Heard about a new restaurant in Medford called The Wharf. Sort of an odd name for a restaurant that is landlocked, but anyway... Medford, OR is not exactly overrun with great food choices, so anytime I hear of a restaurant that is supposedly good, I feel like I should check it out.
I called The Wharf to make sure they were still open and see if we needed reservations.
"Dinner starts at 5."
"OK," I say, and as I go to hang up, I can hear that she is still talking. I put the phone back up to my ear, and ask if she can repeat herself.
"Yeah, what I was saying was that it's because of the baked potatoes."
"Sorry...what?" I ask, bewildered.
"You can come before 5 for dinner, but you just won't be able to order baked potatoes."
Now I have never called a restaurant and gotten this kind of helpful advice, so I'm a little confused. What does this mean--that they bake all of their baked potatoes way in advance so if I go there at 7, the baked potatoes will be wrinkly from a heat lamp and 2 hours old?
Needless to say, I'm now less than enthusiastic about trying out The Wharf and decide to stay in Ashland. Granted, The Wharf at least does not bill itself as a "family restaurant," a surefire way to convey that your food is hopelessly bland and mediocre, but still...we're in a recession, aren't we? I don't want to waste my hard-earned money on restaurants that can't serve baked potatoes until 5 o'clock dinner!
I go to T's Restaurant, my favorite in Ashland, and the only one that really reminds me of Manhattan. They have great modern food, drinks, and an ambience right at home in Flatiron/Gramercy. Our grilled squid, Jeff's steak, and my roasted eggplant lasagna were all delicious. Thank god for small miracles on a Sunday night.
