I feel I must disclose, first, that the amuse bouche served before the courses was particularly fantastic, and really did a great deal to set the mood for appreciating the food to come.
The atmosphere of the restaurant, in both the physicality and the art...selection, unfortunately puts off the kind of pretentious vibe of many restaurants of this calibur. This made it all the more enjoyable when I had the treat of later hearing the chef discuss how such restaurants can often lose the point in their pretension. His intention is to focus first on the deliciousness of each dish, which is sought in balance rather than potency or exoticism of flavor. I believe that this mission serves to ground the flavors here, such that I would credit the chef with being experimental but without requiring the patron to be particularly adventurous in their pallette.
There were many dishes throughout that either my partner or I would generally not be particularly keen on, or would consider perhaps polarizing or divisive. Rather than simply engaging exotic flavors for the purpose of "showing off", the clearly well-traveled chef instead incorporates from the pallette of his experiences. The chef himself admitted that he would be very unlikely to order a cauliflower dish from the menu of a restaurant that would offer a more promising entree, such as a steak or a schnitzel. But here, the cauliflower is served with a beef cheek that is so thoroughly cared for as to make the bites not only as flavorful as if from a steak, but done in a manner that is surprising to the pallette as the beef is dehydrated and grated over the cauliflower, and only truly 'activates' when coming into contact with saliva.
This, to me, is what makes the cuisine particularly commendable: that the intention of deliciousness is pursued with this careful attention to detail.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed some of the dishes, and surprised by how much I enjoyed Rumour. I wish them great success, and eagerly anticipate when I can next return.More