Robert Moss Drops a Searing Review on Burwell's

[Photo: Praneendra Kuver]

Burwell's Stone Fire Grill got the old up and down from City Paper's Robert Moss, and the review was a scorcher.

"If a chef is going to hazard an amuse, he or she better hit it out of the park each time. These managed to bunt their way to first. That, as it turned out, was an appropriate harbinger of the meals to come.

The deviled eggs are deemed good, and an appetizer of scallops "couldn't be better," but it's the sear-your-own-steak concept that Moss can't get past. In fact, the term "beefy-steam sauna effect" was tossed around. And then he adds, "When the pros do it in the kitchen for you, the results aren't significantly better."

It's the "marketing sizzle" that seems to irk Moss the most. Burwell's, whose reps once likened the restaurant to lingerie, keeps up the super-sized claims on the website and in-house. He recounts being asked by a server, "Aren't those cocktails totally different from what you get anywhere else?"

Moss admits the "next generation steakhouse" might work near the cruise terminal (again, burn), but he felt like he was "being sold at every turn."

· Burwell's Drops Like a Hot Rock on the Dining Scene [CP]
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