ABSINTHE

Deserts are perfect, we tried Chocolate pot and citrus caramel. Also truffle burger was good.

I visited Absinthe for a family celebration. I have celiac disease and came prepared with a celiac safe meal in my bag. Family and I both tried calling ahead of the event and were not able to reach the restaurant to confirm if Absinthe has the ability to make a Gluten Free meal that is celiac safe.

The short version of this review is that they can’t, or didn’t, accommodate a celiac safe gluten free meal. At least for me, after sharing they could.

When I arrived, I stepped aside to the hostess stand to ask to speak with a manager about my dietary needs. She happily confirmed for me what I could eat from the menu. I was told that the sole was an entirely gluten free meal option. I confirmed “yes but can it be made separately of other gluten containing meals, no shared pans, fryers, grills etc with cross contamination, and can the chef also prepare my meal separately?” All yes.

As the server took my order, I noticed he didn’t write “gluten free” on his order pad and asked him to please note it. He did not but instead said he had already put it in the computer. I accepted this.

When my meal came out, there were 2 other sole plates in hand. I asked the person serving my meal to me if they were sure this one was made specifically gluten free and celiac safe. The server said “let me double check.” Came back, seemed hesitant, and said yes it is. The main server then came over and started speaking loudly and dismissively as if he was annoyed I was asking his colleague this question. “This is gluten free. Enjoy.”

When I questioned how they know, without marking my plate that this is gluten free, yet it was served at the same time as 2 other identical plates, likely all cooked together and placed under the warmer together, he simply repeated himself, again raising his voice at the table.

I do not like for my dietary disability to draw attention to me, and I did not want it to take away from my family celebration. I noticed this was beginning to cause a scene. So I got up and said “let’s talk over here, please.” And then asked for a manager once we got away from the table. The manager assured me that ALL of the sole is gluten free and could not possibly have cross contact as it is individually pan fried with rice flour (noteworthy that the server told me it was almond flour.)

There was butter on my plate, and fried potatoes and in hindsight, I simply should not have trusted this place to safely feed me. I suspect either of these two things could have been cross contaminated, especially if the fried potato topping is cooked in a shared fryer.

My body’s reaction tells me that there WAS cross contamination. Perhaps not blatantly serving me gluten, but also not the celiac safe meal they assured me I was receiving. It has now been 4 days and I am still experiencing the adverse effects of being glutened. Again, I had a celiac safe meal with me in my bag. If they were honest with me, or fully knowledgable that they could not accommodate, I would have 100% have happily eaten that.

If you have any dietary needs, don’t trust Absinthe. I am giving them 2 stars because my family enjoyed the restaurant and everyone else was happy.

I did try to call them to let them know for the safety of others that their gluten free is NOT celiac safe, but again could not reach them via phone.

Service was terrible. The waiter ignored us for the longest time, forgot a side we order, didn't check if the food was good, we had to ask three different people before being able to order dessert.

Perfect place to go before a ballet. The food and drinks were delicious.

Beautiful romantic eatery for a date night or business meeting. Unique flavors and eats.