REVIEW of Harvest. Oct. 1994. Overview: Out of the pan and into the fire. I go from one food Critics recommendation for a new restaurant, to listening to anothers overdone review of Harvest. A place I had yet to try only because it was in a Hotel. It was mediocre at best, certainly not "fine." Initial impression: No one at the front, waited only 3 min, always seems longer when nobody gives you immediate recognition. The atmosphere was clublike, but the place was poorly maintained. The dusty column was the least of the details overlooked in this dining room. Cobwebs, lights burned out, scuff marks on the floors, W/W's out of uniform. The Maitre D was a very pleasant older gentleman. How exactly does a restaurant get credit for having an "excellent cabernet?" Service: If Merriman's service was "impeccable I would have liked to have her server. Ours was very poor, things were not delivered in a timely manner and she had that horrible fake happy face on that is so easy to detect. Her back waiter was much better that her, he was genuinely pleasant and very professional. When he noticed our poor service he filled in very well. We gave him recognition when we left. Wine List: Very very poor. Only one French chardonnay on the menu and when we ordered that they were out of it. Ended up with Clos de Bois, a wine we normally drink with sandwiches. The overall selection was bare minimal, and the champagnes were way overpriced. The Cabernet that was raved about in the column was none of the things claimed in the review by Merriman. Having 20 mediocre wines by the glass hardly makes a wine list excellent. Atmosphere: Again it was clubbish, with a whole lot of details not taken care of, as noted above. The tables were in poor repair. Ours had a nasty habit of the fold up leaf falling into your lap. The table we moved to was no better. The dining room was 1/2 full, and had an empty feeling to it. Overall it was comfortable, the chairs were well selected. Misc: China was Lenox, but a horrible pattern. Some items served on this horrible black plate with a multi color abstract pattern, it detracted from the food. Others on a nice Marble pattern plate that went well with the items that were presented on it. Food: Cream of Butternut squash soup. The "wonderfully light" cream of butternut squash was just that. The only problem was the "light" came from a complete lack of taste. Studded was a generous word for the amount of crabmeat in the soup. From the description I expected 4 oz. of Jumbo Lump in the soup. What we got was 3/4 oz. of backfin. Goats Cheese salad. The phyllo surrounding the cheese was completely unseasoned, it was like eating parchment paper. The cheese was an average quality chevre, and there was too much of it. I would have preferred less cheese and better quality. The salad next to the cheese was the standard mescalin mix, from California. No objection there I love it. But the lettuce was also not seasoned and the claim of a tomato vinaigrette was just that, a claim. Not a spot of tomato in it, I am not even sure there was a vinegar in it. It tasted like plain average quality olive oil. Autumn Salad. Same as above, and there was no raspberry vinegar in it either. The packaged grisini were not pleasant at all. Crabcakes. Mostly cake. I don't wan't to go on & on about this item. Just don't order them. I recently ate at the Sunset Grill on Captiva Island in Florida. I had a three crab crabcake with Key lime beurre blanc. Best crab cake I ever ate in my life. I am going to attempt to reproduce this item over the holidays. It had chunks of King, stone & blue crab, just awesome. Mushroom terrine. I did not find it beautiful and tastes too much of gelatin was again generous. That was all I tasted. It was set up like a Good Year tire. And again, I don't know how these people make their dressings but if there was sherry in that vinaigrette I'm Bill Clinton, AHHAHAHHHHHH did I say that? I have a lovely sherry vinegar at home and from time to time make a nice sherry vinaigrette, but that is off the beaten path. This item was bad. Broiled lamb chops with raspberry demi-glace. Huh, again not a bit of raspberry even flavor to the sauce. It was just a plain old demi-glace that was underseasoned but at least it was not too thick and starchy. The lamb chops were of average quality, about what you get in Giant Eagle, they were cooked nicely. They were cold. The baby vegetables were completely and totally unseasoned. The mashed potatoes were also unseasoned. The roasted shallots were very nice, completely cooked and SEASONED??!!! Guine Fowl with spinach & truffle sauce. Exactly the same sauce that was on the lamb, with julienne canned truffle in the sauce. Talk about lack depth. This guy should learn his liquors and get himself a salt & pepper grinder. The spinach had that unpleasant musty flavor that comes from sitting too long. The skin was like a rubber band, the fowl was dry and overdone. The menu description was so nice, the item so bad. The spatzle were nice, browned in a pan to reheat. A little dry and again unseasoned. Swordfish with Choron. I abhor those who think putting tomato paste into bearnaise is how you make choron. There wasn't even a remnant of fresh tarragon in there either, damn it. The swordfish was the only entree served hot. Which means the kitchen needs to learn timing. The Swordfish was very good quality, cut thick enough to not be dried out and done nicely. They have a good char- grill back there. The Harvest, as you can see, does not have a traditional Pittsburgh menu. (No fried zucchini and not even a stuffed pepper). Well Woodene if the chef could make good fried zucchini or pepper I would much rather eat that than over-priced "fancy sounding expensive ingredients" that are cold, unseasoned and dried out, and most importantly are prepared with no flair or style. Another chef just putting in his time with no imagination or interest in good food. I also assume she was referring to Italian Pittsburgh restaurants ,which if they did not serve fried zucchini and a good stuffed pepper would not be open long. Chocolate velvet with raspberry sauce. Excellent dessert, velvety smooth interior, delightfully rich chocolate glaze and a simple raspberry sauce, without seeds in it. The best dish all night. It was also the most artfully presented, a painted swirl of chocolate of the plate, a sauce painting done in the raspberry sauce. Apple cranberry crisp. We will finish with dessert instead of starting with it. It was not overly sweet but the apples were undercooked, there was only a trace of cranberry and the "crisp" was of a lesser quality than that I got as a child. Blackberry sorbet. Huh, wheres the blackberry? It tasted like frozen corn-syrup, went untouched and never a question asked as to why it was not eaten. At least at Tambellini the servers are concerned if you don't eat something. $199 with tip, for three. Peter Brauer better have his chef learn how to cook what he does now before he ventures out to more intricate items. And can someone please tell me exactly what an executive assistant manger of food is. We gave it a 6.5. GAT.
Pittsburgh, PA