Jump to Overall Rating
For our latest Roulette we hit The Vesper. There were five Rouletters – all veterans. You know that area of South Ave. after you pass the library and while you’re deciding which 490 east onramp to use? Off to the left side there’s a big sign that says “1 Capron Street” on a building. That’s it!
We kicked the meal off with the dish tied for lowest dish of the night: CHARCUTERIE: Three Meats! Three Cheeses! Accoutrements! There were certainly a lot of accoutrements: sunflower seeds, dried berries, pickles, slivered almonds, pistachios, apple, and honey mustard. The bread was flavorful and crisp, but there was literally three pieces. Look. If you don’t want to give more bread, fine. Maybe cut it into more pieces. And send out crackers or something. Also, they didn’t label the cheese or describe what was on offer. One of the cheeses was a smoked cheese which some folks love, but some Rouletters don’t dig it. Also, one of the cheeses had green in it – that seems like it begs an introduction. I googled it. It’s Sage Derby. Wow was that one mild. Whatever the creamy crumbly cheese was got top scores for several Rouletters: it was creamy and herby. The meats were average but there just wasn’t enough of it. ⭐️3.8⭐️
Next up we had the TRUFFLE PARMESAN FRIES: With Garlic Aioli. The fries were perfect: a good mix of crisp but bendy with a great flavor and nicely salty. Some Rouletters didn’t taste the truffle, but our mushroom-hating Rouletter definitely picked it up. If you like truffle, you wanted more. Ok, let’s talk about the aioli. It was mayonnaise. If there was garlic, we missed it. You say garlic aioli and we want to be hit in the face with garlic. Rouletters like fries and mayo though, so, you know, we were okay. ⭐️4.1⭐️
We followed this up with the POACHED PEAR: Red Wine Poached with Cinnamon + Honey. Almonds, Charred Brie. So…yes, the brie was charred. But it wasn’t warm in the middle and creamy as we dream of brie being. Nonetheless, one Rouletter had this listed as a top dish of the night. The pear was good but the Rouletters weren’t blown away. ⭐️4.0⭐️
Tied for second highest rated dish of the night was the VESPER WINGS: Asian. Overall Rouletters liked the sweet and tangy balance of the wing. These were super mild for an Asian wing, so some heat would have notched these up a bit. Your Croupier always orders wings crispy and these didn’t disappoint. ⭐️4.4⭐️
The Parisian Paradox and the dish tied for lowest score of the night was the Tuile (the Vesper has a daily Tuile special). Do you love cheese? I mean LOVE it? If so, you were like “ooo! These were crispy, savory, and deliciously greasy!” Two Rouletters are just such cheese lovers and rated this one top dish of the night. Now, if you’re the sort of person who, say, routinely takes the cheese off your pizza because it just all feels like too much, then you didn’t love this fried cheese with toppings on it. Everyone in between liked it but found it a bit unbalanced: the cheese was maybe a touch too sharp for this type of spotlight. There’s a reason that cheese sticks and fried cheese are almost always a mild cheese. The richness of the tuile made it a bit polarizing with ratings ranging from 2-5. ⭐️3.8⭐️
Tied for second highest rated dish of the night was the GRILLED CHEESE BITES: Four Cheeses + Tomato Soup. Now this was well-balanced. We will start with the very tasty grilled cheese: it was crispy on the outside and melty in the center with a great mix of cheese ranging from sharp to mild and creamy. And this wasn’t Campbell’s tomato soup: it was fresh and tomatoey while also being salted and seasoned well. One Rouletter had this one as a top dish of the night. A perfect comfort pairing that was actually shareable: the soup is thick enough to get a nice dunk with the thoughtfully cut sandwiches. ⭐️4.4⭐️
Like. Why was the BEEF ON WECK GALETTE: Puff Pastry, Braised Beef, Onion, Caraway Seeds, Horseradish Crema, Demi so good? Inside this unassuming pastry is somehow contained the perfect beef on weck (and the top rated dish of the night). The buttery flaky crust perfectly balanced the rich meat and the zip of the horsey crema was just right. This was a bold and brave move: somehow fitting the WNY classic beef on weck into an elevated form like this. It paid off: no one expects a beef on weck galette to be this incredible and two Rouletters had this listed as a top dish of the night. ⭐️4.8⭐️
Turning to drinks, the Strawberry Fields special: Plantation White Rum, Lemon, Strawberry, and Mint Shrub was the top drink of the night. The Vesper: Martini Shaken, not stirred, with Stolichnaya Vodka, Gordon’s Gin, Lillet Blanc & lemon twist was quite strong and a little boozy. Turning to wine, Rouletters liked the California cab sauv by Lyeth. The beer menu had fair draft list of 6 beers including a lager, a pilsner, a porter, a kolsch, and two IPAs. ⭐️4.3⭐️
The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. Overall, the service was good but a couple of drinks were forgotten even though they weren’t super busy. The dishes came out as they were ready but it wasn’t the most thoughtful coursing. ⭐️4.1⭐️
Rouletters liked the atmosphere, the open view of the kitchen, the nice touches of artwork, and interesting design giving with lots of neat things to see. The food was overall a touch rich and just a small step from being truly amazing. The parking isn’t great in that area and they have a small lot as well, so head’s up on that one. The most disappointing thing is the bathrooms. They’re single stall but gendered. A friend brought this to their attention a couple years ago and they said the “all-gender signs were being printed.” So…not cool. Or inclusive. At the end of the day we were left thinking, “This place feels like it was trying to be Carnegie Cellars before that place even existed and they haven’t quite gotten there yet.” ⭐️3.8⭐️
