great flavors. i took some clients to miel for dinner. our reservation was for 6 and the restaurant was mostly empty. as some others have noted, the decor is nothing to write home about, but i like being able to watch the chef's work and thefoodcome out. while we drank some champagne and cocktails, i was able to see many of the dishes going by and it helped me decide.
we shared 4 appetizers, the charcuterie plate, the olives, the mussels, and the cheese plate. all of it was excellent. given that i am a pate' lover, the charcuterie plate was my favorite, the duck pate' with some fresh berry jam was one of the best bites offoodi have ever had.
the entree choices were excellent and there was something for everyone. i had the lamb loin served on grits with some caramelized baby onions and tomatoes. it was absolutely delicious. my dining companions all loved their choices. one had the risotto with vegetables and scallops, another the bouliabase (s?), another the filet, and finally the duck special. the entrees are not huge, but they were more than enoughfoodand the quality of the ingredients was exceptional.
we had several different desserts. i had the creme brûlée. it was very good, but i am somewhat of a creme brûlée fanatic and it was not the best i have had. they serve it in a bowl made of sugar, which is a twist on the classic caramelized sugar on top. i like the classic better. i tasted the profiteroles. i wish i had ordered these. they were exquisite. two others had the chocolate chess pie with ice cream (although i wish restaurants would stop using a melon baller to scoop ice cream). i didn't get to try that because it disappeared too quickly.
i am not a wine drinker, but i generally pay a lot of attention to wine lists when entertaining clients. i was a little disappointed in the champagne selection. about half the selections are half bottles and they had some pretty low end stuff and some pretty high end stuff. there was nothing in the middle. we had the taittinger brut which was good, but i have had many less expensive champagnes that were better. for dinner, we ordered a couple of bottles of the one syrah on the list. everyone seemed to enjoy it. a lot of the bottles on the list were in the 30 to 40 range which makes ordering a couple of bottles a lot easier. the list also had about every varietal (i think that is the right word) but usually only one choice in each.
our server was not the best. she was unobtrusive, but she seemed somewhat awkward. i had to hail her to bring a second bottle of wine when i saw everyone's glasses running low and she did a couple of other things before she brought it out (bringing another bottle of water and bringing the silverware for our meals) before she brought the wine. by that time, everyone had an empty glass and had been waiting for a refill. it is a small thing, but i like a waiter to let me know that the bottle is empty and ask fi we need another so that it is ready when diners need it.
they also added the tip to a party of five. i realize it was an expensive meal, but i hate this practice. she did circle the tip on the receipt so i would be sure to know it was included. but if they had not put the 18% on there, i would have tipped 20%. i could have added the extra, but considering the service, i thought 18% was right.
the total cost of the meal for five, including tax and tip was $700. of that $300 was wine and liquor (before tax and tip). i think this was excellent value. i did not consider this restaurant high priced for the quality as some other reviewers have suggested. comparablefoodin new orleans (where i am from) would be about 20% higher.
i will definitely be back when i am in nashville.