The dog days of summer, that’s what we are in now, those long, hot and humid days in the middle of the Summer season. While I would have laughed off an eighty-one degree day as mild when I lived in Florida, I have, since moving here, become accustomed to much milder temperatures. Aside from the twenty-something degrees difference in the two corners of the country we are still in the pattern of long warm days of heat and humidity. I went out twice today; once to go grocery shopping and the other to walk down into Fremont to return a DVD. Both instances warmed me to the point of sweating and wishing for a cool drink. What I longed for, along with that cool drink, was a nice nap in the shade for I was feeling very sluggish in the heat. Instead I mustered the will to drive up to Capitol Hill in search of a cool spot in which to have dinner. After a short drive around the Broadway and Pike/Pine corridors I decided on Rosebud.

What attracted me most were the tables positioned strategically in large, open windows under the dappled shade of sycamore trees. As I stopped to check the menu a cool breeze rustled the leaves in the canopy above and that was all the persuasion I needed. Once inside the service was a bit stunted as nobody was manning the entrance to the dining room. That is except for a member of the kitchen staff who was holding a personal conversation directly in front of the doorway, blocking my access. Fortunately for me I caught the bartender’s eye and mouthed the words, “table for one”. He quickly disappeared behind a wall and delivered a server who directed me to the aforementioned window seats. This particular spot served as something of a cafe style sidewalk seat allowing a person to peer out onto the pedestrian traffic moving by a mere two feet away. Of course this also attracted some unwanted attention from the more inebriated of the transients using the Pike Street corridor to get from Downtown to Capitol Hill.

With the heat of the day making me drowsy I decided a quick, single course dinner would be in order so I made a request for the Natural Beef Tenderloin ($25.00). For a piece of meat that was ordered on the rare side of medium-rare it took a bit for my entree to arrive. But when it did it was well presented. A thick piece of beef wrapped in a slice of bacon atop mashed potatoes and married to green beans. As I cut into the meat I made the quick realization that this was not a mislabeled filet mignon. You see, this piece of meat turned out to be somewhat stringy with connective tissue and silver skin (Silver skin is that weird, thin bit of white tissue that’s like an inner tube to cut through once it’s been cooked). Aside from the lack of trimming effort on the kitchen’s part the steak was cooked to my desired doneness and was very juicy. There was a bit of an odd flavor that I determined came from the bacon it was wrapped in. Iron-y, liver-y and a bit sour was what I experienced from the beef. I didn’t bother sampling the bacon as it was rubbery, fatty and not very crisp - I ended up pushing to the side of the plate. The tenderloin’s plate companions on the other hand were quite tasty. The potatoes were smooth and tangy from the addition of goat cheese. And the chives were added in just the right amount to add an herbal note yet not distract from the cheesy potato flavor. The green beans, labeled as French beans on the menu, were tender and crinkly on the outside yet still retained a vibrant green and toothsome crunch.

While I have good things to say about the presentation at Rosebud I feel that the kitchen’s focus is too much on that aspect of dinner. I know, the phrase is, “Presentation is everything”. Well, that may be the phrase but I’m much more into substance over style. “Less is more” and “Form follows function” are ideals I tend to live by. I guess it also boils down to paying $25.00 for a sub-par tenderloin steak. The atmosphere is nice but after this afternoon’s experience, I doubt I’ll be making a return trip to sample any of Rosebud’s other culinary options.