Collegiate Times

When picking a restaurant to review, I comb through a few lists of local places I?ve found on a couple websites. Last week, I found a place called Giovanni?s Gourmet in Christiansburg and gave them a call. The person who picked up the phone answered with ?hello? and I asked if I had indeed called Giovanni?s Gourmet, and he said ?yes.? I made reservations for the next night.

The address of Giovanni?s Gourmet, the place I was told I had called, does not seem to exist. After calling the restaurant from my cell phone, they pointed me to a different address about a block away.

When I drove to that address, I saw a sign that read: ?The Summit.? I had heard of the restaurant called Summit before, but thought I was going to Giovanni?s Gourmet. When we showed up, I asked the hostess if ?The Summit? is the same as ?Giovanni?s Gourmet? and she seemed confused.

The moral of this story that has little to do with an actual restaurant review is that the Summit restaurant doesn?t work very hard to give you an enjoyable evening. During any one of the conversations I had with the restaurant on the phone, they could have mentioned that I had the name of the restaurant and location wrong.

The Summit is essentially an old mansion in Christiansburg that has been converted into a somewhat sophisticated restaurant. The grounds of the mansion are well landscaped and clean, and the interior is decorated in early twentieth century style. There are a couple of dining rooms, each with gaudy wallpaper and a fireplace. The tables are set with white tablecloths and extravagant silverware.

The style of the restaurant would achieve its purpose, but for a few glaring deficiencies. The carpet has stains every few feet, the fireplace mantle is peeling and the music that plays throughout the meal would be better suited for a jazz bar. The Summit does not successfully attain the elegant atmosphere it aims to be.

The service at The Summit also lacks the elegance needed for an authentic feel. The one visible employee scoffed at our request for more butter and a second basket of bread. Considering there were six of us at the table, we weren?t making outlandish requests.

For a restaurant as pricey and pseudo-elegant as The Summit, the menu has good variety. There are about a half dozen appetizers ranging in price from six to fifteen dollars. Our group bought a crab cake appetizer, falafels and a tamale. The crab cake was our favorite, made in a unique butter sauce. The falafels and tamale were standard-issue and didn?t impress me.

My entr?e was called the Italian Angel (about $18), a pasta dish with scallops, shrimp and mushrooms. The dish is covered in a sauce similar to the crab cakes and is generously topped with seafood. Other choices for entrees are grouper, steak, chicken, crab cakes, and stuffed shells.

Considering the price (it cost $175 for the six of us), there are better places to go. About a block away from The Summit is The Gables, a restaurant with more bang for your buck than any other seafood restaurant in the area.

The Summit suffers from a lack of genuine atmosphere and continuity on the menu. The mix of jazz music, classic American decor, stained carpet, falafel, tamale and a dish called the Italian Angel doesn?t work for me. Some may see it as a ?something for everyone? approach, but I see it as an El Camino. Pick one thing and do it well.

The Summit is a good place to bring the folks, but too gaudy for a date or an evening out. The quality of the food is solid, but The Summit needs to fix its other glaring needs.