Feeling the Heat

This could be the start of something big. Or not.

Dove Mountain Grill is operated by the same folks behind the
now-on-hiatus VinTabla. The dining room is bright and open, thanks in
part to high ceilings and large windows. Black, brown and beige tones
dominate. Funky lighting fixtures and exposed piping give the room a
cross between a modern industrial look and uptown polish. You have your
choice of booths or tables, patio dining or bar dining.

The service on our initial visit was just attentive enough that all
our needs were met while we had time for pleasant, uninterrupted
conversation with our friends Eric and Tricia. Another point in the
server’s favor: When I was undecided between two wines, he offered me a
taste of each. We opted for the Tenuta Ponte Fiano di Avellino ($27).
Yet another point: The room was extremely warm, and when we asked if he
could help, the air conditioning was turned up almost immediately.

We began the meal with two appetizers: shrimp and calamari ($9) and
tuna tartar ($12), which comes atop a bed of chopped cabbage with a
drizzle of wasabi aioli.

Tricia doesn’t eat seafood, but on the current menu, four out the
five appetizers include fish of some sort (and the fifth is the
jalapeño corn cake that was coming with my dinner). This is
something the chef might want to rethink.

The small shrimp and calamari were lightly battered and served with
a sweet chili sauce. While both were cooked perfectly, the flavors were
timid. The same could be said about the tuna; it just didn’t have that
mouthwatering richness that makes good tuna so addicting.

Our four entrées included the ahi tuna sandwich for Eric
($16); the chicken and cheese enchiladas ($12) for Tricia; the veal
meatloaf ($15) for John; and the half rack of apricot-glazed baby-back
ribs that came with that jalapeño corn cake ($17) for me.

Tricia’s enchiladas were filled with strips of chicken and cheese,
and topped with a creamy ancho chile sauce. It came with black beans.
She noted the enchiladas were very good, but thought that $12 was a bit
steep for such a basic dish.

The ahi on Eric’s open-faced sandwich was nicely seared, but the
bread was “hard,” as he put it, and no amount of the tasty aioli could
change that. The fries were unremarkable.

John’s meal, like Eric’s and Tricia’s, needed some tweaking. The
meatloaf was dense but dry; this could’ve easily been remedied with a
little more gravy. The side, shaved brussels sprouts, held a faint
sauerkraut flavor, which was a bit of a turnoff. They might’ve worked
better with my ribs.

About those ribs: baby-back meat should fall off the bone with
barely a touch of the fork; not so here. The meat wasn’t tough, but it
wasn’t tender, either. The apricot “glaze” was plopped on top rather
than being incorporated into the dish. The corn cake was bland and in
need of more seasoning.

We split a dessert: the “pie of the day” ($7), which really wasn’t a
pie at all; it was a dark-chocolate mousse napoleon. A creamy, smooth
chocolate mousse was layered between two circles of crispy puff pastry.
Reactions were mixed.

We returned for another meal on a recent Wednesday evening. The
place was a little busier, due in part to the Wednesday wine tastings
($7). We didn’t partake, but if you do and stay for dinner, you get a
10 percent discount. Other specials include Thursday prime-rib specials
and a Sunday brunch; there’s also live music on Fridays.

Our food on this night was decidedly better—but the service
needed some polish. For example: We were seated at a booth that had
plating for four. One setting was removed, but a third sat on the table
throughout our meal. I may be quibbling, but little things like that
make a difference. The temperature in the room was way too high
again.

John ordered the fish and chips ($12), and I went with the Tucson
Originals special ($20.09), which on that night was a grilled pork chop
with prosciutto baked beans, watermelon salad and a bowl of roasted
garlic soup with vegetables. (All Tucson Originals restaurants are
running a summer special of some kind; check out www.tucsonoriginals.com.)

The soup was much like many of the dishes on visit no. 1: The
execution fell short. The vegetables were pale and mushy, and the
garlic flavor just wasn’t there.

On the other hand, our entrées were great. The fish was
crunchy to the bite and nicely seasoned, and the fries were a vast
improvement compared to the ones on our first visit. Two dipping
sauces—an aioli and a homemade tartar sauce—added that
little something extra.

My good-size chop was plated on a sea of tender beans that were
swimming in their own natural juices, and the prosciutto gave them a
nice slightly salty zing. The chop itself was tender and juicy; the
watermelon salad perched on top was cold, which contrasted nicely with
the heat of the meat. There were bits of corn and tomatoes in the salad
as well.

Dessert this time was the featured triple chocolate mousse pie ($7).
The filling wasn’t really mousse; it was more like whipped pudding on a
chocolate graham-cracker crust, all topped with chocolate sauce. I
wouldn’t call it great, but who can argue with that much chocolate?

People expect something special when they’re paying $15 for
meatloaf, and we had too many misses during our visits to Dove Mountain
Grill. Given a little more time, perhaps things will improve.
Considering the team behind this restaurant, there’s no reason they
shouldn’t.

This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2009.