A Fine Dining Lie

Maybe its just because I’ve traveled a bit....  That has to be it, because...when I think of Fine Dining, I don’t think of a crowded hole in the wall, waiting an hour on food, greasy food that I end up throwing up when I get home, or over peppered chicken that drowns out any other flavors that may have been there.

Part of me wonders if its just the city itself, its not a very big city, but it really seems to try (and fail) at certain things.  The weird thing is, people eat up this ‘fancy’ talk and really give these places awesome reviews....




Lisa said it best, as we were sitting there, people watching, eating the rather bland bread (and hard tasteless butter spread) that no place can really compare to some of the other places we, ourselves, have eaten.  When we got our food, and I ate half my over-cooked pasta that was supposed to be Cajun, but was really just peppered to hell and back, we go to discussing how pathetic the food really was.

Her Chicken Oscar had an interesting flavor, but it wasn’t very outstanding.  When I ordered my Cha Cha Pasta with seared chick, and it came with all the chicken just sitting on top, only partially cut, I knew I was in for some trouble.

After paying the highly expensive bill, I read the ticket to find that gratuity was already included....  Never heard of a place doing that, unless there was a huge party or something, but it was just Lisa and I.  Anyways, we got into a discussion about how places in Fort Smith try to pass themselves off as something they aren’t.

There is a Movie Lounge in town, and when we went, we got our food before our appetizers, and our appetizers before our drinks....  I was actually finished with my food before I had a drink.  Fine Dining it was NOT, and I’ve been in far better food/movie experiences.  Alamo Drafthouse for one....



But this other place....  It had the ability to be something truly amazing, but we knew we were in from trouble very quickly.  There was a guitar player at the entrance...he had ripped jeans, he was balding, and he was moving very slowly like he was under the influence...you couldn’t hear a thing he was singing or playing....  He looked like a bum they I invited in for the evening, considering everyone else in the establishment looked top notch.

In the end, 21 West End was just another huge disappointment in Fort Smith.  It was the second Fine Dining place we’ve went to, that I had to throw up my food when we got home because of how poorly it was cooked, and the second Fine Dining we walked away from wishing we hadn’t gone.  Some of the reviews on Yelp kind of say it, “If it was in a bigger city it wouldn’t rank so high, but considering the lack of options in the city....”

Here’s the deal, I don’t care WHERE it is, if its in a small town, or San Francisco, if the food isn’t damn amazing, it isn’t worth going to.  If I can compare the food easily to Olive Garden or Red Lobster, then you shouldn’t call yourself Fine Dining, especially if you are over twice as expensive....

But yeah, maybe Lisa and I have been ruined by true Fine Dining experiences.  Maybe we have come to expect far more than what Fort Smith can offer.  Which is truly sad....  There are passionate and amazing people all over this country, in every corner.  It’s a shame that the locals think this place is amazing, because it proves that there is severe lack of amazing places in the area....

P.S. when making a Chocolate Lava cake, you don’t make a cake with a hole in the middle that you pour chocolate sauce into then cover it up with ice cream....  Just sayin’....