invested in making good seafood (Sea Salt, Quahog’s), we were disappointed that our cooked fish dishes were…disappointing. With its intention to position itself as a causal neighborhood restaurant, it will find its niche quite well when the kitchen catches up with the menu.
PS. Our friend brought a delicious bottle of ’99 Caymus Cabernet for the dinner which was so well suited for the grilled meats at the dinner.
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