There is a confusing trend in the restaurant world these days: upmarket 'gourmet' prolaterian cuisine. While I am not adverse to food like hamburgers and pizza, the recent attempts to somehow turn these into a special dining experience makes little sense. If one is going to do it, however, pizza can at least be understood, especially since Wolfgang Puck’s experimentation with gourmet pizzas in the 80’s. Even with that the concept is a tricky one to navigate. Pizzabella is a nice execution. California Pizza Kitchen is not.
Apparently this has now morphed into the fad of upscale hamburger joints. To me, the best hamburgers can still be found at places that smell of grease and serve them in paper, in a manner that is completely unpretentious and serves the nature of the food. Recently I attended a team lunch at Blanc in Westport.
Blanc is situated in the location previously filled by Tatsu Arai’s unsuccesful sattelite bistro. Although the name is reputed to be a reverent nod to White Castle, the name Blanc references the paint scheme and décor more than anything to do with the food.
I am usually gentle with restaurants in their first month of opening. Blanc has been open far longer than a month, and I still receieved ham-handed service from the kitchen. My group all ordered a variety of burgers, and I selected the Kobe burger, because I find that the surest way to test a new place is by trying their flagship item. We ordered, and waited. And waited. When the beverages came around, the fellow sitting across from me received a vanilla milkshake, despite having clearly ordered a chocolate one. A simple error, sure, but when he asked for the correction, we were informed that they were out of chocolate! How can a place be out of chocolate?!
Forty minutes later, all of the plates had been delivered but mine. It was explained to me that mine had accidentally been served to another table and was on its way, but even though I ordered it medium rare I waited an additional ten minutes. Surely this is not the best way to impress a crowd.
Although the service was disappointing, the burger was not. When it finally arrived, it was delicious and juicy. I had also greatly enjoyed the treat of a bottled Dr.Pepper, something rare and difficult to find in Kansas City. I love the stuff, and have even ordered it for delivery online to the tune of $12 a sixpack due to its unavailability in this market. The burger could have been delivered on time in a much less deliberate atmosphere and been just as good.
BLANC:
Apparently this has now morphed into the fad of upscale hamburger joints. To me, the best hamburgers can still be found at places that smell of grease and serve them in paper, in a manner that is completely unpretentious and serves the nature of the food. Recently I attended a team lunch at Blanc in Westport.
Blanc is situated in the location previously filled by Tatsu Arai’s unsuccesful sattelite bistro. Although the name is reputed to be a reverent nod to White Castle, the name Blanc references the paint scheme and décor more than anything to do with the food.
I am usually gentle with restaurants in their first month of opening. Blanc has been open far longer than a month, and I still receieved ham-handed service from the kitchen. My group all ordered a variety of burgers, and I selected the Kobe burger, because I find that the surest way to test a new place is by trying their flagship item. We ordered, and waited. And waited. When the beverages came around, the fellow sitting across from me received a vanilla milkshake, despite having clearly ordered a chocolate one. A simple error, sure, but when he asked for the correction, we were informed that they were out of chocolate! How can a place be out of chocolate?!
Forty minutes later, all of the plates had been delivered but mine. It was explained to me that mine had accidentally been served to another table and was on its way, but even though I ordered it medium rare I waited an additional ten minutes. Surely this is not the best way to impress a crowd.
Although the service was disappointing, the burger was not. When it finally arrived, it was delicious and juicy. I had also greatly enjoyed the treat of a bottled Dr.Pepper, something rare and difficult to find in Kansas City. I love the stuff, and have even ordered it for delivery online to the tune of $12 a sixpack due to its unavailability in this market. The burger could have been delivered on time in a much less deliberate atmosphere and been just as good.
BLANC:
Food: 3 stars. Really the best that can be expected of a burger, and the bottle DP is a godsend.
Service: 2 stars. The waitress was kind and extremely apologetic, and my admittedly tardy burger was complimentary, but it is still not an excuse for the confusion in the kitchen and wait station.
Atmosphere: 2 stars. Clean but contrived. I wrote a scathing review of Seven because it was all show and no substance. The food was excellent here, but it suffers from the same pretension. Scandanavian architecture and furniture may have its place, but when mixed with burgers, the result is like french fries and green salsa: not quite right.
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