Thursday, November 6, 2008

West Palm Beach: Forte di Asprinio

Since Forte opened, I've been dying to try it! Not only because the infamous Stephen Asprinio from Top Chef owned it, but because the menu looked inventive. When I heard they had a special of 3 courses for $30, I thought it would be a great time to try it out. It was Halloween night and we had reservations for 8:30. I was expecting the restaurant to be busy, but was surprised when there were only 3 tables occupied.

Wine: I looked through the wine list and was impressed! They had lots of great wines. A good amount were available by the glass. They also had wine flights (I chose the medium bodied reds), which aren't readily accessible at restaurants. The medium red flight was a great choice and the sommelier did a great job explaining the 3 that were included.

Service: Our server was horrible. I asked him a couple of questions regarding the menu, which he replied with a shrug and "I don't know". He acted as if we were wasting his time. When he poured water, some of it was splashed on my sister and he didn't apologize. I mean, come on, he had 3 tables and couldn't do his job! He also got our wine order messed up. The good part was the sommelier, he was friendly, and quickly fixed the mistake our server made when he input our wine flights.

First Course: Was the ricotta/eggplant terrina. It seemed like it was sitting around for a while. I tried to eat it by itself but it was very bland. It was only good when smeared on the bread, which was doused in garlic & butter.


Main Course: I had the buccatini alla carbonara. It was the best of the 3 courses. The pasta was cooked perfectly and there was a perfect amount of sauce. The sauce was creamy and well flavored with the pancetta and cheese.


Dessert: This was the butterscotch budino (basically pudding). It was creamy, but just blah. Pudding isn't my dessert of choice. The mini beignets were bland and had to be smothered in pudding to taste good.


I would not come back to Forte to eat. I think the menu verbiage makes the food seem much more unique than it actually is. The service should have been much better. The food was decent, but not worth the price (even though it was only $30). The best part was the wine, and I would only come back to sit at the bar and indulge in another flight or one of their cocktails.

5 comments:

GroundedFitness said...

I HATE bad service. especially at such a nice place- you'd thnk they would be a little more particular about their staff.

which reminds, me i havent been to a nice restaurant in a looong time.

Kelly Turner
www.groundedfitness.com

Anonymous said...

I dined at Forte last night, and had an amazing experience. We enjoyed there "value menu" and disagree with this review. The service was warm, the food was simple but amazing. We will be back.

TheRavenousMommy said...

"ANONYMOUS" - I really wanted to like it and was very excited to go. But too bad this experience has turned me off to Forte for good. They need to be much more consistent.

obama1 said...

Being involved in restaurants for over 15 years, I would have to say that there are several ways to judge/measure a restaurant...the most common are:
1. service
2. quality
But lets be honest! almost anyone will try a restaurant at least once....and as PAYING customers, service and quality are expected! They're a must! So that being said, the only true way to measure a restaurant is by their consistency! Restaurants that are to be considered the best..are the same no matter what time or day you go, and no matter how busy they are! Trust me when i say consistency is what keeps you alive in such a competitive industry! Laugh all you want...and i know its not the same comparison in terms of food quality, but it is in principle!!!! MacDonalds tastes the same all around the world, a Big Mac in Amsterdam tastes like it would in Manhattan...and thats why people line up out the door to eat the shit....not because its sooooo good...we all know its not healthy.....its because when you do go...you know exactly what you're gonna get...no more no less....they have service and quality (to their standards) down to a science! Go into the kitchen of any world renowned restaurant and you'll see the same thing...a science of artwork!!!! thats all i got!

Alisha Keth said...

Great information!!! It is really interesting to read your article.

With the country's aging housing stock, many home are facing some necessary West Palm Beach remodeling jobs. But older home or new, West Palm Beach homeowners are adding, expanding, reconfiguring, and remodeling their homes more than ever. West Palm Beach remodeling is a big part of over 25 million U.S. homeowners undertaking some sort of home improvement project annually. Major remodeling projects now make up a large part of the money invested by homeowners. These include complete home remodeling, additions and kitchen upgrades.