My kind of list. TheOffalo has some good Baroo pics on Instagram.
Part of me thinks: Nobody’s lists will be the same. There’s no accounting for taste.
Part of me thinks: Lukshon is the third best restaurant in LA???
3 Likes
Vincenti?..
I have no idea where to post this, but I was invited to dinner at Vincenti over the weekend, and if I had not been in polite company, who were treating me to dinner, I would have raised hell in the place.
Absolutely worst meal of 2016 for me. Best item was the free bread and white bean purée.
I snapped some quick photos only of two dishes I had, tagliolini that was about on par with lean cuisine pasta and looked the part:
And the absolute worst duck I have ever had in my life. The leg with skin was so dry I literally choked on it. The breast was cooked to mush and had no flavor. You would expect more out of amateur home cooks who never tried to cook duck before… Literally WTF. Worst think I’ve eaten all year. Somehow it looks ok but looks are deceiving.
They pulled off a few things to mediocrity like meatballs and octopus. There were flashes of acceptability in the lamb fusilli, salmon covered in truffles with sweet potato purée, and the saffron risotto underneath a bland over done Osso Bucco. Desserts were the epitome of mediocrity. This place is still serving molten chocolate lava cake and selling it was “perfection”… Their dessert wine list turned out to be misprinted so all of their rare wines were unavailable leaving only vinsanto and moscato which the waiter desperately tried to sell as rarities.
The service in general was unbelievably stilted and ridiculous. The pretenses of good old fashioned service with none of the actual service…
And to top it off they have to most insane corkage I the city as they charge per person at the table. So that’s $12.50 x 5 = $62.50 corkage. We didn’t open the bottle we brought because of it. At least they had a passable Chianti, probably the best element of the entire dinner.
I have no idea how this place I on Golds list or anyone else’s. One of the worst restaurants in LA because it’s maybe about as good as Olive Garden, but costs about $150 per person.
I I’ll GLADLY eat at Republique a billion times over this place. I take it back too, if you find the service at Vincenti welcoming at all then you will find yourself drowning in love and attention at Republique.
In comparison to Vincenti everyone is treated as if they are dining in the chefs own personal kitchen at Republique. The food is also cooked by a chef not someone trying to haphazardly make lean cuisine seem appetizing and selling it for $40-$50 a plate. Republique would even seem UNDERpriced if Vincenti is your standard…
I cannot fathom a single reason to ever dine at this place except that the tables are spacious, it’s warm inside, and they don’t play any music… This is the hallmark of the type of restaurant I try to avoid eating at at all costs. I thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster thatI wasn’t paying, but then again, I would have flatly refused to pay for anything I ordered other than the complementary bread if I was dining on my own dime. Even eating there for free I feel ripped off.
Cannot recommend against going to Vincenti enough.
Totally mystified that any Chowhound or FTCer would be into this place at all.
1 Like
lulz 
I’ve had some pretty lackluster service at Republique. Some good service as well, but you’re exaggerating quite a bit with the above. To top if off, their pacing of dishes can be abysmal.
You realize that line is within the context of a larger post, and the point of it is a comparison to another restaurant right?
Objectively, Republique doesn’t have the best service ever, but compared to Vincenti it’s incredibly warm and inviting. Who knows, the pacing might be somewhat off in a chef’s own personal kitchen as well, but the line was less about Republique and more about Vincenti. The service has never been bad enough to stop me from craving Republique’s food, though.
I absolutely agree with your assessment of Vincenti. Decided to give it a try again, having not been there for several years. Maureen still at the door giving a cheerful welcome. Downhill from there. Food was abominable. At this point, I can’t even remember what we ate, just that we found each dish to be borderline inedible. The one thing I definitely remember is vowing never to return. They recently closed for remodeling. Based on your review, it appears that they only remodeled the interior and not the food.
Yeah, shame, the interior is cozy/nice. I recall the guy at the front of the restaurant who booked us in being the only welcoming, nice guy in the whole place as well.
They mostly seem to specialize in turning food into flavorless mush substances that just resemble food, so it’s not surprising you don’t recall exactly what you ate haha