I’m not sure were to start with notion. The menu is either a 4 or 6 course menu, fixed price. Normally they offer a starter, seafood, meat and dessert as a part of the 4 course offering. When making the reservation I made the comment that we are not seafood eaters to which we were told “no problem.”
The restaurant is sparse but comfortable. The menu has four items per course so there is a good selection, when we went they were still a BYOB so even better.
Our waiter already knew we were not interested in seafood and let us know our options. We ended up having:
- Tartare – Korean flavors, peanut, iceberg (J-)
- Risotto – espelette cream, 4 complementary herbs, manchego custard (Both of us)
- Asparagus – egg yolk, mustards, soy milk (MC-)
- Ribeye – spring onion, truffle essence, arugula and its flowers (MC-)
- Duck – parsnip puree, prune, dried fruits jus, basil (J-)
- Meyer Lemon – black sesame, white chocolate, coconut (MC-)
- Yogurt – maple, calamansi, freeze dried fruits (J-)
the presentation for each was outstanding. While we’ve had lots of very good food in Pittsburgh now we’ve never had anything presented to this level of detail. (Sorry NACL & Cure)
The tartare was my favorite by far – I’ve never had anything as good…ever.
The chef even went so far as to prepare pickled carrot and pea soup for us as the amuse-bouche. We were told by our waiter that the normal amuse-bouche was a seafood foam and the chef knew we did not eat seafood. This little extra was fantastic and not necessary but very much appreciated.
The only odd thing about the meal…Starbucks coffee. Apparently the chef loves it so that’s what they serve. Oh well.
Overall, notion is fantastic. It operates at a different level than the other 5 star restaurants we’ve been to in that it treats the food as both food an art. We will revisit for sure.