I liked the original bacar. They served food until 1:00 a.m., they had live jazz every night, a fantastic wine list, 100's of wines by the glass, and the staff was professional and attired in white tuxedo jackets. I spent many a night sitting at the bar eating cesar salad, and wok roasted mussels while sipping a glass of wine and listening to the live band. Unfortunately, the black-attired wealthy didn't show up in the expected numbers and things started going downhill. The tuxes went, the food preparation got sloppy, the wine list dumbed down, and the kitchen closing time kept creeping earlier (I went over there at 9:30 a few months before the shakeup and the kitchen was already closed that night).
Then, earlier in 2007, there was a shake up. Debbie Zachareas (wine) and Arnold Eric Wong (food) left. The restaurant got a new chef, and closed for remodeling to make it quieter (the kitchen was enclosed and the jazz moved downstairs). So now that it's been open for a few months, hows the new bacar?
I've only been once, but my take is that it is better and still evolving. On my visit, I decided to "go for broke" and ordered the chefs tasting menu ($69). This is what I was served:
Prosciutto Wrapped Pacific Prawns
Tomato Gazpacho & Avocado Salad
Wild Alaskan Salmon
Brentwood Corn Puree, Melon & Lobster, Curry Emulsion
Sonoma Quail
Local Chanterelle Mushrooms, Peach Conserva, Toasted Walnuts & Foie Gras Crostini
Mesquite Grilled Prime Ribeye
Heirloom Tomato Salad, Potato Puree & Nicoise Olive-Truffle Jus
Chef's Selection of Artisanal Cheese
Honey-Yogurt Sorbet
Cinnamon Waffle & Blackberry Compote
I thought the food was quite good. I was especially happy with the salmon and quail courses, but overall it was well worth the money. There were some long pauses between the courses, and the service isn't up to the standard that it needs to be, but these folks are _trying_ and I'm betting they are going to get better. Some friends visited, when the French wines were 1/2 price, and they also came away very favorably impressed with the food.
Not everything is perfect though- it's just as loud as it used to be even with the enclosed kitchen and moving the band, but I'm willing to start visiting again and see how things progress.
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