Dry Creek Kitchen

"If you appreciate a side of structural puzzles with your dinner, Dry Creek Kitchen has designed quite the evening for you. For starters, the seating arrangement comes with a strict manifesto: either the entire table compromises on the 3-course menu, or absolutely everyone commits to one of two 6-course journeys. We opted for the 3-course path, mostly because we value our independence. The culinary performance started off strong. The pork belly biscuit was a truly delightful bite, and the shrimp dumplings were highly enjoyed by everyone at the table. If you like dinner and a show, there is genuinely no better entertainment in the room than watching the steak tartare being mixed table-side with absolute precision. Given that they have an entire 6-course menu entirely dedicated to pasta, trying the Pasta al Limone felt like a mandatory test, and it absolutely did not disappoint. Unfortunately, that's where the smooth pacing hit a wall. My filet arrived tragically lacking in seasoning, and the extra salt I requested vanished into the ether, never to materialize. We experienced a similar ghost story with the sommelier; after an exhaustive 20-minute stakeout, we officially gave up on ordering a third bottle of wine. The clock felt broken for most of the night, with massive gaps stretching between the second and third courses—a trend that started early when it took forever just to pivot from ordering drinks to taking our food order. The pastry department, at least, is doing the heavy lifting to salvage the evening. You can’t really go wrong here, but the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar is to die for, the exotic layer cake is delicious, and the strawberry cheesecake is beautifully decadent. For a kitchen of this pedigree, you’d expect a much tighter service operation, but they seemed entirely overwhelmed by private events on the night we visited. Oh, and as a final logistical quirk: the restroom is located in a completely separate building, so make sure to check the weather before you leave your table."