A funny thing happened on the way to writing this column. The Phoenix was all set to go to press last week with a highly positive review of Rene Michelena’s Asian-and-Mediterranean menu at the revived Vault, when we learned that the menu was not merely changing, but would have a different format by the time the paper came out. No point reviewing a restaurant the readers can’t actually go to, so we substituted another column last week. Then I went back to see how the Vault was going to top the fine meals it had been serving.
Well, the funny part is that the change actually made the food less exciting. The restaurant didn’t downscale it, or make it worse, but it did eliminate almost all the Asian-influenced dishes, some of the exotic ingredients, and much of Michelena’s flare. I’m guessing here, but it seemed like the first restaurant I reviewed was a Financial District bistro with some unusual food, and the second is more clearly intended for the suits. The new menu is like an apology: " Sorry, we overdid it, so now we’ll get you your father’s Oldsmobile after all. " The suits might be amused by Michelena’s trick of undercooking fish and poultry to make it plumper and juicier, but on the whole they prefer meat-vegetable-potato platters with everything cooked through. The suits might be amused by a Philippine-style dish of shrimp and noodles with a coconut-milk sauce, but not when they’ve just come from the office and are wearing their you-know-whats and don’t want to spill anything. And no more soy sauce either, okay?
Michelena wouldn’t put his name on inferior food; this is just a much more conservative menu, starting with the pot of butter that comes with the basket of country bread. It used to be unsalted butter, but now coarse salt has been mixed in. The foie gras, shrimp pot stickers, and fried frogs’ legs appetizers are gone. Instead we have grilled shrimp ($14), three large ones nicely crisped and served over a little white-bean stew. Roast asparagus ($9) is peeled, but it’s not charred, nor is the flavor concentrated by roasting. Alongside is a slice of bruschetta toast topped by a tomato compote with an interesting hint of sweet spice. Quail vin santo ($12) is a tiny bird on a salad of field greens and some olives, without much flavor from the dessert wine.
One holdover from the old menu is the lobster and sweet-pea risotto, inflated to a $14 pasta course. As a $10 appetizer, it was a brilliant small plate, spreading the fresh flavors of green peas and snap-pea tendrils through a dish of rice that was both crunchy and creamy. Fettuccini and sausage ($24/full order) is wonderful handmade pasta, with green jewels of fresh fava beans, bits of peppery sausage, and just enough sauce to coat the noodles.
On the dinner side, the menu already had a simple steak and a roast chicken that only needed to have the lemongrass removed. A special on roasted monkfish ($25) in Michelena’s old Mediterr-Asian style reappeared with halibut, almost as flavorful, over a similar ragout of fava beans, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, and asparagus, although there was oil in the bottom of the bowl after every delicious morsel was gone. The knowing touch was a sprig of chervil on top.
The new-menu version of grilled salmon ($23) is better cooked, but not overdone, served over whipped potatoes. This kind of entrée encourages purchasing the steakhouse-style side dishes such as wild mushrooms ($6), which is a goodly bowl of assorted wild mushrooms done simply with salt and pepper.
Drinks include the young zillionaire’s collection of custom martinis and such, a good selection of draft beers, and a somewhat expensive world-beat wine list (bottles start at $27, but gather in the high $40s). By the glass ($7–$15) you cannot do better than the Pine Ridge chenin blanc/viognier ’00 ($7), a blend made in a crisp heaven of the best fruit and spice from both grapes, with a clean finish. An old friend on the red-wine side, Dessilani spanna ’97 ($8), had the smooth, dusty fruit I remember, and a longer flavor. But the 1997 Stonestreet merlot ($11) had softened too much. I wonder what it tasted like a year or two ago. Tea ($2.50) is served as it should be, loose in a filtered pot, so it actually brews. Coffee and decaf (both $2.50) are improved and quite good.
Desserts have been pruned back, resulting in the loss of the quince turnovers that were a real knockout, the " dessert pu-pu platter, " and a cheese platter that was oddly drizzled all over with olive oil (dangerous to linen suits and other yuppie things, I guess). Holdovers include banana-cream pie and a chocolate-toffee bread pudding (both $8) that looks like a large, soft brownie, tastes more like caramel than chocolate, and is saved by wonderful bits of butter brickle in the sauce. Now we can have " traditional crème brûlée " ($8), and it is good stuff, if uninventive. A rhubarb " crostata " ($7) is only a fair fruit tart, but the homemade strawberry ice cream makes it special.
The room is not an easy one, but the partners — Michelena and Brian O’Neill — have made a pretty cozy dining room on one side, although on cold nights drafts sneak past the curtains around the front door. The bar-side tables are warmer, but louder. You can hear the jazz soundtrack early, but not after 8 p.m. Cigarette smoke doesn’t escape the bar area, but it does linger in the bathroom, which needs either better ventilation or a no-smoking sign. Along with the new menu, flowers appeared on every table.
Service on all three visits was excellent, except for a knife shortage around the cheese plate (served on the old menu), and one pause between appetizers and entrées — which was accompanied by an unprompted apology.
There’s nothing wrong with a conservative menu that’s done well. In fact, the new Vault could be a useful relief from the cutting-edge restaurants that go over the edge. Fans of what Michelena does with quasi-Italian food at Centro can always go back to Centro, but those of us who are looking for some firecracker Mediterr-Asian fusion from this Filipino-American chef have been put back on " pause. "
Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com
