7 Business Park Drive
Branford, CT 06405
New Haven County
Phone: (203) 488-5528
Fax: unknownWebsite: Visit our websiteEmail: no email on fileHours: unknown
Federated Garden Clubs of CT Inc - About Us
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Website Description and Information
The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut, Inc. is an educational, charitable non-profit organization made up of 8,143 individual members and 152 clubs.
by Eric L. on Michael Mina sold himself out on this one. I remember the first day of my second stint in LA. I woke with a determination to be flamboyant and fake, to slant my day toward "stereotypcial" LA. Needless to say, that didn't work so well. Nothing comes out worse than trying to fake a bad stereotype, and that's what XIV is all about. I've been to Mina's original SF location and was appreciative. Although I'm personally not of fan of the hometown USA twist he puts on dishes, I get it and appreciate the execution. I tried XIV against my reservations with an out-of-town guest and the experience ran complete hollywood in all the negative ways. 1. Gorgeous maitre d's that forgot that they weren't running guest lists in hollywood and had no interest in service. 2. Hip ambiance full of receding hairlines and Christian Audigier dress shirts, top 3 buttons undone. 3. Bad food. The deceivingly cheap 8-course tasting menu ($60 per) mandates that a) everyone at the table partake (understandable) b) everyone gets the same course (ridiculous). For our party of four, this basically boils down to the chef making 6 dishes and divides it into 4 portions. It is no different than ordering 8 seperate dishes (@$30 a pop) and splitting them yourselves. To the food: 1) Lamb chops: fattiest lamb chop I have every had. Reminscent of the fat on a bad slice of prime rib. 2) Kobe beef burger ($25+): apparently every burger is cooked well done. At least according to the server when we asked. 3) Flank steak. Didn't even get finished. 4) Beef Carpacio rolls. The best of the items ordered. By default. 5) Dessert- very unmemorable chocolate mouse and some apple pie thing. The ladies at our table got the "you cheap date" feeling after each ordering two appetizers instead of appetizer-entree. We were seated 45 minutes late on a 8:30pm reservation. To their credit, we got the uninspired dessert on the house as consolation (saving this from being an one-star). XIV: a very reliable experience if you're trying to show someone what LA hype feels (and tastes) like. Michael, keep it real.
by Garland Fayer on Overall, great appetizers, decent entrees and a good place for groups or rowdy parties. Ambience is like a Miami club with deep pink/purple lighting, lots of white furniture and high ceilings. Sound proofing is definitely like a club so everyone's voices echoes in the high ceiling space. But since it is not crowded, you can have your own intimate alcove for a date. Service was attentive. They seemed to only have 2-3 waitstaff, but they 2 who served us were great. Highly recommend the appetizers so maybe you can/should share tapas. We ordered the Spicy Peanut Soup and Dosa Quesadilla. Very unique and creative. Especially loved the Spicy Peanut Soup. Entrees we ordered were Saag Paneer Ravioli (1 plate = 4 pieces) and Braised Short Ribs. Both were mediocre. Other people reco'ed the ravioli but both of us couldn't really taste the saag/spinach, maybe it was in the pesto. Lots of peas in the ravioli and the pasta skin was mediocre. Sauces were interesting (see picture = multiple colors of white, orange, green). Short Ribs were not full-off-the-bone good. Instead it was mediocre. A much larger dish (other rateclubsers made note of the disproportionate sizes too) with a side of risotto and veggies. Veggies were good but the risotto was mediocre & bland.
