review. i had not been impressed during my previous visits to food works; none of the entrée descriptions appealed to me. i did, however, eat my way through the appetizer menu; most were adequate, some not particularly well conceived, a few poorly executed. nothing exciting enough to bring me back, but an attractive room and attentive service. we decided to try works under it's current ownership/management/culinary team.
the house was relatively full, but not packed: there were no waits for tables. our server greeted us immediately and, after offering drinks, regaled us in the over-familiar way common to many servers about the menu offerings. there were so many "awesome" dishes i lost count, and he identified at least three or four dishes that were his absolute favorite (full disclosure: the 87 and 91 year-old ladies who were part of the party loved the attention).
the mrs. and i started with an order of calamari, which our server placed in the middle of the table of seven. oh well. the squid were tender, although not deep in flavor. the breading was tasty, but only adhered to part of the squid, and was excessively oily, indicating too low a temperature for the oil. half-way through, it had become unpleasantly oily and not at all crisp.
the orange and pepper seared scallops were properly cooked, but lacking flavor. the sautéed greens had no recognizable/identifiable flavor, and the potato "pave" (classically, a rectangular mousse-like affair) consisted of very thinly sliced potato inter-layered with (?) cheese. the only real flavor on the plate was the onion/bacon vinaigrette, which drowned out what ever flavor anything else had.
the smoked gouda mac and cheese had no discernible flavor of cheese. the chorizo was also missing in action. the braised pork-belly topping had little lean and had no flavor save the coke glaze. the chewy, fatty pieces were too large to handle easily. the onion rings had been pre-cooked and heat-lamped and were slimy. i couldn't finish half of it.
the pork chop was pronounced delicious and thechickenbreast (called a cutlet) picatta
was well received. a special order fried-chicken emerged as two large mahogany colored clusters, but when broken down were declared as tasty.
our server, who had kept water glasses filled, came by and asked how we liked everything (wait for it). most said they liked it. i described the m&c as above, without calling the onions "slimy." server's response was, "i had that the other day and it was awesome!" i'm sure he was oblivious to the fact that he had discredited my comment. he certainly did not ask if there was anything that could be done to rectify the situation (there might have been had he asked shortly after the food was served). he also was oblivious to the fact that he had not brought the wine i ordered, though he had asked if i wanted it served with the entrée.
three ordered dessert. ice cream arrived quickly. ten minutes later the second ice cream and pecan pie arrived. in between the server had time to chat-up the barkeep.
the food the mrs. and i had was execrable. the service was... what it was. from the size of the house, it's obvious that works appeals to many. we are the few.