Boca   

My husband had a milestone birthday coming up and I wanted to do something special for him. I asked where he'd like to celebrate his 74th and without a pause, he selected Boca....at the Chef's table. We checked for availability, it was, and we reserved it for 7PM, Thursday Oct 23rd. We live in Felicity, Ohio, an hours ride from Boca, and arrived with great expectations for a lovely dining experience. Not to be. When we were seated at a small table, I told the young lady there was a mistake, as we had reserved Chef's table. She left us stand to go check, and when she didn't return right away, we walked back to find 4 people huddled over the reservation list. It seems the Chef had seated some young girls at the table, and they didn't know how to ask them to leave. So we did....leave that is. We were followed to the street by a young man, offering to seat us elsewhere. He didn't seem to have a clue, that the evening was my birthday gift to my husband . I was hurt that I was left empty-handed, and that our celebration was also dashed. He offered to seat us another evening and make sure the table was open. We had checked in advance to be sure of that ourselves, but the Chef obviously overridden our reservation. My husband's comment was, "Fine, unless the chef decides to seat someone else instead". Before we left, he offered to buy us a drink. I was insulted by that offer. Small compensaton for a ruined evening wouldn't you say? There are many fine dining restaurants in Cncinnati, with food as good as David Falk's, none of which would ever dream of offending clients in such a manner. Will we ever return to Boca? In your dreams.....

The crowd was better than the food. Lots of 50 something divorcees looking for a hookup and lots of boy toys looking for sugar. worth the show

Good Food, Good Service but Expensive

We had dinner Friday night and sat in the trattoria. We'd never sat in the room before, but found it much more comfortable and less cramped than the main dining room. The ambience of the fireplace and our perfect view of the open kitchen was a plus. We had the three course dinner with dessert. Our server was lovely - knowledgable, gracious, and friendly. For our first course, she recommended the beet salad for me and the sea scallop with brussel sprouts for my husband. I don't usually like beets but the salad was excellent and fresh-tasting. When we asked about wine, she sent the wine steward over to recommend wine for each dish (a really nice touch). His dish was deliciously rich. The touch of blue cheese sauce worked beautifully with my dish. Next, I had the seafood stew with pasta in tomato broth and my husband tried the lasagna. Both far exceeded our expectations. The lasagna was meaty and hearty; I especially enjoyed my stew which was delightfully spicy on such a cold ngiht. Our server recommended the braised short rib and risotto chicken. Both were terrific; subtly flavored with recognizable spices, but far too complex to recreate at home. Dessert was OK, but maybe we were just too full to enjoy it. A wonderful experience - we will definitely go back!