Scarlet Knife

Update as of 1/3/2023 - It's gotten worse... only redeeming quality was the friendly bartender. First off I want to state that this is the third time that we have tried the Scarlet Knife. The first two experiences were less than stellar and I would probably give them one star if I based this review on our last two visits. This visit was actually quite pleasant compared to the first two. First we walked in and were offered a seat at the chef’s counter which was a nice touch. Our waiter Lee came over rather quickly and took our drink orders and recommended his favorites from the menu which is always a nice touch. We ordered the shrimp and chorizo alongside a half dozen oysters to start. The shrimp were cooked nicely but felt bland and slightly underwhelming. The oysters were nice and the cucumber mignonette while refreshing, the large chunks of cucumber were quite offputting when mixed ontop of an oyster, still quite nice though. Onto our entree’s Lee suggested a glass of wine that would pair nicely with our meal and he was absolutely correct - another nice touch. I opted for the Gnocchi as a change of pace (ordered the short rib and scallops the last two visits) and I was pleasantly surpirsed - it was probably the best main that I’ve had so far from here, cooked to perfection and seasoned very nicely. My colleague ordered the strip steak and although it was cooked nicely, the flavor profile of butter that it was basted in was so extremely overwhelming that it was pretty hard to enjoy - such a premium cut of meat shouldn’t me soaked in butter for the entirety of it’s cooking time (in my opinion). Lee cleared our plates and recommended a dessert choice which we took up and it was quite nice (i think the violet bow) - really nice, lots of complimentary flavors. We finished the meal with the ever so lovely macroons which were and have been the last few times the best part of the meal. It’s clear that they are making changes for the better and it’s a shame that their pastry chef is so talented because dessert shouldn’t outshine a meal and carry the experience. Hopefully they can continue to work out the kinks.

On 12/16/23 my daughter and her husband decided on spending their anniversary dinner at the Scalet Knife figuring this would be a perfect restaurant for their special nite. With all the hype for this new high end restaurant, we recommended they go their instead of heading to Saratoga's Salt & Char restaurant. They came back to our house after the dinner totally disappointed. Their main complaint were that the young female server forgot her drink order and never took his order as he wasn't ready when she took his drink order After the appetizer was delivered, they still haven't had drinks. After 25 minutes from the time of ordering her drink (and her husband still hasn't ordered his drink), my daughter went to the bar and the server was also working the bar. The server asked my daughter what she can do for her, and my daughter said she was waiting on her drink, the server basically said 'oh yea, what was that drink again?'. The irother main complaint was about the food. They both thought the food was good but not great. My daughter had the rib eye, and her husband had the scallops. He said that the 3 scallops were a good portion for an appetizer but not an entree. Given that they went at 8:00 pm and they were the only people seated at a table in the bar area, and there were 2 couples at the bar itself, the service should have been great. On the positive side, the music was a nice touch and the atmosphere was nice. However the food was not worthy of the hype of a top notch restaurant and high prices, they left disappointed. They now regret not going to Salt & Char in Saratoga for their special anniversary as originally planned.

Where to start?…. From a former General Manager of fine dining of 16 years, it took every fibre in my being to keep my mouth shut and not complain.. However this takes the cakes for worst experience on new years I have ever experienced. From the second we ordered our bottle of wine and waiting over 20-30 min to get it I should have known the disaster that was going to follow… When asking the bartender where our wine was her response was “someone is brining it”… when it finally arrived we zero bottle presentation, cork was thrown away. Never asked to be decanted.. I’m sorry but, when a group orders a bottle of opus one (most expensive on the menu)you should have gone above and beyond to make sure we were happy guests with an amazing experience .. Our table took forever to get even though we had 8 o clock reservation.. the dinning room was never full and lots of open tables… We had to carry our own drinks to the table.. At this point we should have just left and never looked back…. The worst part was after we finished eating which food was pair at best. Steaks not right temp, server never checked on us.. never used a marking plate between courses.. icing on the cake……. we watched our server eat our dessert from our table and recruited a bus boy to join her while using a used fork from one our friends at the table.. When bringing it the attention of the manager on duty as we were leaving her only response was “thank you for visiting Scarlett Knife” what a joke This place needs new management and the staff needs to be properly trained

Update as of 1/3/2023 - It's gotten worse... only redeeming quality was the friendly bartender. First off I want to state that this is the third time that we have tried the Scarlet Knife. The first two experiences were less than stellar and I would probably give them one star if I based this review on our last two visits. This visit was actually quite pleasant compared to the first two. First we walked in and were offered a seat at the chef’s counter which was a nice touch. Our waiter Lee came over rather quickly and took our drink orders and recommended his favorites from the menu which is always a nice touch. We ordered the shrimp and chorizo alongside a half dozen oysters to start. The shrimp were cooked nicely but felt bland and slightly underwhelming. The oysters were nice and the cucumber mignonette while refreshing, the large chunks of cucumber were quite offputting when mixed ontop of an oyster, still quite nice though. Onto our entree’s Lee suggested a glass of wine that would pair nicely with our meal and he was absolutely correct - another nice touch. I opted for the Gnocchi as a change of pace (ordered the short rib and scallops the last two visits) and I was pleasantly surpirsed - it was probably the best main that I’ve had so far from here, cooked to perfection and seasoned very nicely. My colleague ordered the strip steak and although it was cooked nicely, the flavor profile of butter that it was basted in was so extremely overwhelming that it was pretty hard to enjoy - such a premium cut of meat shouldn’t me soaked in butter for the entirety of it’s cooking time (in my opinion). Lee cleared our plates and recommended a dessert choice which we took up and it was quite nice (i think the violet bow) - really nice, lots of complimentary flavors. We finished the meal with the ever so lovely macroons which were and have been the last few times the best part of the meal. It’s clear that they are making changes for the better and it’s a shame that their pastry chef is so talented because dessert shouldn’t outshine a meal and carry the experience. Hopefully they can continue to work out the kinks.