Tilth

07/15/2008 Posted by javachix

My husband and I were invited to go to Tilth with a family member. They have heard good things about it and wanted to try it. I understood it was a 4 star restaurant, so I dressed in all my finery. Imagine my surprise when we arrived to find people in torn jeans, flip flops and t-shirts. My husband did say afterward " Well you know, it is Wallingford" . I wish he would of pointed that out before I got dressed. We were seated promptly and ordered cocktails. They came at a leisurely pace. As did the appetizer. As did the wine, food, dessert and coffee. The food is served in full plates or 1/2 plates, so you can get more of a sampling to share with your table mates or if you want to try more than one menu item. I ordered the 1/2 plate salmon and the risotto. Both were amazing and exceptional. The appetizer of the blue cheese mousse with fig was wonderful as well, though very small. Portion size is very small at Tilth for all dishes. I highly recommend the Lemoncello that they hand make there. Very good! The whole meal from beginning to end took a bit more than 2 1/2 hours and for a party of 3, the bill WITHOUT tip was $190.00. Would I go again? Probably not. Its a bit of a drive for us and we have similar restaurants just as good closer to us.

07/07/2008 Posted by a76m

I have to agree with the English poster's assessment of the service at Tilth. I witnessed the entire debacle, and my friend and I were also subject to the same lousy service. We waited at least twenty minutes to place an order. The waiter was a gentleman with short dark brown hair. Another waiter finally had to come over to tend to us, and it was quite clear that he was overwhelmed because of the extremely poor service the dark haired waiter provided. Unfortunately, the English couple had to bear the service of the dark-haired gentleman. I appreciate that the design of the restaurant is "small plate" and that the waiters can't control when food comes out of the kitchen. At the same time, I think that it's not entirely unreasonable for people to assume that certain dishes are meant as appetizers. At the very least, that should be made clear to the diners when they order. I also witnessed a woman talk to the English diners about the appetizer situation, and she was extremely condescending about it. Her response was a patronizing "then I'll just take it back to the kitchen and it can come out later." How about "I'm very sorry about this? Here's what I can do to help." Even if all she can do to help is take it back to the kitchen, you can say it in a much more pleasant way. Finally, my friend and I had to wait 15 minutes to get a dessert menu, THEN another 20 at least before our waiter came back to take our order. At that time, we were done. We had to forego ordering dessert and left. It's all a shame, because otherwise, the food was truly spectacular. But, it doesn't matter how great the food is if the service is as atrocious as it was. The English diners were patient, accommodating, pleasant, and deserved to be treated with far more respect than they were.

Pros: Food

Cons: SERVICE WAS ATROCIOUS

07/05/2008 Posted by woody77

My mother took us out to Tilth as a Thank You farewell at the end of her two week visit from England. After the NY Times review, and an apparently fully booked and bustling character coupled with our desire to support local agriculture and organic foods we decided to make this restaurant our special night out. Unfortunately the best thing about the restaurant was the sampling that the soux chef impressed us with at the Wednesday Wallingford farmers market. The staff’s rhetoric was that of “making it right”. That is where my kind words end. A rarely seen waiter who’s most memorable and involved action was to spill half a bottle of red wine over my wife and myself. Our appetizers never came. When another server set us up for the main course (knives, forks for the muscles etc.) I asked where our appetizers were, she exclaimed that she was sure everything was fine. A few minutes later she came out with the first of our main dishes. Again we reiterated the lack of appetizers. She said they would be out shortly. We had to insist that the main course was taken back to the kitchen and for our appetizers to be served. The problems continued when one of the six [tiny] main dishes came out ten minutes before any of the others. Leaving my vegetarian wife with nothing to eat. Which spurred our second conversation with manager Adam Chumas. We were challenged on our simple requests such as those about the appetizers and lack of main courses. We simple do not understand Adam’s arrogance and air of superiority. Adam could well learn allot from the age old adage “The customer is always right”. Even after explaining to him that all we wanted was an enjoyable evening and not to feel frustrated he continued to make excuses and talk back to us. He even bad mouthed us to a fellow employee within earshot of our table. We did not expect to walk away from a restaurant rated in the USA’s top 10, by New York Times, feeling as irritated and unsatisfied as we did.

Pros: Within walking distance of our house, NY times Review, Organic Food

Cons: Adam Chumas

06/18/2008 Posted by thirdi171

Wow! As a fan of seasonal and organic products, Tilth has surely grabbed my attention. I chose the restaurant on the recommendation of a friend for a good spot to take someone for their birthday and I was extremely happy. Since everything is available in half orders, between 4 of us we were able to try nearly everything on the menu- all of which was perfectly prepared and presented beautifully. Our server was knowledgeable and attentive, not the least bit intrusive or pushy, and quite charming. The wine list is as satisfying and diverse as the plates- a comfortable price range that would appeal to all, as well as a healthy selections of unique new bottles (I recommend the Alsasian Pinot Gris, so fun!) plus some old favorites. Dessert was equally amazing- even those without much of a sweet tooth were please by the house made sarsaparilla and other sodas. Overall, we had a wonderful experience and with a new menu every month, we will be coming back regularly to sample what is new at TIlth.

Pros: service, plate composition, wine list

Cons: my stomach is too small...

06/15/2008 Posted by SeattleORG07

Decided to go after hearing the New York Times review of Tilth, placing it in the top 10 for US restaurants. Waited 10 minutes for the hostess to even acknowledge that customers had arrived and so decided to chase her down. We then waited 30 more minutes for a table even though we had made reservations and there were about 6 tables available and set. Then asked a waiter if we could sit at one of open tables, and he went to check if that was okay. After 5 more minutes with no help, we decided to seat ourselves. After ordering, our drinks and coffee came out quickly, but we waited literally an hour for our food. The food was fine, but not great. "Oatmeal brulee" was a small plate of regular oatmeal and two slices of apple. The french toast was cold. And the check was $100. So if you want to waste your money and an hour and a half of your time, go ahead. If you want great food and timely service, AVOID this restaurant.

Pros: Organic, nice Wallingford location

Cons: food not great, service takes forever, price

06/07/2008 Posted by localcriticesq

After RSVPing to this highly recommended resturant. The manager (Adam)informed me that he had made reservation for the previous night...now considering we have a newborn and only get out once a week for date night on saturdays im 100 percent positive i made the reservation for saturday night. Adam argued with me insisting i made the reservation for friday and then made a lame attempt to make it "right" by trying to seat my party at the counter obviously flusterd and whiny on the phone, his unprofessional and rude tone turn me off to the whole situation. Really bad form for an upscale dining experiance and ORGANIC vibe! not to mention my wife and i had a very expensive babysitter now with nothing to do..Thanks Adam!

05/04/2008 Posted by Seattle30something

If you're hungry or have a healthy appetite, this is not the place for you. The food portions are absolutely teeny, but the price is still for a full plate. I've never seen such small portions in my life - doll food. The food itself is tasty and the atmosphere is homey, but one person will need to buy 6 plates and around $100 worth of food just to get a normal sized meal. Save your money and go elsewhere.

Pros: tasty bites

Cons: only one bite per plate!

03/16/2008 Posted by sdcuss

Great atmosphere and interesting menu but I couldn't agree more with Frank Bruni's comments about self satisfaction and what appeared to be a serving staff disinterested in listening to their customers and making them feel welcome. - Seems like the write ups and hype have gone to their heads which will likely deter me from going back. We did enjoy the server Joseph (AKA – Keith Richards) and hope they look to hire more people like him.

Pros: Ambience

Cons: servers

03/02/2008 Posted by minnesotan_1981

We went for brunch and the Croque Monsueir and the French Toast was fanstastic! They were a bit busy when we go there, but told us they'd be ready for us in 30 minutes. we went for a walk and they were ready for us!

02/11/2008 Posted by simplyfabulousdiva

Thought the food was sophisticated and the servers very knowledgeable about the food and wine. This place is a little different in that you can order small sampling portions or full size entree portions. For a foody, this is ideal- you get to sample serveral delights. I would disagree with some other reviews- I didn't find the food to be bland at all...I thought it was spectactular..and I'm picky! Atmosphere is comfortable, cozy and not pretentious at all. If they have risotto on the menu- absolutely do not miss it! The menu is inventive and changes monthly/seasonally.