When 302 West was sold and changed into a pasta joint, it was not good news. 302 West was the ONLY four star dining experience in my hometown (and probably in the Tri-Cities area), and the food was remarkable. I only had the opportunity to eat there three times, but those three times were like a gift. Each meal there seemed perfect. The tastes wowed, the dishes were beautiful, and the dessert list was like a multiple-choice test with no right answer.
Luckily, the chef and sommelier from 302 West (and most of the staff) didn't stick around to cook boring pasta in the old place. They opened a small restaurant just down the street from the old place, just recently. It's called Niche, and if you never had a chance to eat at 302, Niche is like a little window into the old place. It's different, and maybe in good ways. Though the room at 302 always wowed (a restaurant in an old bank? Cool.) it was impossible to heat, and thus always cold. And it was huge and impressive, which kept it from being intimate. Niche definitely does not have those problems. The room is very intimate, and very comfortable. The only downside was the chairs. I'm a short girl, and they're just too freaking tall. My feet dangled. I mean, this is the only restaurant that I've ever been to where it was uncomfortable just to try to get my toes onto the ground. And the knives. The knives were a bad choice, because they're too bottom heavy, and want only to fall--into your lap, onto the floor, into your sauce.
But other than those two minor problems, things are good. The food is great. It wasn't quite 302, but you can see that it's headed there, and as the kitchen and staff gel together more, it'll get better. I had a pork shoulder, on a bed of cheesy polenta, and it was good, but I wish I had gotten the tuna, which was wrapped in Serrano and served on beans. S had a steak, served on fennel-roasted mashed potatoes, which were surprisingly good. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food (my step-brother got the pork shoulder as well, and cleared his plate), and the service was impeccable. (Though the waitress was annoying.) Dessert was pretty good as well, though I also made the wrong choice. I should have gotten the cobbler, not the custard pie.
So in fact, when I say the meal wasn't as good as the last ones I had at 302, it might have just been that I didn't make the optimum choices for my tastes. Nevertheless, it was a delicious meal, and we will definitely be going back. If you have any ability to get out there, I highly recommend doing so. This might not quite be a four-star joint yet, but I think it will be.
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