Hatfield's

 
I've heared so much about Hatfield's over the years.  I've heard that Karen Hatfield is an amazing chef, they have a michelin star from 2009, the restaurant is contemporary and it's just a place that I have to go to.

I have to say that it is all true.  However, the short end of the review is that I am glad I went, but I don't think I'll be making a return trip.  Is there something particularly wrong with Hatfields?  Not really.  I just didn't think it was impressive enough.

The decor is incredibly contemporary and minimalist.  There are 3 large pieces for wall decoration on one wall.  They look like fossilized wheat shafts in concrete.  There is a really cool central light fixture in place of a chandelier and an open kitchen for the diner's viewing pleasure.

I noticed that the only minorities there were 3 tables of asians, my table included.  We were also by far the youngest ones there.  Most of the other patrons had white hair.  There's nothing wrong with that...just that it says something about the ambience and feel of the restaurant.

Here's why I won't go back again - for the price of the food, the portions were just too small.

The menu was tiny - 7 appetizers, 6 entrees, a seasonal pre-fixe, vegetaraian pre-fixe and a chef's tasting 10 course.  There weren't very many options and none that struck out to me as particularly avant garde.

 

The amuse bouche was a cute bowl of smoked salmon tartare on a bed of cucumber yogurt.  It was nice and light - good palatte prep.  The weird thing was that the amuse bouche came out before we even placed our order!  That's just really strange.  It came before the bread and even before the water.  That's just strange to me.  I just let it sit for a bit until I made my order.  It wasn't imperative to eat the bowl contents immediately anyway.

I see that Karen Hatfield's style is not usually very impressive - nothing particularly mind-blowing or smartly composed.  It was simply very good food prepared perfectly.  The agnolotti was beautifully made, nicely composed and a beautiful appetizer plate.  However, $15 for 6 pieces the size of bloated quarters and a half handful of shimeji mushrooms, I'd have to say that's overpriced.

The wagyu flat iron steak I got was delicious and made exactly the way I asked and the rack of lamb was cooked perfectly pink all the way through as requested.  But did you notice the tiny size of the entrees?  For over $35 apiece, I would expect more than 4 oz of beef and 2 large lamb chops.  Flavor-wise, I didn't think the lamb chops were amazing - very good, but not much different from the other lamb chops I've had at other restaurants.  I thought the flat iron steak was just amazing.  They really did that animal justice.  I did, however, feel the sauce was just too salty.  I found that I had to scrape some of it off.  The bed of creamed spinach that it was on was slightly salty too.  I felt the salt on that was sufficient for the steak.  I could have done without the sauce.

Overall, if you enjoy the work of precisely made, technically-superior food, then this is the place to go.  If you're bored and want to try someplace new, by all means, try it out. Just know that you'll leave hungry if you didn't spoil your dinner with a yummy cupcake like I did.