Wildweed

We were fortunate to snag a reservation for Chef David's first "In the Weeds" dinner. This is a new series he is creating with guest chefs from other cities. This was a collaboration with Chef Colby Rasavong of Bad Idea in Nashville. The restaurant has great energy, cool lighting, a great mural, and very comfortable stools at the chef's counter. The top of the counter is a leather-feeling material that is a welcome change from wood or stone. Since this dinner was on a Sunday night, we found parking right out front on the street.It is obvious that Chef David, Chef Lydia, and Chef Colby place a huge emphasis on hospitality and service. They, along with their teams, explained every dish in detail as they were served. Leah was lovely explaining the wines, and the hostess was bubbly and helpful. We were blown away by how well we were taken care of. We will absolutely return for more dinners during regular service.The food was fantastic! Such a mixture of flavors and textures. The seafood was the highlight. There were 12 courses in all with some extra smaller dishes. Proteins ranged from Scallops, Halibut, Striped Bass, Dungeness Crab, Chicken, and Rabbit (not our favorite). They were all prepared in such unique, delicious ways. Kudos to Wildweed! It is obvious why Chef David was nominated for a James Beard Award. This is such a fantastic new addition to OTR and the Cincinnati food scene.

I guess I'm going to summarize my review with "good, but not my style". We had 5:15 reservations before a 7:30 aronoff show. When we checked in at the hostess stand, the whole first conversation was about precisely what time we were going to leave. I appreciate the eye on efficiency, and if that had been the end of it, no problem. It wasn't. What time we were leaving kept being a theme of the conversation. After sitting for nearly half an hour with drinks and bread, our waitress basically told us that they have an amazing ribeye feature, but we were too late to order it because it takes 45 minutes to cook and we needed to leave by 7. I can't remember a more off-putting initial experience. Our group had a variety of selections. I had the striped chicken tortelli, which was very tasty, though a touch underdone. (Stunning dish though -see the picture!) Al dente is great, but uncooked is different. Our friend who had the tuna found it very average, and the lasagna got a thumbs down. The beef tartare appetizer was excellent, and the friend that got the beet salad really enjoyed it. I'm not surprised that some people have rated this 5 stars. This is one of those places that if it's your style, you're going to love it, but with a pretty limited menu selection, there's not something for everyone. I'd keep writing, but they are telling me it's time to leave.

Top to bottom, Wildweed is a class act restaurant that somehow both delivers a high-end eating experience and manages not to take itself too seriously. We booked the chef's table experience on a Thursday night and were blown away by the quality of the food, the creativity of the menu, and the vibrant setting. Service: We interacted with many different staff members throughout the evening including a host who welcomed us, poured us glasses of sparkling wine, took our coats, and ran through the menu ingredients; a server who checked in on our beverage needs throughout the evening; and many of the chefs who served us directly over the counter. Everyone was friendly, approachable and thoughtful; we felt welcome and taken care of! Space: Wildweed has truly been built around its kitchen, with the curving bar and walls that frame it as the centerpiece of the space--against the huge windows facing the street! It's unusual and compelling to see the open kitchen presented to the world this way but it makes a statement about why you come here: to eat delicious food prepared by pros. Vibes: Wildweed on a Thursday is lively, a little noisier than most restaurants--but you'll notice that almost all the sound is coming from the guests rather than the chefs. The staff are constantly communicating and in sync with each other, but they do so quietly, sometimes with just a hand gesture. (We noticed for instance that when a dish was ready to run, the chef who finished it would simply carry it to the pass through and raise a hand to summon a server for pickup.) And while the kitchen is putting out spectacular food, everyone is wearing branded tshirts. The vibe is chill, cool and collected, a tad serious but unpretentious.Drinks: The cocktail menu is short but creative. We enjoyed the apple cider cocktail (with a pleasant shock of hibiscus) and the chrysanthemum (floral and not overly sweet), as well as a glass of wine. I'd be curious to try the drink pairings with the tasting menu, but for this meal was very content to order a la carte. Finally, THE FOOD. We progressed through about 12 courses each highlighting one of 6 seasonal ingredients. Some dishes, like radish hand roll and Dungeness congee, were perfect expressions of the ingredient in question, while others, like the Marcona almond tofu topped with tuna, stretched the imagination of what a particular ingredient could be. There were a good mix of smaller bits and a little larger dishes, and the flavor balance was spectacular throughout all. I was particularly impressed with the aforementioned tofu dish, the pasta, and to be honest all three of the heavenly desserts. It was a good amount of food, too, presented with good timing. We left full and content but not overly stuffed. One of (if not THE) best meals I've ever eaten. If you're on the fence about Wildweed for any reason, GO. And if you've already been, I have to imagine the seasonal menus and creativity in the kitchen can only make this an experience worth repeating.

First impression, we checked in and the hostess was already asking when we would be leaving. Insisting that we tell her the exact time so that she could turn the table. Not real welcoming. One of the people in our party was considering their $98 steak, but we were told we didn't have time to order that and to come back another time. Ironically, service was slow all the way through our meal, until the end, when they needed us to leave by our previously discussed exit time. The food was good, although they should consider heating up the overpriced bread. I would come back for the pasta, but it's not worth the unwelcoming, snooty service.

Exquisite fine dining with an emphasis on detail, presentation and creativity. Walking in for our 7:30 Reservation as first time my family and I shared pleasant gasps of the initial view of the restaurant. As we waited in line to check in we were admiring their natural plant decor, interesting mushroom mural, and bright electric lights along the upper walls.As we were seated, the server for the night quickly made his way around, and kindly introduced himself. To be frank, we were a bit underdressed but did not receive any feeling of undervalue as patrons which I appreciated a ton.As we made our selections for the 3 course meal the server was very helpful and patient as their menu featured many interesting plates. Their cocktail menu was appealing and had great taste to back it up! We all loved our drinks and took turns trying each others. My favorite was the Daiquiri, it was both tart and boozy in the best ways with great flavor. The appetizers came out quick. Our beef tartare was plated with crispy textures to add crunch and had a pleasant umami and salty savory flavor. The beet salad was fresh, subtly sweet and a nice contrast to the hearty tartare.As for our entrees, their whole wheat elicoidali was a hit! The savory tripe ragú was very rich and indeed a great compliment to the perfectly cooked pasta and parm. Harry and delicious!Overall their menu is clearly curated to a distinguished taste palette and lived up to my expectations. A lovely upscale restaurant that delivers!

Wildweed is as excellent as you hope. From the start, the hostess and the team of servers were thoughtful, warm, and welcoming. This continued through the entire experience and was an excellent addition to the solid food.For drinks, I thoroughly enjoyed their margarita - not too sweet, nor too sour - but a perfect upscale tequila drink. Unfortunately, I didn't love the apple cider cocktail, while it was good, it was difficult to drink in the small rimmed glass. For appetizers, you can't go wrong with bread service, but the beef tartare and the oysters were both incredible. I'm definitely going to try the beet salad next time, it looked stunning, but I couldn't have fit that into our meal. It's a tossup to say which app was my favorite, they are both great and so different.For dinner, the pesto pasta was incredible. I didn't find it to be over-pesto'd, if you're skeptical. It was pure perfection and I can't wait to go back and try something new and different.

If 3.5 stars were an option, would def give this to Wildweed. Second week they are officially open and were excited to dine here. Never had the opportunity to try any of the pop-ups.We entered the lively, upscale atmosphere that is still casual. Warmly greeted and seated. We were informed that they request a table for two limit themselves to 90 minutes. I had mixed feelings about this; of course you don't want folks loitering, but on the other hand, ordering drinks followed by four courses, including dessert, iis a bit rushed in that period of time.Our wait staff was really kind, had some great thoughts on dishes, and was able to provide us with some informed recommendations. She was very timely and thoughtful of being on top of checking in on is but not overbearing. I found other staff weren't as thoughtful. As an example, I went to the washroom to wash my hands before dinner, and the narrow walk ways require either party in opposing direction to step to the side. I personally stepped to the side for the staff both ways to and from the washroom and out of my way out of the restaurant. It is a small detail, but usually, the customer goes first. There are several drink options, including cocktails, mocktails, and wine. The mixed drinks are very thoughtful and have great presentations. I had the milk punch and smash. Both struck me as weak on the spirits. No soft drinks tho - in my book this isn't cool. I really love to end my meal with a coke with dessert, and a short list of options would not bring down the class of the restaurant. The food? Overall, I really enjoyed it with a critical error. We had bread for starters - local bakery with herbed butter. Ranger chicken tortelli and Red Fife Mafaldine. Both were nice with a lovely mix of fresh, acid, richness, and, of course, al dente. The former pasta dish unfortunately had a critical error- a piece of shrimp barely got touched by heat and was clearly uncooked on the outside- how this was missed by the chef who cooked it followed by the head chef beats me. I sent it back, and it returned appropriately cooked. Any time I send a dish back for a critical error, usually the restaurant takes a moment to recognize the error past the wait staff just serving the new dish. I do commend our waitress checking in, of course. Examples I've experienced at other restaurants: the chef personally comes out and serves the dish and apologizes, a manager or the chef comes out and double checks the dish, a drink or dessert on the house - something. If you mess up hard, which undercooked seafood falls into the category, you gotta fix it. Finally, the halibut really was delightful. I am looking forward to making Wildweed a regular dinner spot and further looking forward to bringing guests here. A few kinks to iron out as one would expect with a newer restaurant. I feel confident this will certainly happen.

The hype you hear is true--Wildweed is amazing. My husband and I visited this weekend to celebrate my birthday. It was Wildweed's third night being open, and the food and service were incredible. We started with two NA cocktails. I got the bees knees which was one of the best drinks I've ever had. Amazing. For a starter we ordered the El Camino miche, which is bread from a local bakery (El Camino). It came with an herby butter which was delicious. For our second course, we ordered the chicken "ranger" tortelli. The pasta was perfectly al dente, of course. But the sherry cream sauce the pasta came in was DIVINE. I was scooping it up with a spoon trying to get every last drop. For our third course we got the ribeye. It was cooked perfectly, and the charcutière sauce was a flavor bomb. It was salty, sweet, tangy, and umami all at once. We finished our meal with the pawpaw semifreddo sandwich, which blew me away. The cookie specifically was bursting with caramelized brown butter flavor.Overall, I went into Wildweed with high expectations and they were still exceeded. Everything was so much more flavorful than I expected based off of the menu descriptions. I can't wait to return!One final note: the restaurant was playing metal music quite loudly, which was unexpected. My husband and I had a hard time hearing each other even two feet apart, which made conversation difficult. I would have loved if the music was turned down just a tad. Just something to note for anyone visiting that it's not a quiet vibe (which isn't objectively bad!). This would in no way deter me from returning.

This place is phenomenal. Started off with the oysters, which were extremely well seasoned & tasted very fresh. But I didn't like how they put ice on top of the oyster itself. The chicken tortellini with shrimp was amazing. the sauce was delicious & the flavors were great. For dessert we got the icecream sandwich but it was just ok. it wasn't too sweet but im just not a fan of ice cream sandwiches. Overall the ambiance was nice & they were willing to seat us 30 mins before closing time. The service was amazing!

Top notch tasting menu from start to finish. A lot of these tasting menus at similar restaurants leave you wanting for more, but not here! Left full with big smiles. Definitely recommend!