Charleston a disappointment

[b_morefoodie]

I was lucky enough to be treated to a dinner at Charleston in downtown Baltimore recently. I have enjoyed meals there in the past. This time I had to admit to myself that no matter how impeccable were the service and the decor, the food was bland and uninteresting. The ingredients were of the highest quality, but nothing seemed to have any flavor. It's fascinating that the restaurant is as successful as it is. I wonder, in fact, whether serving high priced, bland, and unchallenging food is a winning combination for Cindy Wolfe and Tony Forman. What are others' experiences? Perhaps I've over-rated it, but I certainly remember enjoying my meals there in the past. For me, on this occasion, it didn't hold a candle to high-end new American restaurants in other towns. Definitely not worth the money if memorable food experiences are what you are after. (If you're looking for a high-end experience to impress a date or business colleague, it's still the best show in Baltimore.)

[debit]

Just wanted to say that we went on Saturday night on a last minute reservation. I thought the food was just fab. The porcini bisque and the shrimp and grits were highlights, but we were swabbing our plates with bread (yay cornbread!) after each course. I also really liked the snail tart. Cindy Wolf obviously knows her sauces! The decor was really nice and comfortable. But the service was outstanding. Very much on a level to what I had experienced at Le Bernardin.

I had four courses. Hubby had five. Wine list is great--all price ranges (though American choices were the most overpriced) and we really loved the by-the-glass offerings in two different sizes.

Complimentary valet parking was also a plus. We'll be back.

[a70wilson]

We were there 2 weeks ago with friends from San Diego who said they have been trying southern Cal restaurants for the past 2 years since they moved there (from Baltimore), and they said Charleston was better than anything they had tasted out West so far. Went so far as to say the rabbit that is currently on the menu is the best they've ever had.

I am a veggie, so usually get slightly different things prepared for me, and while I never quite feel as though I've got my money's worth sans meat, everything I have is so tasty. The kitchen made me grits with a sauteed mushroom medley and green beans, and while it was buttery, the mushrooms had such a good flavor, and went so well with the grits.

[chefdilettante]

We did the six course tasting menu. I agree with B_morefoodie. Everything was competent, service was excellent. But dishes didn't shine based on their ingredients' flavors; everything was gussied up with demi glace or butter. A good example of that is the bisque: It's certainly good--though hardly great--and coasts on enormous finish of cream rather than the flavor of the shellfish.

Sorry, Baltimore. Charleston has the service, polish and style of the top tier of restaurants in this country. Just not the food. It's very good--again, don't get me wrong--but it's not in the same league.

[curious4food]

i agree w/ the OP and the above comment. please see my original post on charleston's valuation, style of cooking and heavy handedness w/ demi.

[Joe H]

Thanks for the supporting responses-they are appreciated. We will definitely have to go back and soon.

[linguafood]

Interesting discussion. My man and I went there for my birthday dinner in September, and did the 6 course tasting menu as well. I thought actually the seafood bisque was one of the strong points of the menu, whereas the potato salad with parsley oil did not deliver at all... the wine pairings were really great, though. Overall, I liked it, but I think I agree that the food did not overwhelm me / make me swoon.

[imgould]

My family and I went to Charleston last Thanksgiving and had the tasting menu. We are all native Chicagoans, and my parents still live there. We are also no strangers to good restaurants-- we went to Tru following this year's Thanksgiving. Not one of us liked Charleston at all. While the restaurant was lovely, was completely disappointing. We've had much better meals in Baltimore and elsewhere. I would never recommend Charleston to anyone.

[Joe H]

This is a dangerous topic for me because I have got into trouble in the past discussing Baltimore Italian (i.e. Bocaccio, Trattoria Alberto in Glen Burnie) as on par with Vienna, Virginia's best, Bonaroti. I like Charleston a lot. But, in truth, we haven't been in a year or two and it's not fair to judge it based on our not having a recent visit. Still, there was also real promise with the Cindy Wolf owned Cinghale and my wife and I actually had a reservation which we cancelled when the former Maestro sous chef left. (please note that we live in Reston which is a 55 mile drive. Still, for us, this is a short distance for real excellence...and for a good crab cake or great Greek seafood among other dishes. I also grew up in Silver Spring and spent years exploring Baltimore restaurants in the '70's and '80's with a girl friend who lived there. ((for the many on this board from Baltimore I go back to Danny's, Tio Pepe, the Pimlico Grill as well as Haussner's and Ikaros and ate at the Prime Rib long before it open in D. C. in the mid '70's; I also remember Maria's 300 in the early '70's...)) ) But Charleston is another matter. We've been twice-again, not recently-but thought then that there was a great deal of potential for a national class restaurant. Her interpretive crab cakes (non traditional but, perhaps, the best I've ever had) along with fried oysters which competed with the best fritto misto I've had anywhere in Italy were fantastic. This was an absolute credit not just to Baltimore but to the entire Mid Atlantic area.

It is disappointing to hear a report like this. For myself Charleston, more than any other Baltimore restaurant, was center stage on a national level. We will go back. And soon. You had no detail other than your saying "The ingredients were of the highest quality, but nothing seemed to have any flavor." I wish you had elaborated: which dishes did you have? Specifically what was the highest quality? Which flavors were lacking in a particular dish? How did they disappoint from what you had before? Was your dinner prix fixe? More this time than on your last visit? What price would you consider excessive for a prix fixe dinner (assuming it was indeed excellent) and the number of courses associated with this? If you are going to write this criticism for an iconic restaurant I sincerely hope that you go into a bit of detail and provide some reference for your tastes elsewhere on a comparative note.

Charleston had a lot of promise. It would be disappointing to learn that because of expansion their restaurants were now suffering. If this is true it hurts Baltimore's image because, for me, Charleston was the city's best. And, I also thought, worthy of being the first Baltimore restaurant to win a Beard award for its chef/owners. I thought it was that good. Just as Jimmy Sneed elevated Richmond dining at the Frog and the Redneck so has Cindy Wolf at Charleston.

[b_morefoodie]

For at least a year, if not longer, Charleston has operated with a multi-course prix fixe menu. You pick three, four, five, or six, dishes from five different categories to assemble your meal. There is a set price depending on the number of dishes you order. It's a wonderful system. You can read the menu on their website.
I can't really discuss individual dishes because no matter how complex the ingredients, my comments would tend to be the same – the dish seemed bland, flavors lacked interest and originality. Nothing made you close your eyes and swoon. I have no complaint whatsoever with the service, presentation or anything else having to do with the restaurant. I think you should try it for yourself and see. After I have a great meal, for example at a restaurant like Gramercy Tavern or just about one of 100 bistros in Paris, I can describe the dish for days because the flavors write a little essay on your taste buds. Right now, the food at Charleston isn't doing that for me.

[Joe H]

Actually, I have eaten my way through Paris (I have travelled there several times a year on business for over 25 years) and found that most of the bistros I have been to "seemed bland, flavors lacked interest and originality." Many were special because they were Paris-not because they were genuinely good. I am only asking you to go into the detail that you say you can about "one of 100 bistros in Paris" where you "can describe the dish for days because the flavors write a little essay on your taste buds." But to do this for Charleston. Forgive my insistence but I genuinely like this restaurant and would like to order similar dishes to what you recently had so I can judge for myself. Thank you.

[Dakota Guy]

As you say, "it's still the best show in Baltimore." I would put in the top 10 in the DC-Baltimore area but not number 1. In DC, Citronelle, Restuarant Eve, Cityzen, and others still outshine it. I'd put Charleston in the next rung down, with Komi, Equinox, Vidalia, and similar places.