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It is always a good idea to revisit a restaurant after a few years, especially if the place has a new chef, décor and menu. I reviewed Salt & Pepper in 2004 and gave it two tips of the toque. The highest entrée then was $16.
On a cool evening, Mom, Edward and I drove over to Salt & Pepper. It is still a BYOB so we brought some Cotes du Rhone, a white and a red.
The interior is now a cool green and white with white linen and brown-paper table liners.
The man in charge of the kitchen counter is Sean Ford. I have never met him nor have I heard of him. We arrived at 6:15 p.m. and Ford still had not prepped for dinner. He did not have his "mise en place" nor does he have help at the stove. This is not a good thing. The counter was filled with whole raw items that had not been prepped by the dinner hour.
Our waiter was a delightful guy with long strawberry blond hair. He looked like he belonged in a rock band. He opened our wines and placed the white in an ice bucket. We asked if he took music requests and he happily obliged, with the loud screaming coming from the radio being replaced by marvelous jazz.
Three ordinary rolls arrived and they were cold. Some bland pesto and whipped butter came along, but I asked our waiter to warm the rolls up a bit.
We placed our order at about 6:25 — one cold appetizer and one hot. We did not receive these until 7:15 p.m.
"I smell something burning," I whispered to Edward. My lobster asparagus tart ($15) had obviously charred. When I finally received it, it was OK but, like every item on the menu, was overpriced. The pastry was flaky and the meat, sweet, and there were bits of asparagus and frisee on top, which was nice.
I love cold Vietnamese summer salad rolls and they are usually prepared with shrimp. The wrappers must be translucent and light to see the ingredients tucked inside. An "unfried" spring roll filled with barbecued pork and served with hoisin sauce was so overpriced at $8, I could not believe it. The wrapper was neither light nor translucent and the filling, a bit bland. Hoisin sauce is commonplace; something a bit more interesting would have intrigued my taste buds.
For our entrees we selected the rib-eye steak ($28), crispy chicken ($25) and a black bass special ($25).
The rib-eye was not top quality for the price. It was grilled and served with a salad of tomatoes, Gorgonzola and mustard greens topped with a roasted shallot vinaigrette. Ford likes to serve the salad on top of the grilled beef. This is unthinkable. Who puts a salad with dressing on top of a steak? Either way, the beef was nothing to write home about.
Mom’s flavorful chicken, cooked on the bone, was nicely done. We enjoyed the use of sautéed chanterelles and creamy polenta.
I received about 3 to 4 ounces of wild black bass, pan-seared so the skin was nice and crispy. I first tried wild asparagus at M and liked their flavor, but Ford drowned them with some kind of creamy sauce made with corn that detracted from the taste and texture. I loved the morels, though.
Salt & Pepper has flaws: It is too expensive; there is only one chef at the stove; there is only one waiter and no bus help; and the meal was OK.
If you go, you can decide for yourself.
One-half tip of the toque to Salt & Pepper.
Salt & Pepper
Corner of Sixth and Fitzwater streets
215-238-1920
Visa and MasterCard accepted
