Crofton on Wells, a report -- long

My wife and I had dinner at Crofton on Wells last night.

Long story short: good food, disappointingly mediocre service.

Long story long:

We arrived at 8 and were seated promptly. We took about 10 minutes to settle on our food and some wine. To start, we split an appetizer of grilled baby octopus with smoked scallop ceviche and a citrus vinaigrette over a small bed of spinach. My wife ordered the Guinea Hen special (roasted Guinea Hen with mushrooms, ramps, and pencetta) for her entree. I had the pork tenderloin (served with their signature smoked apple chutney and some corn pudding with a light poblano cream sauce).

It took almost 30 minutes for our appetizer to come out, with nary a visit or even a single word from any of the wait staff in the interim. To the kitchen's credit, it was delicious. The octopus had a great char flavor and a nice texture, the scallops were wonderfully smoky and the spinach pleasantly vibrant. Each piece of the dish was delicious on its own, and went incredibly well if eaten with any of the others.

We then had to wait until about 9:15 before we got out entrees. Our server did stop by once a little after 9 to assure us our food was on its way, and at the end of the meal did thank us "for our patience," but this was too little to late for us. E.g., at one point while waiting for our entrees my wife had to flag someone down to get our water refilled because no had stopped by in half an hour.

We're hardly dining divas, but it was a Monday night and they were not too busy, Crofton on Wells is a fairly upscale place and for the money involved we expected much better service. Not necessarily something like comping us a glass of wine while we waited (though that would have been a very classy touch), but definitely stopping in and updating us, having our water refilled without having to track someone down and ask, acknowledging that the food was taking too long, etc.

As for the entrees, my wife enjoyed her guinea hen, but didn't love it. I had a taste and it was incredibly tender with some nice earthy flavors. But my wife pointed out that it was one of those dishes where the first bite tastes exactly like the last

I remember going to Crofton on Wells about 6 months ago and being disappointed. The food was good, but not a unique expression that I expected for the menu and price. I thought their stretch for more exotic ingredients was more to justify those prices rather than to create some unique tastes.

I had dinner at Crofton's a couple of months ago with 5 other people. It was a Tuesday night, busy but not overwhelmingly so. The service was good, if a little too friendly (unctuous waiters are a pet peeve of mine). I remember enjoying the food, but the standout for me was the rosemary ice cream. This was supposed to be served with an apple tart, I think. Someone else at the table ordered a dessert that also came with ice cream, so we asked the waiter if it could be switched with the rosemary. Man oh man oh man.... it was beyond divine. Creamy, spicy, with just enough sweetness to make it dessert.

I had dinner at Crofton's once only, about two years ago. Also on a Monday night. My dad was in tow, and paying, and my husband works until seven right near there, so we really can't travel far, because on that schedule Dad needs to sit down and eat pretty quickly.

Two of the dishes you had were remarkably similar to what we had. I think they must just always have a guinea hen and a smoked apple chutney pork on the menu. I recall them being very good, especially mine, the guinea hen, but agree with your wife. Especially at those prices. Very good, very upscale, but basically straightforward Midwestern home cooking. If you came from a family of hunters and foragers, which I did.

We were enticed by the notes on the website that they are very good at pairing wines and offer lots of selections by the glass. So we took the waiter's recommendations. Very nice pairings. When dad got the bill, he was a little taken aback. And he worked on Capitol Hill and K Street in the 80s with an expense account!

Service was serviceable, but it was a Monday, slow. A nice pick for dad because the noise level was low. I remember wanting water and being slightly irritated that the waiter was engaged in extended periods of chat with the bartender where he paid no attention to his tables. I was trying to anticipate to keep dad from getting imperious. Remember, he worked on Capitol Hill and K Street in the 80s with an expense account:-) In the days when an expense account meant something:-)

We did have dessert, it was as good as everything else. You can get rosemary and other herbal ice creams at Cyrano's Bistrot for much less.

I occasionally gaze longingly at Crofton's if I drop Himself at work. What I remember most was the luxe atmosphere. The quiet. The spacious placement of tables. Not the service. We don't get that often, and it's nice when we do, but at such a premium, I inevitably question the value, especially if the food isn't a quantum leap up. Getting my hair shampooed before a haircut, frankly, makes me feel almost as pampered. A 1/2 hour massage at the Student Union, maybe more. Both are a hell of a lot cheaper, and I can save my eating out dollars for something else.

My wife and I decided to go to Crofton on Wells last Thursday, in part due to our desire to make use of our not-used-often-enough Membercard.

The weather outside was turning towards miserable as we arrived somewhat early for our 7pm dinner reservations. Only a few tables were occupied and we were seated without a fuss (place was full by mid-meal).

Meal started with an amuse of some sort of celery root puree on sweet potato chip. Wife started with a salad of baked chevre on frisee, served with pancetta. I had a pear salad with Point Reyes blue cheese. Both were quite nice.

Wife had a sturgeon dish that was served with what I gather is Crofton's smoked apple chutney and a white bean ragout. The fish was cooked well, but frankly the signature sauce came off to me as pretty mediocre barbeque sauce -- chipotle dominant flavoring. I had the venison medallions, served with a herbed spaetzle and a red cabbage slaw/salad. This dish was near perfect. Well cooked, melt-in-your mouth succulent. Dessert was an apple/almond tart with ice cream, which was fine. Tea offerings were impressive.

Service was solid. Our server was laid back yet managed to remain attentive. The pacing was on the slow side, but was perfect for the evening. Serving sizes were on target. No magnifying glasses needed and no sense of being overwhelmed with mountains of food.

Total bill for two salads, two entrees, 1 dessert, four glasses of wine, coffee, and tea was ~150 pre-tip, reduced to ~120 after 2-for-1 entree offer from the card. An expensive night out for us, but on the whole, quite enjoyable.

Zee

Time to update this thread. It’s hard to believe that a restaurant of this caliber can go almost a year without any significant comment, but since I haven’t been in a long, long time myself, we are all hereby excused.

Lovely Dining Companion and I ventured out on Friday evening to celebrate a birthday. Once inside from the driving rain and gusty wind, the storm quickly dissipated in memory, if not in reality. The room is...how shall I say this nicely?...boring. It has plenty of recessed lighting in the high ceiling, but it was all turned down quite low. The room is a large rectangle with a nice-sized bar along the north wall. There is a large mirror on the wall opposite it and another on the back wall. That’s it. Absolutely no other decoration on what were either light green or gray walls (we couldn’t tell). Spartan to the point of depressing. Hardwood floors, virtually uninterrupted walls, nothing soft to cushion sound. But remarkably, although the place got full rather soon, conversation was not a problem. We were placed in the corner along the back wall—a long banquette with five close-set two-tops.

This is not an inexpensive place. Apps now start at $9 and run as high as $16.75 for a “signature” crabcake. Entrees range from $26 to $36 with four sides available from $6-8. That said, we both ended up ordering the pear salad with Point Reyes blue cheese and fig syrup dressed with a “black pepper” vinaigrette. A not-large portion but very nicely presented and it whet (whetted?) the appetite perfectly.

LDC ordered monkfish with fava beans and caramelized fennel. The selection was served in a saffron broth, all accompanied by a nice size crouton and a generous helping of aioli. LDC being a person of rather small appetite, I was allowed to help. We both thought the dish good, but no more. The fish was perfectly cooked and a beautiful piece, if not particularly large. The fava beans were beautifully cooked, though it would have been nice if we could have counted the beans on two hands rather than one. (Are you sensing a theme yet?) The aioli was quite spicy but I can’t imagine it any better. But it somehow failed to come together...and as Deflator Mouse noted in his initial post, the first bite was exactly the same as the last...no surprises or discoveries as the evening progressed.

I ordered a cider-braised Gunthorp Farms pork belly which came with grilled pork tenderloin and the restaurant’s “signature smoked apple chutney.” Let’s do the good news, and the most important part, first. The meat was excellent and the preparation and presentation likewise excellent. The chutney, too, was a wonderful complement. I have no quibbles about the food, per se. But...

The mention of the chutney in the entrée’s description appears in italics, followed by an asterisk. At the bottom of the page, in all caps, you are notified that the chutney is “*AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE.” I beg your pardon? We went to a restaurant to enjoy a meal, not to a market to purchase things. Do I object to Suzy Crofton selling something? Not in the least. And she’s hardly alone. But does she need to advertise with such chutzpah on the menu itself? Can’t her products be showcased in some other way for you to notice as you’re leaving? Will she sell more of it by placing it on the menu? I don’t know. And I don’t care. I do care, however, when I feel like I’m being advertised to every moment of my life. On the menu, for God’s sake? Enough already! This is mishugas.

I was also put off by the portion size. For $30—and yes, Virginia, I know we’re already in the age of $50 entrees—I expected more. Yes, the meat was top-notch. Yes, it was prepared beautifully and I have virtually no criticisms of it either in terms of presentation or flavor. But I’d have liked a little more meat for my $30. I would guess the tenderloin portion was in the vicinity of 6 ounces and the pork belly, perhaps half that.

Adding insult to this perceived injury, I should add that I ordered the side of green beans and onions or, as the menu had it: “haricot verts [sic]/cipolline onions” for $8. The veggies were excellent, served remarkably hot and masterfully prepared. I guess eight bucks for green beans and onions leads me to expect a little more generosity in the way of the entrée.

While I’m whining, their misspelled French is one of my absolute top pet peeves: if you’re gonna use French (or any other foreign language), is it really so hard to get the spelling right? This is supposed a professional operation. Would you hire a line cook who didn’t know how to make stock? How hard is it to spell things correctly? Professional means professional in every respect, including getting your menu right. Do you clean the windows? Sweep the floor? Use clean tablecloths? Crofton is hardly alone in this. The menu at Jacky’s in Evanston is appalling. Misspellings, misplaced accents, missing accents, horror after horror. I can’t help but wonder if a French bistro can’t spell French correctly why should I have any confidence that they’ll pay any more attention to their food? And the same applies, ultimately, to any restaurant that chooses to use a foreign language. Do it right or don’t do it.

Am I carping? Would a few more slices of tenderloin have spelled the end of the profit margin? How about a few more lousy fava beans? Hard to believe, given the price tag for the green beans and the onions. On the other hand, I truly think they would have made a difference in my attitude. So, quality and taste notwithstanding, I remain disappointed.

Desserts (all $10 save one): LDC ordered the blackberry sorbet (one small scoop) and I had a “just-back-on-the-menu” toffee cake that was highly touted. The sorbet (which, come to think of it, I never got to taste) was rated “okay.” The toffee cake, okay as well, though it was topped with a small scoop of really superb cinnamon ice cream. To the restaurant’s credit, LDC’s birthday was observed with a birthday wish as we walked in, with a beautifully inscribed (in chocolate) plate for dessert, and—very thoughtfully—with her dessert comp’ed. Very thoughtful, indeed.

The service. The server was cheerful, genuinely cheerful. Really cheerful. But she was also very good. So were the rest of the staff. Except for the bread guy who delivered once and then apparently went home, the staff were attentive, timely, and unobtrusive. Little things were noticed and little things were taken care of.

Will we return? I think so. The food was really that good. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing. I don’t know. I feel, you should pardon the express, conflicted. But I’d like to think that another visit will cure my jaundiced Weltanschauung (did I spell that right?)

Crofton on Wells
535 N. Wells Street
(312) 755-1790
http://www.croftononwells.com/

Two co-workers and I took two of our clients to Crofton just last month and had an excellent dinner, good wine and efficient, friendly service (maybe overly-friendly to my taste, but if that's my only complaint...). I had the greens, pear and blue cheese salad and the flight (for lack of a better word) of pork. We shared several desserts. Pricey? Yes. Delicious? Extremely so. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Was at Crofton on Wednesday evening for my dad’s 65th birthday dinner. 7pm reservation. Twentysomething me and four others over 50, so you can imagine we were an unusual group to serve. The entire evening was wonderful, and while some above have been noting that Crofton is an expensive place to dine, my mother and I were pleasantly surprised at how reasonable the meal was. Warning: Long post to follow.

First the service: I believe our server’s name was Amelia, and she was fantastic. Explained the special very clearly, was knowledgeable about the ingredients and preparation, and included the price in her explanation, which I know is important to some. She was also able to answer our wine questions. Pacing was good, which I give her special credit for for the following reason: Three of us arrived a few minutes early, the other two a few minutes late. She came back to check on us, inquired about drinks, and promptly brought them. Asked whether we would like to order or chat for a while, and we chose the latter. Came back about 15 minutes later, and asked again. Again, the group wasn’t ready. She said to call her over whenever. I made subtle eye contact with her about 45 minutes after we were all seated, and she came right over and very cleanly, unobtrusively, and humorously interrupted to ask if we were getting hungry. After that, amuse came quickly, as did appetizers, with a nice gap before entrees and a not-at-all rushed inquiry about dessert.

The food: Everyone was very pleased. Amuse was farro, garlic, something. Good texture, chunky. Very nice. Mom and I started with the signature crabcake in a Creole mustard sauce. Excellent texture and taste, with lots of real crab and very little filler. The sauce complemented it well and was strong, but not overpowering. Birthday boy had the peppered chevre, which came with beets and something else, and he was very pleased. Others had the soup, which unfortunately I can’t recall, and the mixed greens. They didn’t say much other than that they liked them.

Entrees: Two had the special, and let’s see how well I can remember this: A gratin of some sort on the bottom, 4 oz tenderloin, wild mushrooms, something and ricotta ravioli on top. So I can’t remember it terribly well, but it sounded, smelled, and looked fantastic. They were both very pleased, commented on how well each piece complemented the others in both texture and taste. Dad had the pork: cider-braised gunthorp farms belly, grilled tenderloin, signature smoked apple chutney, according to the website. His plate was wiped cleanest of us all, and we were all five members of the clean plate club. Mom had the scallops, which were wrapped in prosciutto, I think, though I can’t recall much else about them. They were perfectly cooked. I had the halibut cheeks, which are always a real treat. I have made them a few times (thanks, Dirk!) but never had the opportunity to order them. I was not disappointed by this first experience of having them outside my own home.

Dad commented on the dessert menu: This is the first time in literally years when I have seen a dessert menu that I actually want to order from. In fact, I would gladly take one of each. Quite an endorsement, no? I had the sticky toffee cake with cardamom ice cream and kumquats. The ice cream was phenomenal, the rest good on its own but elevated by the addition of the ice cream. One had the hazelnut and chocolate dessert (a financier, perhaps)? And dad had a strawberry-rhubarb concoction the he was very pleased with. And because it was his special day, they wrote “happy birthday Joe Schmoe” on the plate and put a candle in it. Nice, but not over the top. Well played.

One member of our party wanted a wine that was only available by the glass, but they made it available by the bottle. Extra points for that. We ended up having two bottles, 2004 (I think) Easton Zin, Amador County. As Amelia noted, definite green and pink peppercorn taste, but not overpowering. Worked with each dish it was tasted with.

Total for five apps, five entrees, three desserts, four coffees, two bottles of wine, was under $400. Again, we thought that very reasonable. This is not the first time we’ve been to Crofton on Wells for a celebratory meal, nor will it be the last.