kennethpollock
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My wife and I went to Bacchanalia on July 7 to celebrate our anniversary. It is Atlanta's most popular "fine" restaurant; the only one that is full every night. Both Seeger's and The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton of Buckhead are considerably better, but are not well known, perhaps because they cost about 1/3 more. We went to Baccanalia because we had been to Seeger's and The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton more recently. Dinner for two at Bacchanalia, with a modest bottle of wine, runs about $250.
There has always been something about that place that I have not liked; maybe it is the California "attitude." Both owner/chefs, a married couple, are from there. The hosts dress very badly, as in California. More disturbing to me is the appearance of the place; it is in an old warehouse, which in many respects still looks like an old warehouse. The yellow tiled walls make me shudder; too much like my old high school cafeteria from the 1950's.
The dinner was pretty good; the cheese from the cheese board was excellent, as was the plate of charcuterie. Desserts were weak. The waiter was quite chatty, like he was waiting on very inexperienced dinners at first, but at least he did not tell us his name. The wine list was quite short, but most around us seemed to be drinking wine by the glass. The sommelier was surprised by my silver plated French wicker wine basket, but pleasantly so. He remarked that it made the wine much easier to pour and was quite elegant. When we finished our wine, he took the basket away briefly to show it to some others.
Overall, the experience just lacked something for me. I am 90% sure it was mostly the dress of the other men. Of the 45-50 men there, I was the only one in a coat and tie. Two wore ties, but no jacket (weird). About 5-6 wore jackets, but no tie [corrected] (a look that I personally detest). The rest were in open collar shirts, about 50-50 between long and short sleeves, with about 1/2 of the short sleeves being knits. When I told my friend E*****t (banned) about this, he asked if I made several trips to the men's roon to vomit. I did not. I am gertting used to this look in America. At least there were no caps.
As usual in such places, however, about 40-50% of the women were quite well dressed, in cocktail dresses.They certainly did not "match" their dates. I am not sure of the reason for this.
The waiter asked if we wanted champagne to begin, but I passed as the guy at the next table was in short sleeves. Champagne just seemed wrong in such an atmosphere.
Comments?
There has always been something about that place that I have not liked; maybe it is the California "attitude." Both owner/chefs, a married couple, are from there. The hosts dress very badly, as in California. More disturbing to me is the appearance of the place; it is in an old warehouse, which in many respects still looks like an old warehouse. The yellow tiled walls make me shudder; too much like my old high school cafeteria from the 1950's.
The dinner was pretty good; the cheese from the cheese board was excellent, as was the plate of charcuterie. Desserts were weak. The waiter was quite chatty, like he was waiting on very inexperienced dinners at first, but at least he did not tell us his name. The wine list was quite short, but most around us seemed to be drinking wine by the glass. The sommelier was surprised by my silver plated French wicker wine basket, but pleasantly so. He remarked that it made the wine much easier to pour and was quite elegant. When we finished our wine, he took the basket away briefly to show it to some others.
Overall, the experience just lacked something for me. I am 90% sure it was mostly the dress of the other men. Of the 45-50 men there, I was the only one in a coat and tie. Two wore ties, but no jacket (weird). About 5-6 wore jackets, but no tie [corrected] (a look that I personally detest). The rest were in open collar shirts, about 50-50 between long and short sleeves, with about 1/2 of the short sleeves being knits. When I told my friend E*****t (banned) about this, he asked if I made several trips to the men's roon to vomit. I did not. I am gertting used to this look in America. At least there were no caps.
As usual in such places, however, about 40-50% of the women were quite well dressed, in cocktail dresses.They certainly did not "match" their dates. I am not sure of the reason for this.
The waiter asked if we wanted champagne to begin, but I passed as the guy at the next table was in short sleeves. Champagne just seemed wrong in such an atmosphere.
Comments?