Nor would I choose to come for the atmosphere. I was sandwiched at a table next to the deafening bar one evening. The upstairs, with two booths cleverly designed to look like silos, is quieter, but otherwise pretty nondescript. The downstairs main dining room is more modern than rough-hewn, with a geometric farmland graphic on the back wall and ceramic birds hanging from the high ceiling.
The place is as large as a barn, but the only nod to down-home décor is shelves of jars filled with beans, corn, pickles, gourds and such. In fact, the restaurant’s location on the bottom floor of an office building in Park Potomac, a new, planned development with town houses, apartments and shops, makes for a strange juxtaposition with the earthy farm fare.
Since I ate there after the restaurant had been open only a couple of weeks, the service was still settling in, and I’m happy to give the kitchen a pass on the slowness of the entrée deliveries one night, as well as the wait staff’s unfamiliarity with the sourcing of the ingredients. But I’m still annoyed by a reservation issue.
For my first visit there, I called a day ahead to ask about adding an extra person to my table-for-four reservation—but was told it would not be possible. When I asked if there were any tables for four that could accommodate an extra chair, the host said yes, but he couldn’t guarantee I’d get one, and seemed unable to assign one to our party. So with much embarrassment, I had to disinvite my brother-in-law. (Sorry, Bill!) Luckily he’s an easygoing guy.
A couple weeks later, I explained the incident to a spokeswoman. She said offsite receptionists handle the huge volume of calls, and that changes have been made so that this type of situation won’t happen again.
I suspect nothing will keep the crowds away. Potomac’s Founding Farmers’ farm-to-table concept is a good one. I was just hoping for something more special on the table.
