*17 restaurant - Execution is Key

Coincidentally, it was also Restaurant Week in Houston (HRW). My friend, S, wanted to check out *17 restaurant since they now have a new chef. I also wanted to go back for sentimental reasons, which makes it even more unfortunate that this experience was so lackluster.

The red damask walls and sleek strands of crystals dangling from the ceiling gave the dining room a warm, luxurious feel. Our waitress showed great enthusiasm for wine and food, and their HRW menu was intriguing (more creative than most of the other restaurants’). If only the execution of the food had been on par with these other elements, this would have been an outstanding meal.

Since S and I split all of our dishes, I’ll list everything below with a short description.

Amuse bouche: Garlic Ice Cream Float with ginger ale
Definitely an interesting way to start a meal. The float was light and fluffy with just a soft hint of garlic.

First Course:

Coastal Napolean: fried green tomato/ gulf lump crab/ *17 roumalade/ micro greens
A delicate dish with flaky wafers separating the crabmeat. The mustard seeds added a subtle complexity to the creamy roumalade. I wish the crabmeat had been sweet instead of bland, that would have really elevated this dish.

Black Angus Dumpling: braised ribeye/sho mai.dipping sauce
The dumpling wrappers had a nice, silky texture, but flavor of the meat got lost in the extremely salty sauce. Second Course:

De-constructed Beef Wellington: Seared tenderloin/ foie gras/ roasted radish/ bordelaise/ wild mushrooms
This dish would have been good had it not been overcooked -- the tenderloin was dry and the foie gras was so shriveled up that I could hardly taste it (what a waste of foie!)
Fried Quail & Waffles: tomatoes and okra/ maple reduction/ pepper gelee
This was the item that had caught my eye when I had originally skimmed the HRW menus. Sadly, it was the most disappointing course of the evening. The fried quail was dry and under-seasoned, and the waffled tasted like it had been made yesterday. The pepper gelee was the only bright component of the dish – it packed an unexpected punch.
Third Course:

Masumoto Peach Souffle: creme anglaise/ peach chips
I liked the playfulness of the soufflé floating in the crème anglaise instead of the usual crème anglaise being poured inside the soufflé, however, the consistency of the soufflé was off -- it was more like an angel food cake. The peach chips were tart and crunchy (I wonder if Trader Joe’s sells anything like this...it'd make a great snack).

Strawberry Panna Cotta: rhubarb compote/ almond tuile
The panna cotta was probably the only thing that was done right the whole night. It was subtle sweetness from the strawberry and had a lovely creamy texture.

White Ganache and Dark Chocolate Cake: espresso ice cream/ peanut powder/ caramel sauce
This dessert was way too sweet (even for me) and the caramel sauce was overkill. The espresso ice cream with the powdered peanuts was delicious though – they should have had just those two items as the dessert.
Note: We had a complimentary third dessert because I had mentioned that our entrees were “a bit dry” (yes, I was being polite) when our waitress asked what we thought of the food. As I said, the service was great, it was the execution that was the problem here.

BITE METER: *17 restaurant – 2.0 bites (out of 5)