RN74

As mentioned before, I went to the new Michael Mina last week. I'm not really a power-lunch type (my wallet groans when I buy $11-salads), and I usually intentionally wait for new restaurants to work out their kinks before I give them a try. My lunch here, however, was completely decided on a whim. It had just opened, was just a stone's throw from the office, and was a slightly more attractive option than chicken fingers, even as Alice's treat.

As expected, this restaurant/wine bar was more casual than its fine-dining sister. I called Friday between 10am-11am to no avail (usually reservationists get in by 10am), and when we walked into the empty restaurant at 11:45am, they said they were all booked (I later got a voicemail saying that they were having phone problems and had open reservations for lunch. Um whaat). The bar is open seating and serves full menu so we took a load off, and as expected, the place was pretty lively around 12:30pm (when normal people eat lunch).

Blah blah blah. I'm boring myself writing this post. A lot of it is because... our meal there was easily forgettable and underwhelming. The food was fine and moderately priced for a restaurant attached to such a famous name, but also as expected, portions were small but still filling enough for the average small person. Hamachi was like any other dish anywhere else, the grilled mushrooms could've come from a Foccacia kitchen, the halibut was bland, veal a bit too homemade, and the duck and agnolotti were pretty tasty. I LOOOVED the desserts at Michael Mina, so the chocolate frozen parfait-like dessert was a bit lackluster. The cherries and lemon crisp complemented the white sesame pot de creme nicely, although the crisp wasn't... crisp. Blah blah blah.

Ultimately, what saved my view of RN74 was the wine. Countless reviews anticipating its opening have gone into great detail of the sommelier's vision of the restaurant's marriage of wine and food. I am far from an oenophile, so I just told the server/bartender to give me a glass of pinot to go with my veal. It was absolutely delicious. Light and fruity, but still smooth and endlessly drinkable... I should've noted what it was actually called. Either way, this glass of wine made me a believer in RN74... as a happy hour destination. I mean, the restaurant is not even a month old and is still working things out, so what can I really say, you know? Do expect to see the head honcho himself though!