Aramis Penland

I hate writing this because the server was super nice, but my gosh, the bubble tea here is bad. Just really bad. Just look at my photo and 1) you see about 3 boba - because that's about all they gave; 2) the drink itself looks kinda odd/murky - because it was. Bad consistency, way overly sweet (and I am a sweet tooth so that is hard to say!), and again, basically no boba. Odd that this place has a 4.5 on Google. For me, definitely not recommended.

My 150th Michelin starred experience. And unfortunately, incredibly disappointing. The service is capital "E" exceptional (friendly, attentive, responsive). The experience of eating in multiple gorgeous settings is second in the world only to Alinea (in other words, capital "G" great!). But when you are paying $400 per person on a meal, what ultimately matters, and what is most important, is not the show, but the food and the flavors. How often do you say "Mmmm, "Wow!", and "Gahhh..." THAT'S what matters. And here, the issues were wayyy too abundant:

1) Of 28 different bites/tastes, only 3 (yes, just 3) triggered the aforementioned "Mmmm," "Wow!", or "Gahhh..." reaction. Far too many dishes were either just ok or missed the mark altogether. The biggest issue was the blandness/mildness/forgettable-ness of sauces (which, when done right, can elevate anything and everything). Here, too many were borderline tasteless. The second biggest issue was overuse of the same ingredients (truffles/mushrooms truffles/mushrooms ad infinitum... edible flowers garnishing seemingly a quarter of all dishes...).

2) I mentioned 28 different bites/tastes right? How on earth does that not fill one up?! I have never left a long tasting not being jolly-ly and unbutton-my-pants stuffed. But here, when the transition to dessert occurred, I thought it was a joke. I loveee lots of mini bites, but when none of them are even modestly substantial, you feel like you just ate a bag of trail mix rather than a buffet. The main and only meat was a small fried ball of Iberian pork. The main and only fish was an inch squared piece of tuna. That's just not enough.

3) And then the desserts... For a 20+ tasting, I expected multiple creative dessert bites (perhaps my fav thing in the world). Instead, at Azurmendi you get one tiny ice cream (with... you guessed it... a cone made of, sigh, mushroom) and one tiny toffee dessert (which thankfully was one of the 3 "Mmmm" bites).

I don't write reviews like this to hate on fine dining. I LOVE fine dining. But I care more about being honest to potential diners who are considering what 3 star Michelin to splurge on. As I read other reviews, with all due respect, but they ring of diners who don't eat at restaurants of this caliber a lot (in which case Azurmendi would obviously wow), or who always give 5 star reviews. But look carefully through the reviews and you will find those like mine. I hope Azurmendi improves, but it has a long way to go to achieve the heights of other 3 stars like Martin Berasategui and El Celler de Can Roca in Spain, or Alinea, Fat Duck, Atelier Crenn, and Schloss Schauenstein around the world.

Kind and cute customer service + delicious dishes = winning in Italy! Where else will you find non English speaking hosts who still take your order with a smile and friendliness even some of the most seasoned hosts can't present? And where else can you eat one of the most delicious duck entrees for only 18 euros? At Alba, a relatively new and upcoming restaurant that deserves your attention. Course reviews below:

1) Linguine w/Clams (5/5) - Succulently juicy and delicious, especially when so many Italian pastas on this trip have been lacking in sauce and flavor.

2) Roasted Octopus (4/5) - The octopus was slightly overcooked but still tasty and a sizeable portion.

3) Duck Breast (5/5) - Wow. Perfectly cooked. With a lovely currant and ginger sauce. Get this.

4) Swordfish (4.5/5) - Swordfish isn't to everyone's liking because of how meaty a fish it is, but this was cooked well and the tomato sauce on top could have been a dish/soup on its own it was so good!

5) Cannoli (5/5) - The best cannoli I've ever had in Italy or Boston or wherever? Yes indeed!

As Alba grows, small adjustments could be made to add a non alcoholic drink menu and a dessert menu in English, but all new restaurants have little things to improve and overall, the taste and service here was a delight and is highly recommended.

I would love to try Hinckley Pottery, though after reaching out multiple times via their contact emails and phone and not receiving any replies after 8 days, I can't get hold of any staff here. Most of their classes are sold out online with no indication of when they might become available again, and rather than open their website day after day in hopes that something becomes available, Hinckley really needs to have a way to get in touch with them. If you are going to provide contact emails but either not monitor those inboxes or choose not to respond, that is simply bad good customer service.

This review is for Piccoletto, where the customer service is super unpleasant. When you walk up and are standing at the order counter two feet away from the server, and they don't look at you or say anything to you for a full minute, then finally look up and stare at you, you know you are in for a treat. Then, when your food is ready and they hand it to you without a smile or saying a word (no thank you, no have a nice day), you realize you have gone back in time to an era when customer service didn't need to exist because customers wouldn't write scathing reviews like this. Welp, here we are...

The 3 pastas I tried weren't bad, hence the two stars, though 2 of them (the cacio e pepe and the spicy pork rigatoni) were hilariously small. I was interested in trying Piccoletto in the first place because they seemed to offer a variety of tasty sounding pastas for an economical price. Unfortunately, the low price is simply a result of portions that are smaller than your hand. Seriously, just look at my pic and you will see 9 pieces of pasta total and an overall portion size smaller than my fist! I literally ate all three pastas I ordered at once before I was full, so instead of paying $9 for a full meal, I spent $30 on "3" (though really 1 full sized) meal. This place is not worth it, the customer service is awful. Just no...