Daniel Patterson's Haven Leaves the EBX's Jesse Hirsch "Disappointed, Dispirited, and Baffled"

Bauer dropped a surprisingly underwhelmed 2 stars on Daniel Patterson's much-hyped Haven in Sunday's Chron review, and today the EBX's Jesse Hirsch comes out with his review, along with an admission that he left Daniel Patterson's latest venture, "disappointed, dispirited, and baffled." After enjoying the preview pop-up dinners, Hirsch expected to like Haven a lot, "But my visits...were an unexpected confluence of problems: sub-par service; sloppy mistakes; and ornate, fussy dishes that were less than the sum of their parts." Issues with the food from chef Kim Alter's kitchen range from overly seasoned scallops to an "underwhelming and overpriced" bean cassoulet. Then Hirsch offers a vignette that "typified Haven's friendly but markedly careless pattern of service:"

"Before ordering the market vegetable dish, we had asked our server what was in it. He replied: 'It's some kind of bean stew with an egg on it. Honestly, that's all I know,' then stood there smiling amiably, not offering to find out more."

After all this, Hirsch explains his bewilderment even further: "Patterson has a reputation as a fierce master of detail...And Alter is a fabled micromanager in the kitchen, striving for near-perfection at all costs. So why were the service and meals so flawed?"

Whatever the reason, this review coupled with the Chron's recent two-star flogging, means some management shifts should happen at Haven, and soon.

· Despite the Hype, Daniel Patterson's Haven Flounders [EBX]
· All Haven Coverage [~ ESF ~]

[Photo: Daily Candy]