Haute Dish. Hearty, large portions of meaty, down home cooking with a modern twist...plus a haughty cocktail menu. It took me a long time to drag myself into the old Cafe Havana, which I loved so dearly. RIP, Cuban Martini. I stayed away from HD for months, mostly because the new marquee is just awful from a design perspective. And I loathe the sliced pig logo as well. Yes, bad design will keep me away from some of the best voted food in town. At some point, though, I did break down and fell in love with the bloody mary oyster shooters and the tater tot hot dish. Then I found out they were doing brunch and I was prepared to be thrilled.
So we went on the first Saturday they were serving brunch (previously only Sundays) which also happened to be my 30th birthday for the 5th time. I was joined by a lovely crew who rocked it out with me the night before at the Moose karaoke. Shout out to Jerry Beth for providing stellar karaoke service. I was expecting a crowd, but to my surprise we were the first group to arrive.
The breakfast cocktail menu is pretty great. Four dif bloodies, one with tequila and one with bourbon. And a giant bellini with raspberry vodka, peach puree, grand marnier and cava. Yow!
I started with the tradish house bloody with the Chef's Skewer...an extra $3, but it comes with a chicken wing...what? That was probably the best chicken wing I've ever had! But the bloody wasn't that great. I should have gone for the one with tequila.
Al had a Bloodhound, a greyhound with campari...
So, let's get to the food, shall we? We've got some majorly meaty suspects, one sweet dish and one veggie. We were able to try a lot, since we had a big group. First is my dish, the Ropa Vieja (Old Clothes?) A mexicany hashy egg thingy that I loved, cuz I love their beef brisket, but the avocado was smashed into this weird rectangle and was frozen with ice crystals. I don't believe that was intentional, but it kinda bummed me out.
Then let's talk about Al's dish, the Rueben Benedict. Dam, dam, dammmmm, this was good. And I don't normally go for corned beef. The portion was ginormous.
Here's the veggie hash dish, also very large and tasty...
Blood sausage? Chef Chris C. on Top Chef Masters made blood sausage with poached oysters and sunny side eggs, which he said would be his choice for his last meal before dying. I say, add some oysters to this one and we'll talk...but Mr. Fox loved it.
Oh sweet Jesus, well, semi-sweet Jesus. These were a pretty lovely balance of sweet, tart fresh strawberries, salty brie and fluffy cakes.
Before I sat down to write this review, it was pretty solid in my head
that Haute Dish was a 3.5 star place. My avocado was frozen and the atmosphere was kinda dark and drab. The service was also a bit sketchy. Just didn't live quite live up to my lofty expectations. But, then I looked at all the food
again and realized, nope, it's a 4 fo sho. I'll leave you with this lovely, large and hearty piece of art in the foyer. Please, go to Haute Dish and bring your hunger and a big group so you can try everything. Peace, y'all.
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