Cut

I must preface my thoughts on Cut to reflect two things. First, I am not an expert on steak – far from it. I rarely, if ever, go to a steakhouse. Second, Saturday night “tourist” dining was very evident at Cut so that service was abysmal.

Cut is the latest restaurant opened by Wolfgang Puck in the Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel. It is essentially a steakhouse. Richard Meier, the Getty Center architect, designed the space and the critics have raved about the contemporary casual elegance.

We had an 8:30 reservation; they told us to come earlier as they could probably seat us sooner but we weren’t seated until 8:45. 

Unfortunately for us, we were the ONLY deuce dining on Saturday night so we were shoved into a very small table. Finally, we requested a carving table be added to our table as there wasn’t enough room for two plates, the bread plates, the shared appetizer in the center, the water glasses and the wine glasses.

My husband had been to Cut before and he kept enthusing about all the free amuses that would come our way. Well, we did get a basket of gougères and that was it.

We waited and waited for the miniature potato knishes, the sliders, the Kobe tartar – nothing. When our server did the Kobe presentation i.e. the American Kobe from Snake River Farms in Idaho and the Japanese Kobe from Hyogo prefecture, I knew there would be no freebies and I was starving.

We decided to order appetizers and do one for two.

Dana Farner, the sommelier that Puck hired from Bluewater Grill in New York thought that this wine would go well with the appetizer courses – it did. ($75)

Kobe Steak Sashimi with thinly sliced spicy radishes – delicious

 

Foie Gras Pave, Tunisian spiced tuiles, date chutney – also superb

Bone Marrow Flan, Mushroom marmalade, parsley salad – my absolute favorite dish of the evening.

Warm Veal Tongue, artichokes, white beans, salsa verde – also good

 

 A gift from Lee – Maple glazed pork belly, sesame-orange dressing, Asian pear-persimmon salad – this was overwhelmed by the greens on top and the sesame-orange dressing was a touch too sweet.

 

BYO wine ( $35 corkage. )

We decided to forgo the Kobe and just go with a standard steak.

 

14-ounce prime Nebraska corn-fed New York sirloin, dry-aged for 35 days. French Fries with herbs – the steak was good (again I am no expert), but the fries were not even close to the duck fat fries we used to have at Bin 8945.

 

 

By now, it was very late so we deep-sixed dessert.

Bottom line – the appetizers were delicious, but the service was so atrocious that any semblance of fine dining was very difficult. I would try Cut again, though.