My Anniversary!

Hi Gang,

Today is my 2nd wedding anniversary, and so my hubby and I decided to celebrate with lunch at the Georges Brasserie at Piedmont Center near South Park Mall. As you'll be able to see by the website design, the restaurant is just getting started as of last month, I believe. But I thought I would play restaurant critic for a few moments and critique our shared meal and experience this afternoon. :)

First off, I appreciate the fact that this is a place that understands what the words "economic downturn" mean for regular middle class folks like ourselves who take opportunities such as anniversaries to dine out well. There was a time when I thought the Capital Grille was the "it" place to be. After the last three years, eating overly-priced food, however high quality, is no longer a concern for me. What does matter is presentation and experience and reasonable prices. Thankfully, GB hit most of these spot on.

Valet parking is complimentary on a daily basis, from what I could discern. That's a rarity, but it's a nice perk, given what you usually have to pay/tip elsewhere for such services. The prices were incredibly low for a restaurant in South Park, especially one that sits across the street from the infamous Del Friscos. The wait staff was attentive, if not a bit hovery, yet our waiter didn't seem to be able to communicate what portion sizes were, mistook my husband's request of a caesar salad and just stared mutely at us when he couldn't think of anything else to say. Rather annoying.

The meal itself lived up to its recent reputation by Helen Schwab. The onion soup was rich, with a hint of sweetness but lacked the immense canopy of gruyere cheese that usually tops off the tureen. Fish and chips was a pleasing surprise, with a light crust, not too greasy nor heavy and the hanger steak was described by my husband as "excellent", especially when topped with a very thick bleu cheese butter. We shared a chocolate mousse for dessert, which was as creamy and dense as they come, and yet was light enough to top off the meal nicely with a cup of tea and coffee.

My only complaints about all of this was the presentation of the meal and the general look of the interior dinning room. This space used to be occupied by the Oceanaire seafood place that was modeled to look like an ocean liner from the 1930's or 40's. Unfortunately, what we're left with looks as though the atmosphere was torn out and everything else left in. Ceilings and walls are painted dull beige or seagreen colors, which doesn't complement the curved red leather booths very well. The French influence only appears in random vintage wine ads and Brassai prints on the walls that might have been picked up at World Market. The Ladies bathroom was done up quite nicely, although the "Lemon Verbenna" hand soap was really anti-bacterial fragrance-less soap in a pretty bottle. The food came well prepared, but the mousse I mentioned was simply spooned into the bowl with a thin dollop of whipped cream on top. More could have been done to make this look more attractive.

For being "French", there was little to give the feeling of being in France, which is what a theme restaurant should generally do. Spanish guitar music floated through the air and my ears were yearning to hear Edith Piaf. These are very minor details, but details (coupled with low prices) are the things that make my husband and I come back again.

Over all, we enjoyed the meal. The food was quite wonderful and the experience didn't make us feel as if we were throwing away our pensions on a bit of fine dinning. ;) I should mention that this is the most affordable French cuisine I've tasted since Bistro 100 closed a few years ago. So I'm sure this may be a Francophile Godsend to many. 8)