In a particularly memorable episode of Penn & Teller's Bulls__t, the guys set up a fake upscale restaurant, serve small, hyped dishes made of laughably low-cost ingredients (Salisbury steak, for example) to their posturing, opulent clientele. They then film their victims as they ooh and ahh over the flim-flam dishes for which they're happily forking over a fortune.
I'm not saying that The Union is that fraudulent. By no means. What I'm saying is that the distance between the hype and the reality coordinate with the highwayman prices to EVOKE that episode.
From what I hear, The Union once served a taste menu. As of a couple months ago, that was no longer the case. What it serves now is snobbisme for the credulous, undersized dishes of uneven quality at a uniformly exhorbitant price. I sat across from my girlfriend attempting to supress a mischievous grin as I watched the feigned appreciation that spread over the faces of this cheaterie's bamboozled patrons. I felt like Mencken must have felt has he reported on the Scopes trial.
In an exchange that I cannot remember with a straight face, I explained to the waitress that I had not received any implement with which I could cut the sirlion into eatable portions (I had not received a chainsaw). This was, she rejoined, "by design" -- that the sirloin was "marbled".
Honestly, the Union is OK, and the wine list is good, but the fare justifies neither the ballyhoo nor the price.
Pros: Nice location, good wine list.
Cons: Just read the review.
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