Culinary Dropout

Culinary Dropout Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant: Sam Fox scores again. He's an entrepreneur who has a knack for creating restaurants that are so generically popular that they could easily be chains, yet somehow manage to have enough individual flair that even smug foodies won’t balk at having a good time. Part of the appeal is the over-the-top décor, glittering with green glass chandeliers, hot purple walls and lots of leather and wood. It's a magnet for the hip and trendy, and people-watching is prime.

Food & Drinks: But then there’s the food, which despite its random cuteness (pretzel balls, monkey bread) hits some high notes, and is delivered by consistently efficient, cheerful servers. The burgers are noteworthy (try the crazy juicy Havarti bacon), and the cocktails---the Sauerkraut, for example, a sweet, tangy marvel made with gin, elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, orange marmalade and a dab of Dijon mustard---can't be beat. The chef is having fun with riffs on the Cubano, adding crispy pork belly to the mounds of shaved ham, house-made pickles, tangy slaw and melted Swiss, while chicken hash comes topped with a golden sunny-side up egg garnished with shaved black truffles (surprise!). There’s some room for fancy, like jamón Ibérico and Humboldt Fog antipasti, but mostly you’re in for comfort food---things like honey-drizzled fried chicken with buttermilk biscuits. For a fine finish, try the chilled salted caramel custard, capped in crunchy caramel corn.