Yep, usually Patagonian Toothfish, I believe. Some restaurant marketeur at some point decided that that wasn’t a very appetizing name, renamed it ‘Chilean Sea Bass’ and the name stuck.
Personally, I think ‘Patagonian Toothfish’ is an awesome name for an entree fish.
I agree. I don’t often go to fine dining establishments but I do on occasion. The ones with small portions or poor quality food do tend to die simply because there are plenty of other establishments in that niche who serve normal portions of good quality.
There is also the other end of the spectrum, which is where once-legendary establishments fail to adapt and either start cutting corners or just generally stop caring about quality because, after all, they are [name of famous establishment] and who are we to complain about them? I can report, for example, that tea at the Ritz in London has become a mediocre and overpriced affair aimed entirely at tourists (go to the Wolseley next door instead - they are amazing). Or you can read Jay Rayner’s infamous review of Paris’ Georges V restaurant Le Cinq. Safe to say that he did not enjoy his experience there.
So is fine dining a scam? On rare occasion, perhaps (especially if they try tacking extra unannounced service charges onto the bill), but more often you’ll just get a duff restaurant. Chalk it up to experience and check the recent reviews for new places before you go.
One other point that just occurred to me.
The waitstaff ought to know about portion sizes. And know which dishes are large or small or benefit from another course or sides ordered as well.
Of course there’s a delicate dance there about not insulting the experienced fine diner who already knows the e.g. 6oz filet mignon comes solo on an otherwise bare but huge plate, versus the folks more used to e.g. Longhorn or Texas Roadhouse where potatoes, vegetables, etc., are included, and there’s no bare plate surface to be seen.
But good waitstaff should be able to anticipate a disappointment coming and diplomatically offer a helpful corrective. “Our daily specials are deliberately rather small to not overwhelm the total experience. If you’re a light eater you’ll love it. If you’re looking for a more substantial meal you might accompany this with our steamed mussels appetizer or the vegetarian carpaccio with pickled squid brains blah blah blah, etc., etc., etc.”
That they did not (that we here know of) offer some advice is another strike that this place is still in the learning phase. Whether they actually learn is a different question only the future knows.
Well, it had to be a tiny amount of broccoli Raab. Otherwise the “bed” would be lumpy and the fish made uncomfortable.
Are you saying he got Raabed?
OP, you’re in Chicago? At least you didn’t have this happen (caution: language):
I agree, but one can understand why they renamed “slimehead” to “orange roughy”.
And of course, no thread with this topic is complete without a link to the famous review of the worst Michelin star restaurant ever.
Wow. I thought the Le Cinq review was bad but I nearly threw up a little in my mouth (appropriately enough) when I read the part about the plaster cast at Bros.
Here’s her followup article where she talks about the restuarant’s response to the original article.
Few things drive me crazier than overcooked risotto. I don’t eat out much at all anymore, but I’ve rarely had risotto that was cooked to what I would consider the correct consistency. I have the same issue with pasta, in general, at a lot of red sauce places. The fine dining place I’ve been to a couple of times, though, always nailed it, thankfully. They probably had a good risotto, too, but I never tried it.
To the OP, that definitely sounds like a sub-par restaurant trying to hide small portions behind presentation. I also think that they, depending on the competition in the area, will be one of the many failed restaurants. Especially with seafood, the higher up you get in fine dining, I’ve noticed that seafood mains get smaller and try to hide among compensating sides and starches. One recent place I went to for a cioppino had a grand total of just 4 mussels on top of a huge bow of vegetable stew.
There is good fine dining out there, but I’m sorry that you encountered the bad, and you shouldn’t have to second guess yourself with snooty rationalizations coming from others that imply you just don’t understand fine dining. Bad is bad.
I guess that my impression of “fine dining” is when I see a 12-inch plate with an item the size of a slider in the middle surrounded by fancy squiggle, so maybe 1 or 2 bites for, say, $100
RE: your 'eat with your eye" comment. Wasn’t there post recently about trend, I think Scandinavian, where food is prepared like artwork? Looks great, but who wants to destroy it by actually “consuming” it after all that work that went into it?
I look at such things in the same light as those sand mandalas Buddhist monks spend hours making, only to sweep them away once complete. The ephemerality of the beauty is part of the art. If you don’t eat it, it will fall apart or otherwise lose its appearance soon anyway.
Admire the appearance, and then admire the experience of eating it.
Yeah, again, I may not frequent ‘fine dining’ establishments too often, but I wasn’t some rube expecting a ‘Texas Roadhouse’ style experience with a plate loaded up with inexpensive sides and starches, or a ‘bottomless breadstick’ Olive Garden-style experience. And the small portion size of the fish wasn’t even so much of a problem as the lack of a veg. I was expecting a ‘bed’ of broccoli rabe, not a few flecks of green on the plate. What I got was an entree that cost something like $56 which was basically an appetizer-sized piece of fish on a plate with a bit of garnish and some sauce.
Nice 
No, the greater Metro Detroit area. I said I mentioned to my wife we should maybe try a Michelin-starred restaurant sometime just to get an idea what real fine dining is, of which the closest for us would be in Chicago. I’m thinking we take a nice weekend trip out to Chi-Town, maybe hit a place like Smyth. Looks like a G-spot for dinner for two of us with drinks, so it’ll take some convincing to get my wife to go, but I want to try a 2 or 3 Michelin star restaurant.
I think it’s reasonable with a 12-course meal: Mirazur x El Bullí Meal Photos - Dining and Cooking
I have been to dinners where there were so many courses that you had no choice but to eat those kinds of portions, despite how much was on your plate, otherwise you would never make it to the end of the meal. Would you rather have everything set out for you just so, or eat a few bites each time and watch them take away a nearly full plate?
Not that I am implying that was what the OP was in for.
Oh yeah, that first article is a classic. That photo of the plaster cast of the mouth with the sickly-looking ‘citrus foam’ is the stuff of nightmares. I don’t think I ever read the follow-up article-- looking forward to that when I have more time.
There is such a thing as bad art.
I’m by no means a gourmet, and I fully recognize that I can be an unreasonably picky and unadventurous eater. But even I enjoy going to a fine dining restaurant, where I know that whatever I eat will be made from good ingredients, be well-prepared, and be delicious…as well as the fact that the service will be excellent, the server will be able to give smart recommendations, and the atmosphere will be conducive to an enjoyable evening out with friends or relatives.
I agree with the others who feel that the OP and his wife either went to a not-great restaurant, or caught them on a not-great evening.
Same here. And overcooking fish at those prices is unforgivable. I would have sent it back.
There are decent restaurants here, but it’s nearly impossible to get in unless you book a month or more out. Sadly, a lot of people in this neck o’ the woods equate quantity with quality, and drowning things in a sauce or in cheese is the norm. There are steak houses that are good, but you need a bank loan to eat there. That leaves ethnic restaurants, of which there are many, and many of which are very good.
Here’s a Today Show article that contains the chef’s response letter as well. You should probably read that before the followup.