We have all heard of Wolfganag Puck and to be honest I had avoided going to Spago because I feared the ""lazy-famous restaurantuer"". I have eaten in fine, fair and extraordinary restaurants around the world. I call myself a ""foodie"", but the truth is, I just love a good meal. I have a theory, any great restaurant is 50% food and 50% everything else. The everything else includes; music, lighting, cleanliness, atmosphere, acoustics, service, you get the picture. I should also tell you that I have been using Citysearch and other search engines for years. I have cross referenced the reviews, I have read books and I have even gone on re-con missions before eating at a restaurant. This is my first time to write a user review. \r
When I dine at a ""top"" restaurant, I usually order the tasting menu on my first visit. I do this because typically the ""chef"" is preparing the food, I get a broad idea of the range of food and I would love nothing more than to sit and eat for hours. Last night I ordered the tasting menu with wine pairings. The food was exceptional, the head server was knowledeable, well-dressed, and polite. The wine was decent, I did not feel that much thought was given to the ""pairing"". The courses had a wide range of flavor and the presentation was playful and eclectic. If we are judging by my thoery that food is 50%, I give this a 47/50. Pretty darn good. Now we have that other half,that I feel is equally important to the dining expereince and all I can say is dreadful. I will spare you the unfortunate details, but let me say this, if you like dining on fois gras and drinking champagne while listening to Pink Floyd, with bad lighting and a cold, noisy room then this is a great place to frequent. I hate to sound cady, but from an unclean bathroom , to ""rockin"" out all through dinner and an especially high bill, I was not impressed. I will call this ""Airport Chic"", if there were people walking by with boarding passes and luggage, I would not have been surprised.
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