I'm pretty stoked these two fakers are gone from Tallahassee. Mediocre restaurants at best, overall, and definitely not in the spirit of Tallahassee. Worst of all, these restaurants were pretentious in the worst way. And they tried WAY too hard appearance-wise.
In my experience (I'm a lifelong Tallahasseean), restaurants in Tallahassee are more successful as meeting places, community spaces, not style-conscious runways. These restaurants were perfect examples of the latter. They discomfited me, as a Tallahasseean looking for a comfortable experience, just to walk in and sit down.
Number one was a bloated mess, and obviously had a lot of money behind it. Goes to show that money can't buy taste. It's accompanying lounge was more slick and soulless than the restaurant. The service at both impersonal, cool and even downright terrible. Gimmicks abounded. I love New York City, I love Atlanta and I love all the stylish and modern accoutrements they have in their fine restaurants. But that simply doesn't work for Tallahassee. Tallahassee still likes quiet, homey shit. Southern shit. It likes a heartbeat, not buzz. Substance rules over style.
That's not to say you can't have style AND substance in Tallahassee, but the only restaurant to have both in hefty amounts here in town is Cypress, which I really like. Unless they can rival or top Cypress, I'd tell people starting up a fine-dining venture to explore a different avenue.
And this isn't to say number one didn't have SOME substance. The food was good the few times I tried it. (It wasn't ACTUAL fusion cuisine, so I just ignored the really cliche name.) And people came, but I don't think they came BACK.
There's a reason Kool Beanz has been around for a decade now. There's a reason why, in 2007, after a major kitchen fire and remodeling, the restaurant bounced back better than ever, looking better than ever and with a ton of community support. It's because people came, tried it out and then they came BACK.
The other guys were open since '06 and closed in the last month. The other other guys were open even less time than that, since '07. And the chef worked in restaurants from Jacksonville, so right there...
The market speaks.
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