I can't eat at Evvia more than once every year because the menu is always the same - but Dio Deka was a treat, partially because the food was just simply so good.
St Michael's Alley has always been ho-hum for me.
On a new note:
Just ate at Palo Alto Grill, the new place in the Miyaki space, I think they've only been open a week or so. (We were aiming for Campo but they're closed Tuesday). I asked the FOH guy who turned out to be the owner if they still are serving sake bombs, and he said they found the secret sake bomb recipe bricked up in a wall --- but have decided not to serve them out of respect. Also said the Mikyaki guys left the old disco balls, and he'd bring his daughters down and turn on the disco lights while they were remodeling.
Anyway.
This is the Levande guy, and they said "we're turning our back on those Mediterranean shenanigans", even though you can see some peek through - a croatian wine buried in the menu, a roasted branzino at the tail end.
They're trying to elevate the food a bit. We had a 5-spice quail that was mostly successful. The gamey tang was strong, but the sauce tasted more like a tart teriyaki than something 5 spice. Good try but more miss than hit.
A whimsical small plate was the avocado corn dogs, which is a solid center of avocado with light corn dog outside, with a mustard garnish. GF said "reminds me of haggis on a stick", it had no taste similarities but we were at a bar with a deep fried strange object on a stick. Points for originality, but the creamy texture (and lack of taste) in the avo needed a little something, the same way you don't realize how much pepper and salt is in a hot dog.
Pork belly was pork belly. Can't go wrong.
Mains are focused on steak, but we didn't go for one. We had a burger, and the fries were very solid. Triple cooked, the barman said, and I think the oil was peanut. Very solid effort. The burger was also good, but I could have used a little more topping. Very good meat taste, perfectly cooked, nice bun.
The room itself was a little loud, given that there were very few people there. The low ceiling lends itself to the american grill idea, but I felt a little claustrophobic.
They're clearly trying for something a little unusual. If they can rotate their menu frequently, maybe add a solid cocktail program, I could see stopping by on a regular basis. The hospitality was certainly there, although there was a problem with attention to detail that seemed to plague Levande also.
Price was $75 with TT for 2 people (thus $42/pp). Would have happily paid that if the dishes were better.
Let's hope the kitchen pulls it together over the coming weeks, this could be a pleasant addition to downtown PA.
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