I begrudgingly went to Orsay this past week with a group from work. Tired and wishing to be on my way back to St Johns County, this was a pleasant surprise!

Wine was great! cheese plates a bit sparse.

Entrees: Autumn Veg Shepherd pie, Trout, Hangar steak and mussels. Everyone drooled over how wonderful their meals were.

We were loud and boisterous, but made to feel welcome and appreciated.

Loved the ambiance too!

Thought I would share my experience with the new restaurant Orsay which is now operating in the Park Street location formerly occupied by “Crush”.

Yesterday was Anne’s birthday. She asked me to take her to dinner at this new restaurant so I went online and made a reservation through their automated system. I received a confirmation email etc., and (remembering that Crush was notorious for attitude issues) took the precaution of printing it and carrying it with us.

We arrived a few minutes early for our 7 PM celebration.

We were greeted by a hostess who acknowledged our reservation and then informed us, “Because of the large party booked to tonight we hope you don’t mind eating at a high-top.” She pointed to one of the small snack tables in the bar area with two barstools for seating." When we resisted this absurd suggestion, no hint of a better placement was forthcoming. By the way, we were certainly well-dressed enough for this place so I deny in advance any imputation that somehow we did not hold up to “Avondale” standards of upscale casual.

Needless to say we left rather than have our celebration dinner “at the bar.” Insofar as we could judge the place was as noisy as we remembered under the old regime, the hard surfaces and floor have not been damped and the consequent din of music and conversation was as we remembered it from the previous incarnation. The place looked busy so I guess they didn’t miss us. I hate to wish a failure on anyone running an eatery in our neighborhood, but the contempt shown for our reservation and the disappointment of finding ourselves on the street on my wife’s birthday all dressed up with nowhere to go at 7 PM on a Friday night made me feel like I was back in Miami or some other place where an insolent stratification is the coin-of-the-realm rather than in Jacksonville. That’s why I’m writing to give you a heads up on this place. If you are not already among their “A-list” diners, you are probably not welcome.

Happily (for us) we drove over to Pastiche. We were given a table, had a wonderful dinner and dropped around $350 with tip for a great meal and a superb burgundy. As usual (there) everyone was entirely gracious, no one patronized us or had a hard time because we had no reservation etc. Just a nice place to dine. As always.

Well, as you know I’ve only been in town for a few years so my circle of acquaintance is not as wide as yours. Pass this on to whoever might benefit from it. I plan to post this story in as many internet sites as I can find that focus on local dining. As to my pals at Orsay: I won’t be imposing on you further since we are clearly not important enough to warrant the table we reserved…

One last word: I understand management has responded to this story by implying that the issue involved a “wait” for a table. I want to be clear: I would have had no issue had I been told, “Your table is not quite ready, would you care to wait in the lounge.” There was absolutely no mention or offer made to us of a real table awaiting us, we were simply told that this little cocktail table was our destination for the evening.

I liked Crush and missed it when it closed last year. Now named ’Restaurant Orsay" and under new ownership and management it is opening in September.

I ate there with 2 friends last month during their soft opening so the menu was limited and they were out of many of the dishes.

However, based on my experience I am relieved to say that it will probably be as good and maybe better than Crush. The difference is the attitude and the ingredients. (Okay, good martinis and an excellent wine list didn’t hurt.)

The wait staff was very nice, knowledgeable, helpful, friendly but not overly so.

The menu retained the best of Crush with some of my personal favorites on there:
—Haricots Verts Salad
—Salmon w/ Braised leeks
—Coq au Vin
—Steak Frites
and some terrific new dishes
—Croque Madame (Spiced pork shoulder, broiled Gruyere, baguette, roasted garlic cream, fried egg!! – wasn’t sure about this but it was great!)

Unfortunately of the three orders mine was the least inspiring (Halibut w/ clams, mussels, saffron broth) – not bad just not as outstanding as the other dishes.
However, the desserts were to die for!!!

What really impressed me was when owner Jon Insetta came over to ask about our experience and related his intention to use regional materials whenever possible and sustainable practices where practical. That is reason enough to support this restaurant right there.

Cost-moderate to expensive.

One immediate recommendation-Get your website going and keep it current!!!