Rave Reviews for Perennial Virant; Bridge House Tavern Disappoints; Fogon is Overcomplicated

Lisa Arnett from Metromix finds everything at Perennial Virant delicious. She believes that chef Paul Virant "continues to be local to the core" and that "every dish manages to balance flavors perfectly." Her favorites include the pork shoulder confit, which she describes as a "crabcake-like disc of juicy, tender pork shreds, seared to a satisfying crisp." She also raves about the butter pound cake dessert, "a Twinkie-hued bar of buttery cake with buttered hickory nuts and toasted milk ice cream." Arnett's only complaint is the name, which she finds "clunky" and "awkward." Overall, she thinks "you’ll be craving return trips because every bite delivers in the deliciousness department." [Metromix]

Few things at Bridge House Tavern impress Julia Kramer. In fact, in most ways she thinks it actually bombs. She finds the shrimp to be "chewy," the bacon of her iceberg wedge, "limp" and her "market veggie" side to be "soaked through with oil." She enjoys the "striking riverside patio" and the "awesome" burger but overall thinks "the range and severity of execution errors combined with the limited, mass-market beer list and lack of cocktail program seemed to negate any reason for visiting this place." [TOC]

Mike Sula finds many of the dishes at Fogon overcomplicated. The appetizers seem "extremely busy" and the entrees are "piled high with riotous bushes of vegetal garnish and layered with blankets of sauce, melted cheese, and cream." He encounters multiple "executional gaffes" that "erode confidence" such as the "shockingly ill-treated room-temperature oyster on the half shell" and the "unnervingly mushy" fat shrimp. Sula strongly believes that "the multiple components at play in these plates need to harmonize or be streamlined if they're going to command prices more commensurate with addresses a few miles eastward." [Reader]