Cuvee

05/02/2007 Posted by jibsea

My husband and I missed our reservation for a restaurant in Uptown, so we asked our concierge about possibly getting into a fine dining restaurant closer to the Quarter. She didn't hesitate before recommending Cuvee. Luckily for us, they had a late table still available. We had never heard of Cuvee but the concierge assured us that we would not be disappointed - we were not. The food was absolutely out of this world! The chef is incredibly creative and obviously very talented. I had a "deconstructed Bloody Mary" with flash-fried oysters served over cucumber ribbons. It was such an interesting concept that the chef carried out to perfection. My husband went for something heavier with a "foie gras creme brulee" which is what it sounds like. The browned sugar crust on top added the perfect flavor and texture to the dish. It was deliciously rich. For dinner, I had a salmon dish served over creamy brie orzo -almost like a very sophisticated version of mac-and-cheese. There were also little pieces of lemon "confit" mixed into the orzo which tempered the richness of the dish. My husband had an unbelievably good "bouillabaise" with lobster and scallops and three individually wrapped, raviolis (I guess that's what you would call them?). They were more like soft-pasta wontons with a different filling in each. When the chef ("Bob") came out, he said that he makes all of the pasta in-house - which you could tell by the lightness of the pasta. Our server was incredible, too! He chose an excellent wine for us that went magnificently with our meal. He was very attentive and never missed a beat. The whole evening ended with a glass of dessert wine that our waiter chose and my husband and I shared the "Moon Pie" dessert. It was a very memorable evening. If we hadn't missed our first reservation, we never would have found Cuvee. Although, when I got home, I realized that I should be familiar the restaurant - it was just written up in Wine Spectator!

Pros: Food, ambience, wine service

Cons: Bathrooms in hotel were messy by the end of the night

03/01/2007 Posted by afolse

I love eating at fancy restaurants and am more than willing to compensate when the experience has been wonderful, but I was truly dissapointed with Cuvee. I went there for my birthday first of all, and the staff was aware of this, unfortunately it is the day after Christmas but the restaurant was open and not full at all. They started us out with a complimentary amuse bouche which was o.k. and on par with what it should be, but it lacked flavor. Our waiter was completely absent and quite rude, he took our order and then we barely saw him again, we had to pour our own wine and ask for things such as pepper and salt. In fact we had to ask the waiter serving the table next to us for things because our waiter was completely absent. I had a main dish of fish with black truffles and I was completely dissapointed and I love love love truffles. The chef however used them almost like a vegetable in the dish completely overpowering the flavor of the fish or anything else on the plate for that matter. Truffles should be a garnish! Then out of nowhere before our plates were even cleared our waiter comes out with a complimentary desert, nice and all, but when I asked to see the wine list again and a desert menu for my boyfriend, again we waited for twenty minutes and then we had had it and we asked for the check. I wanted to leave this guy nothing and when I saw the price of the bill I should have, almost three hundred dollars for two people and we didn't even get to really indulge. I am sorry, but this place is simply not worth it, at least at Restaurant August, John Besh himself comes out and asks you if you like everything and he knows that Truffles are a garnish, for the money I would go there any day over Cuvee.

Pros: some good flavors

Cons: price, service, and flavor