The visit to Vespa for brunch was incredibly fun for the company but very disappointing with the food. I ordered the burger which is topped with a red onion mostarda, pancetta, garlic aioli on a toasted brioche with fries. I ordered it medium-rare and it was served exactly to that doneness with a good crust. The grind was loose and large, and it was a sizeable patty…so far so good. With one bite the pendulum swung to the other extreme. The meat was somewhat tasteless, had no seasoning and was otherwise boring. The red onion mostarda was overwhelming in pungency and overwhelmed the burger. The pancetta was the only positive in the burger. The brioche was also boring and lacked any butteriness. The fries were excellent, served weirdly horizontally on a bowl and contained mostly small pieces.
For dessert, we ordered the chocolate cake. There is a new dessert chef. Unfortunately for her she followed Susanne Berne, who is the best. The chocolate cake was very good, but a far cry from the Berne cake.
Service was cute. Our server tried really hard, he was really nice. Clumsiness was the order of the day as he spilled a full glass of coke right behind on the delivery and the busser dropped food all over the floor when clearing.
We had a great time, but the service and food needed a huge uptick.
