Metropolitan - Annapolis, MD

Saturday, October 20, 2007


Metropolitan is a sleek, modern, multi-floor restaurant on the recently revitalized West Street in Annapolis. I had high expectations based upon what I had heard as well as what the online menu offered. The website proclaims its "pride in ingredients foremost" favoring local organic farmers while "technique and presentation are secondary." The menu, however, bares modern touches like a "strawberry-vanilla air" (accompanying pan seared foie gras) as well as beet and tomato "carpaccio." A restaurant whose mission statement follows Alice Waters' mantra with a menu that bares influences from the likes of Grant Achatz and Michel Richard? Count me in.

The meal got off to a strong start. We were welcomed by an amuse bouche of shot size glasses of a warm spiced cider, which was a nice beginning to a fall evening. Both the sunflower seed bread and focaccia were tasty and were served with orange butter (good) and parsley butter (unexciting, as it tasted like parsley and butter). My brother and sister-in-law enjoyed their well-made cocktails (martini and Manhattan, respectively) and my wife and I were pleased with the selection of Belgian beers (Hoegaarden and Duvel, respectively).

The table decided on the five-course tasting menu, which provides both surprise and opportunity for food discussion. No one got the wine pairing, which seemed expensive for a small amount. Our first course was angel hair with grilled shrimp, tomatoes, and shaved parmesan. It was fine but tamer than I expected. Little did I know that it would be one of the best of the five courses. The second dish was clams on the half-shell with tomatoes. The shells were creatively placed on a bed of rock salt; based on the taste, the rock salt was more than just presentation and was the theme of the dish: very salty. The clams were pummeled by salt and tomato; I didn't finish the course.

Course three: more seafood. The spice crusted monkfish was flavorful and was cooked perfectly. Though three straight seafood dishes were a bit much, the chef knows how to cook the seafood - none were overcooked. The quinoa salad was dominated by parsley (it appeared the chef was proud of the presumably fresh and organic tomatoes and parsley on this night!) and overall the course left me feeling like I had ordered a specifically low fat dish - this not what I'm looking for in a multi-course tasting menu.

The fourth course was one of the better dishes, a lamb stew with baby seasonal squashes. Rich, brown and flavorful, I liked the rustic quality of the dish, however, my wife complained that this was the second of four courses that suffered from a heavy hand with the salt.

The fifth course was a white cake with fruit and white chocolate. It was perfectly passable but it felt like, "Hey, the tasting menu table needs a dessert. Quick, grab something off the dessert cart!"

The service was a young, knowledgeable, polite, and attentive staff. After being asked, however, about the clam dish I did not like, our waiter's enthusiasm sank for the remainder of the meal as if he feared any further criticism. To his credit, he said that he would tell the chef about the dish. It was my mistake that I didn't tell the waiter why I didn't like it.

The meal had its highs and lows but suffered from a lack of cohesion and, at times, execution. The courses were also disappointingly conservative compared to the more ambitious menu. If I ever return to Metropolitan, I'm ordering from the menu (and I'll be getting the pan-seared foie gras with strawberry-vanilla air). $75 was too much for this meal. The multi-course beer dinners at Brewer's Alley in Frederick are better - and for about half the price.


Metropolitan
169 West Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
410-268-7733

www.metropolitanannapolis.com