Last October, Cicic and business partner Matt Milavec opened Brunswick’s Madd Chef’s, just outside Medina. With a 600-square-foot dining room, a 1,100-square-foot professional kitchen, and a righteous natural-foods philosophy, the chef is poised to do it all — dine-in, carryout, and catering. Ambitious expansion plans are also taking shape for the BYOB.
Given all this firepower, we were ready to be wowed. And yet our two dine-in visits — one during a weeknight dinner hour, the other during Sunday brunch — were less than impressive, marred by confusion, flubbed orders, and uneven food. We learned afterward that Cicic had hired an entirely new staff just days before our arrival; this may explain the problems we encountered. We’re inclined to give Madd Chef’s the benefit of the doubt, since Cicic’s “clean foods” concept (i.e., using ingredients free of chemicals and additives, and grown as close to home as possible) is both admirable and timely. Plus, the ambiance inside the sit-down part of his op practically burbles with rustic charm.
Painted in tasty shades of pumpkin, maize, and chocolate, the tiny dining room is a prettily appointed space that invites diners to pull up a chair. Snowy white napkins and hefty flatware lend an upscale touch; and, as a sort of kinetic stand-in for traditional wall art, a flatscreen television silently broadcasts Food Network.
While the lunch-and-dinner menu is fairly narrow — sandwiches, salads, two soups du jour, and 11 (mostly chicken) entrées — the variations on each theme seem endless. Just ordering a salad is a decider’s dream: Want it topped with steak, tuna, or chicken? Want that chicken fried, grilled, or prepared Buffalo-style? Sesame dressing, buttermilk-herb dressing, or pesto-balsamic vinaigrette? Full size or half-portion? Paired with soup, or served as part of a soup-salad-sandwich combo?
The list of six-inch grinders is also a big’un, with 10 standard choices augmented by a “build your own” menu, offering a choice of bread (including Tuscan white, Asiago, or multigrain), meat (like smoked turkey, tuna salad, bacon, or roast beef), toppings (lettuce, olives, carrots, red peppers, etc.), cheese (Swiss, provolone, feta), and housemade spread (tapenade, pesto, hummus, or garlic mayo).
Unfortunately, we suspect this plethora of options made it hard on the rookie staff. At least we hope that explains why our Cowboy Grinder, described as containing “smoked beef brisket with Jack Daniel’s barbecue sauce, grilled onions, grilled peppers, and provolone cheese,” never hit the mark. On the first go-round, it was nothing more than a scant layer of beef on a grinder bun; after we took it back to the counter for remediation, it was returned with the promised barbecue sauce and provolone, but was still bereft of onions and peppers.
On the other hand, Madd’s Belgian frites were a delight: golden and crispy around the edges, and served with zesty roasted-garlic ketchup, curry ketchup, and garlic-pesto aïoli. The buttermilk fried-chicken salad — a crunchy toss of organic greens, diced cucumber, and juicy fried chicken breast — was also good. With it, we had a cup of housemade potato chowder — a tasty if tepid affair, with a skinned-over top that suggested it had lingered too long in the kitchen. And while we loved the big, hearty flavors of the Tuscan pasta — penne with pancetta, prosciutto, olives, and sautéed chicken — it was drowning in roasted red-pepper olio. As a final blow, the chocolate pot de crème was so unevenly baked, it was clotted on top and runny below.
The service — which Cicic admits was in a state of flux — also left us puzzled. When we tried ordering at the counter, a wannabe waitress told us to take a seat. Not long afterward, though, she was too swamped at the register to make it back to our table. When it became clear that no one was going to wait on us, we trudged back to the counter and joined the line. By then, of course, the kitchen was backed up, and we had to wait another 30 minutes for our food to arrive.
Fortunately, the reservations-only Sunday brunch was a sit-down affair; two servers were on the floor that day, taking orders and filling coffee mugs. As for the eats, the 16-item menu hit all the high points, with dishes that ranged from generously stuffed omelets, whole-grain pancakes, and corned-beef hash to salads, sandwiches, and a mouthwatering stack-up of grits, cornmeal-crusted catfish, and a pair of fried eggs. All brunch items are pegged at a somewhat pricey $9.95, but if you want a side of bacon or an extra pancake, just ask. Cicic promises that no one goes home hungry.
There were other nice touches — a warm muffin began our meal as a sort of midday amuse-bouche, and real maple syrup accompanied the pancakes. Unfortunately, the drop biscuits that were supposed to accompany the catfish were MIA. And while we ordered Brunswick griddle cakes (whole wheat and cornmeal pancakes topped with scalloped apples), what we got was a plate of blueberry cakes.
Maybe we don’t know what Cicic has to be madd about. But if this critic seems a little cranky, you can probably see why.
This article appears in May 16-22, 2007.
Madd Chefs promotes their so called locally grown clean food made fresh and without preservatives. Butt they soak there fries in a open dirty sink where anything an fall in. The cooks don’t ever wash there hands I saw them take out the trash without washing there hands. I watched the owner Richard touch money and go right back to cooking. He went to cullanary school he should know better. Maybe they should re think having an open kitchen!
It’s my understanding that “Executive Chef” Cicic did not complete the training at the Penn Culinary School. Regardless, the so-so review doesn’t surprise me in the least. His kitchen at the Clinic was a mess and never got its act together. There’s a reason why he no longer works there. I imagine that the “entirely new staff” was a replacement for the people who quit because of his antics. If you haven’t guessed by now I am not impressed with the chef’s resume or his work. Take it for what it’s worth.
Bon Appetite
Chef Richard may be an ok chef, but that is all he is. He doesn’t know a thing about customer service and should not own a business. His so-called “up scale” wanna be restaurant is far from perfection. A word of advice, don’t try to use a gift certificate because even if there are no restrictions on the bottom, they make them up and won’t accept them. We bought two $50 gift certificates on Mimi’s dining deals for half price. So, we paid $50 for $100 in gift certificates. When we received them in the mail they were four $25 gift certificates. We were told when we tried to use them that we could only use one $25 gift certificate per visit. Keep in mind the only restrictions on the bottom of the gift certificate were as follows: Certificates are not redeemable for cash. No change issued for unused portion. Tax and grautity not included. Reservations required for Dinner with gift certificate. NOWHERE did it say only one per visit. Oh, by the way, I made a reservation an hour before and when we got there they had no record of it. Imagine that! When we tried to use $75 in gift certificates for our $88 tab he told us we could only use one $25 gift certificate per visit. (Also keep in mind we purchased a $50 gift certificate on line for $25 or so we thought.) He said he would call the owner, Rich to see if he would accept it but he doubts he’ll accept more than one. He comes back and tells us Rich said NO only one per visit. At this point we are livid and just wanted to sign our credit card receipt and get out of there. As we preceded to the register another employee tried to show us a previously used gift certificate (of a different value) and the restriction on the bottom. My husband told her he didn’t care what was on that one, it wasn’t on ours. She said “You don’t have to yell at me!” He wasn’t yelling at her he was upset because none of the employees or the owner for that matter was looking at it from the customer’s prospective. What if we had given the $50 gift certificates to someone and they weren’t prepared to spend more than that? Our server then called Rich back and my husband got on the phone with him. You would think at this point he would want to take care of the situation and make us (the customer) happy. He argued with my husband and said that it was the policy. What he should have done is accepted our gift certificates and apologized and called Mimi’s dining deals regarding the issue. If it was a misprint it was not our fault as the customer. We contacted Mimi’s dining deals to make them aware of the issue with Madd Chef’s and they told us to send the unused $75 in gift certificates back and they would refund our money. They also said they have already had to talk with Rich about restricting customers to using only one $25 gift certificate. We never had an issue with Mimi’s to begin with but I’m glad to see someone has customer service skills. They went above and beyond to take care of us! Kudos to Mimi Vanderhaven! Also, we visited Madd Chefs on a Thursday night at 6:30 there was only one other table in the bistro. They were out of the steak I wanted to order, and I overheard the table behind us order a bottle of wine and they were out of that as well. Not a good thing to run out of things at the beginning of a dinner shift. I can understand if it had been a busy night. If I sound a little bitter, damn right I am! We will NEVER visit Madd Chef’s restaurant again and we are sharing our experience with everyone we know. Spread the word… DON’T GO TO MADD CHEF IN BRUNSWICK!!!