Voice

I have been putting off writing this review for a long time now. I think this is out of selfishness. I’ve been wanting to keep Voice all to myself but it wouldn’t be right not to share the love — delicious, DELICIOUS love.
My journey actually starts with last year’s Unilocal Eats! I wanted to eat here for the Unilocal Eats 2009 which just so happened to fall on my birthday. They made a huge reservation hiccup and I had to go somewhere else and I was pissed.
They made it up to me on my second visit. I chose VOICE to be my subject for a research project at my culinary school. I arrived in full chef attire with a pad and paper, ready to go. The hotel maitre d’ was very helpful. He went the extra mile by showing me the rooms and kitchen and introduced me to the executive chef. He invited me to sit down and dine. This was my point of discovery. The mushroom cappuccino came in an espresso cup. Its indulgence and depth is hard to explain. The soup itself is creamy yet light. The flavor is deep and mysterious. The foam on top is ethereal and strong. This «cappuccino» will make a mushroom lover out of you. The waitress brought complimentary appetizers that aren’t on the menu now, but they were bliss as well. At the time, they offered a lamb medallion dish with some kind of red wine reduction sauce, served with little potatoes to garnish. The portion was small but you must remind yourself that this isn’t a Chinese buffet. Quality definitely rules over quantity. He very generously gave me 50% off the bill and did not charge me for the soup or appetizers.
I came again on a Tuesday to discover their gourmet burger and beer pairing special. Back then it was $ 10 for a burger, herb and parmesan crusted pomme frites, and a paired beer. Between VOICE and Burger Guys I’m always telling people that they both have the best burgers in Houston.
I know that VOICE went through a change of chef and the food has suffered a little for that. I think the special has been changed so that it does not come with fries. I am sad to hear that they have downgraded a lot on their menu, but for my experience, I am very appreciative and give them 5 stars for going above and beyond my expectations.

To my enduring sadness, I just saw that Voice, my favorite restaurant in the city, is no more and has been refashioned into Line & Lariat, with a southwestern themed menu.
I am going to go cry now.
5 Stars for nostalgia and all the times we had great service and the most amazing truffle parm fries.

Decided this was going to be a place we visited for Houston Restaurants weeks. For all of you Foodies out there go eat at the list of locations through the end of August and a donation is made to the Houston Food Bank for each dinner ordered.
Usually restaurants in hotels leave you wanting more so my expectations werent too high as i didnt want to be dissapointed however, I definately left wtih a completely different perspective about this place then when I first got there.
1. Parking: its downtown, you may get lucky and score a spot on the street or you can valet it and get your ticket validated.
2. Quiet place with great mood lighting and beautiful décor. Our group was able to have a conversation and not have to work on our lip reading skills.
3. Service: Great waiter, attentive and knowledgeable
ON to the food.
Plating was beautiful for each dish!
So lets start with the bread, this is something i usually skip out on HOWEVER, this version made us order seconds.
Pickled jalapeño and carrot corn bread with corn and bacon. WOW, WOW, WOW. Im going to have to try to replicate this amazing bread at home. WOW!!! I can stil taste it
Cheddar biscuits: cheddary, warm and went great with the goat cheese butter
A trio of butters: Tabasco butter, butter with salt and Goat cheese honey and coriander butter… I could have picked up each butter dish and eatened it with a spoon.
Asparagus soup with straw muschrooms, poached quail egg, mint oil and lemon salt: Fresh asparagus which was more of a purée than a soup. Not complaining one bit as it was an excellent way to start my meal
Bershire Pork Belly wtih Herbed cereal, lavendar celery root flan: The STAR of the night; all four of us were blown away by the melt in your mouth pork with its perfectly crusted layer of spiced yumminess. Best pork belly ever had to date.
Beef short ribs wtih roasted bone marrow, peal oonions, carrot mousseline and roasted fingerling potatoes. Short ribs were slighltly dry but the mousseline help that along with the roasted bone marrow.
Grouper wtih oyster mushrooms, pea purée and shoots, grapefrut ginger emulsion: light and flavorful, perfectly cooked fish.
Smores:chocolate brownie with a cinnamon graham cracker crust, miso butterscotch, ganache and smoked maple syrup. I couldnt eat the bottom crust due to the cinnamon however i did try the rest and it was sinfully rich. The miso butterscotch was cravable and i wanted to lick the plate clean.
and Finally the All american which consisted of a malted milk shake with salty french fries and a house made candy bar. oh so rich oh so whimsical. The malted shake and fries were a great play on a childhood fav of dipping fries into frostys and the candy bar was a better version of a snickers.
it was a wonderful meal and i cant wait to go back and try other items off their list.

This was my pick for a nice bite before catching a theatre performance at the Alley. Hadn’t visited before, but based on the location to the theatre, our hotel, and the Unilocal reviews, I made the reservation.
This was a perfect choice. The Hotel itself is beautiful, but as you continue in further, though the cocktail area and into the dining room you get a real sense of this place. It’s like an onion with layer upon layer of fine furnishings, colors, gracious service and all with a bit of whimsical flair. From colonial wing back chairs, mixed with cow-​hide upholstered bar stools, to a ladies wash-​room that looks right out of Persia. Lots’ of fun.
The menu was brilliant. Based on the «green thinking» of sustainability and using local produce and meats, the menu is seasonal. Also, it was just the right number of menu options, and pairings to mix between. There were about six appetizer options, a pair of Salads/​Soups. A handful of main entrees, with a featured special, and then half a dozen a la carte choices that were very interesting (risotto, asparagus, leeks, etc) All priced very well, for instance the salad i had was $ 8 and the market fish special i had was $ 23. I couldn’t believe it. And the presentation of the dishes are beautiful, which I appreciate because i like to eat with my eyes too.
We ordered:
Cesar salad — real anchovy dressing gently coated the romaine
Caprese salda — with homegrown Brenham tomatoes, and micro-​green basil, with volcano salt
8 oz filet — one of the best steaks I have ever had, no exaggeration
Snapper fish special — moist and perfectly cooked
The service was top-​notch too. The maitre-​D of the dining room made frequent trips to the table and even poured wine as needed. Nice touch, with the hands on from upper management if you ask me.
The whole experience was paced well, not rushed and a truly great meal. I would recommend this place to anyone.

It sucks I have to write such a bad review for a place I once loved. First off, I love the happy hours at Voice and the décor of the restaurant which is why I suggested it to my friend for her bachelorette party which was held on June 30^th. I called and made the reservations myself under her name weeks in advance. I advised them that there would be 10 plus girls in attendance. I even called the day before after receiving a conformation just to make sure everything was in order.
Upon finding out that we were not allowed to have outside light appetizers in the room for the gift opening I called down and sure enough, I was told our section was ready for us, even earlier than we had intended. Great start.
However when we arrived our waiter, Herbert immediately struck up a congenial tone with us that continued for the rest of the night. This would’ve been all find and good had he actually done his job correctly. Instead he laughed and goofed off the entire time he took our orders, not writing down a thing. When I went up to speak with him personally instead of yelling across the lounge about my orders for a friend and I he acted as if he didn’t take it seriously and even poked fun at the fact i was ordering two meals. Not the best thing to do to any girl in the middle of a group of other women.
After that I proceeded to wait for my food. And wait. And wait. And wait. I ordered the sangria which was on special that night for $ 4 which Herbert insisted was a «hook up». And I waited some more. I watched as everyone got food, some sent it back because of course no one could memorize 15 orders and Herbert was no exception. Finally everyone had their food. Every time I asked about mine Herbert would act like I was the wet blanket, ruining the party. He even brought shots around which he said were «on the house» but more on that later.
Every time he did something like that he would be like «shhhh, my boss is right there, so don’t tell them I’m letting you have this on the house,» oh please.
After giving me my friend’s plate and insisting it was the lamb burger I’d ordered, when it was indeed the all beef cheeseburger my friend had ordered and after everyone had finished eating he brought out my plate and plopped it down with no apology.
I wasn’t able to even eat much of my burger as everyone had started to move back upstairs.
During this entire ordeal Herbert assured as all that we were on different tabs. But lo and behold the check was one giant bill. So one of the girls went around the room and took down what we ordered and spent at least 30 minute separating the entire thing out. Then Herbert informed us he couldn’t split the check like that. So the same girl went back around the room and asked everyone to put in an even amount. Apparently now Herbert could split the check. So I ended up paying twice as much considering what I’d ordered. For sub-​par service and for a waiter who acted like he was my «brother». He even «threw in» a bottle of champagne for the bride.
Of course all of the other attendees who had had the opportunity to eat and drink more than I had (but ended up paying for) were all a little tipsy and thought this was the best service ever. What they didn’t realize was that everyone had put in far too much, leaving Herbert a nice size tip he definitely didn’t deserve.
This whole situation was frankly unacceptable and downright embarrassing. I’ve always recommended Voice in the past, but will certainly put a stop to that. I honestly wish I could have my money back for such a crappy experience wrapped in an unprofessional waiter with a cheesy familial schtick.

Although I think it should be renamed to «The Vault»…seems more fitting since it was a bank years ago and has the giant vault door in the hotel lobby, our experience was fantastic!
Our friends were staying at this hotel and invited us back to enjoy some dinner at the Voice. We were very pleased at every aspect of our experience. The food was fantastic, portions were good and dessert was fabulous! Our other friends enjoyed the pork shank and the chicken and waffles and my husband and I only had appetizers but were impressed with the taste and the price that you paid for the quality was worth every penny! Kevin was super friendly and made a great impression on us right off the bat. The atmosphere is great, upbeat, lively and fun but it was not overly loud at all. simply perfect.
I think we’ll all be returning to the Voice in the very near future! Just wondering if they ever switch up the menu though? There werent too many options to choose from and variety is nice. :)

Although it’s taken me four months to review it, I have to still sing my praises for Hotel ICON’s VOICE and the accompanying VOICE Lounge which has fabulous bartenders and good, unique drinks.
I spent a week at the Hotel ICON over Christmas (¹²⁄₂₀₁₀) and dined at VOICE daily; in addition — hit up the VOICE lounge on an even more regular basis (yes, that is possible and makes for a bearable family gathering). The service was great (can I say again how wonderful the bartenders are?!) and the food was always excellent — but par for the course in terms of fine dining.
The location of the restaurant/​bar/​hotel is great if you’ve never been to Houston because it’s close to a nice assortment of restaurants, shopping, and other fun bars (I’m talking to you: LaCarafe, Warren’s Inn
and Flying Saucer). Check it out and if you do, ask for a Red Rowdy!

Three words: Mushroom soup cappuccino.
Damn. That alone was worth the trip here.
Overall, this is one of those really nice restaurants seated inside of the historic Hotel Icon in downtown.

I would grade this place as «incomplete» since I partook of every aspect of the joint save a true sitdown dinner.
Drinks at the bar was enjoyable, the bartenders very good and friendly. The beverages themselves were expectedly overpriced at $ 9+ a pop, but the liquor was high end even for wells.
Decided to order dessert at the bar, and someone dropped the ball somewhere because it took 30 minutes to come out, and noone knew where the first one that they made went. No worries, the lounge isn’t exactly the worst place to sit around, with cow chairs, cool lighting, and the general classiness of Hotel Icon. What we ordered was a deconstructed carrot cake; the «icing» was cream cheese ice cream, the cake was plain carrot and cinnamon cake, and it was all topped with caramel pecan. The dynamic played like cake and ice cream in carrot cake form. Based on this dish’s playfulness, I will return for dinner in the future.
Alas, breakfast kind of continued the showcase of either understaffing or something amiss amidst the serving or kitchen staff. Being forgotten for large chunks of time, simple breakfast items taking as long as the dessert the night before, and expensive and so-​so dishes did not equate to a wholly satisfying breakfast.

One of the better meals I’ve had in Houston! I love the look of this restaurant, with its rich fabrics, open bar, and plush seating. I love that there is a huge bank vault behind the reception desk of the hotel. This restaurant is in the hotel, but feels like so much more than just a hotel restaurant.
We were seated immediately when we arrived, as we had reservations. Our service was good throughout the meal even though our server did look a little disheveled. I really enjoyed the mussels appetizer and I would totally get that again and again! The entrée I had was really very very good. It was a roast chicken with mashed potatoes and carrots. Even the dessert was really good (chocolate cake and sea salt caramel ice cream).
The only draw back of this place is the parking, but we were able to find free street parking instead of paying for expensive valet parking. The restaurant comps part but not all of the valet cost.

Closed

I thought it was just okay.
DECOR & SERVICE: The décor was very nice and the staff was very pleasant albeit quite slow.
PARKING: The parking situation is terrible with it being downtown and in the middle of a hotel.
FOOD: The food was good but nothing that blew my mind. This of course is very relative since last week I went to Mark’s and both service and food were impeccable.
VERDICT: I would probably not go to Voice again given the price point and quality. Nice place to have a drink and some snacks. I’d go back for a martini and some sliders but probably would not dine there. The waiter told us that the head chef that use to work here jumped ship to take over operations at The Tasting Room. From what my friend says, the food here use to be amazing. It seems that the quality has decreased since then. Not a bad place overall, but there are just so many better places in Houston for the same price.

I came here tonight for Restaurant Week. I went here back in 2005 and remembered being impressed by the food here. Unfortunately, tonight, I left unimpressed.
To start I had the Japanese mushroom appetizer. It was quite tasty. It had a very earthy taste that I come to expect from mushrooms. I really enjoyed this but it was the best part of my meal.
For my entrée, I had the risotto. If you like at my few previous reviews (Block 7 and Parkside), I have also recently eaten risotto at other restaurants so I had something to benchmark to. This risotto, while cooked properly, wasn’t very good. There wasn’t anything uniquely tasty about it and I only finished it because I was hungry.
For dessert, I tried the Mango and Habanero Semifreddo. It was decent. I definitely enjoyed the spicyness of the pepper kicking in as a strong afternote. I also tried some of my friends’ desserts and thought they were only decent. They had the bread pudding and Cheesecake ice cream cone. Both were only average.
I might not come back here. I did enjoy the look of the restaurant but think the place is only average and would not recommend it.

Blah blah blah 7 course tasting blah blah blah mushroom cappuccino blah blah blah orgasmic blah. You’ve heard it all before. Now you get to hear it again from me.
For a special occasion (and a public-​spirited shag-​fest, see my review of Miller Outdoor Theatre for explanation) I checked into the Hotel Icon with the object of my perverse attentions and, it being a special occasion shaggiversary, we decided to give Voice a try.
I had made the reservation through Open Table, and noted in the comments section that it was an anniversary dinner and asked about the corkage fee if we wanted to bring our own special bottle of wine. I got a call back the day before the dinner with the info I needed on the corkage ($ 15 – very reasonable) and I even made arrangements to drop off the wine in advance. I mention this because when we showed up and gave our name, the host wished us a happy anniversary and showed us to our table where our wine was already waiting, and then made a nice little set piece speech about our anniversary and asked us to save room for a couple of glasses of champagne after dinner with his compliments. Nice.
I convinced my beloved that we should try the seven course menu tasting which, we were told, would be different for every table; as we watched course after course arrive at our and several other surrounding tables, it became clear that the menu is basically the same for each table with one «wildcard» course thrown in for variety, but that’s a small quibble – doing so many courses for so many tables, I can understand the need for economies of scale.
As others have noted, if you count the bread «course,» you get what seems like eight courses for your 7-​course meal. The bread was some tasty rolls, presented along with a little trio of butter, roasted garlic, and a black olive tapenade. This last provided the only major flaw in the evening: I bit down hard on a whole olive pit, cracking, happily, the pit and not my tooth. After that came:
The mushroom cappuccino soup – a nice wild mushroom broth with cream on top and a dusting of wild mushroom powder – is very enjoyable, and with its gimmicky look and satisfying taste, it’s easy to see why this has become a signature dish.
Next was «A tapestry of beets,» an artfully presented plate with little crumbles of chevre and sweetened beet juice reduction with chips and snips of various heirloom beets. Very pretty, but come on, it was BEETS. I’d rather eat toenails. The Wench loved it. To me – meh.
Next was a tiny dish of expertly prepare potato gnocchi in brown butter sauce with some nice salty ham lurking down below and a little grated aged cheese on the top. When I come back, I’m skipping the fancy prancy tasting menu, just bring me a big-​ass bucket of this stuff and some dead cow and I will be very happy.
A nice seared scallop course followed, served with a surprising combination of other stuff that just worked so well together that you have to tip your hat to the chef: cauliflower purée, enoki mushrooms, meticulously peeled, chopped and sauteed thin asparagus, and the surprising and really inspired addition, a swirl of guajillo honey. Magical. Seriously, chef, you have earned all your accolades on this one. I even forgive you for charging me 80 bucks for dinner and feeding me a plate of &$^%#@! BEETS.
Continuing on the briny deep theme, we next had an appealing looking piece of Sea Bass, perched (sic) on some grilled baby veggies with what we were told was an English pea emulsion – yes, the oh so trendy (several years ago) «foams» that became all the rage with the «Look at me! I’m a celebrity chef!» set. This one fell flat for me. A good bit of fish that could have used a little more flavoring which the bubbly scum of whatever just did not provide. I would have preferred some garlic and a straight grill job, but I was still dreaming about guajillo honey on scallops, and had mostly forgotten the beets, so I didn’t allow it didn’t harsh my inexorably progressing mellow.
Happily, since my little potato dumpling of love was going to solidly fucking eviscerate me if someone didn’t bring her some dead cow soon, the next course was a nice little taste of beef short-​ribs, with celery purée and fingerling potatoes. What can I say, this dish got me laid. Thanks, chef.
But for me the star of the show was dessert, a rosemary pound cake with mascarpone cheese, coco nibs and lemon curd ice cream. This dish is inspired and deserves to be the next signature item for this restaurant.
Unilocal only gives you 5,000 characters so I’ve had to cut back on both snarking and swooning, but suffice to say it was a great evening, even though we never did get those free glasses of champagne we were promised. The wait staff kept changing on us, which was a little confusing, and I’d have enjoyed tighter pacing on the delivery of courses, but aside from that, the foamy fish course and the &$%#^@! BEETS, 4 stars!
El Rauncho Grande

Any restaurant the greets me with a free glass of champagne is going to have to go real far in order to not get a five star rating from me. Luckily, the rest of my experience for our anniversary dinner was just as fantastic as free bubbles.
My first visit to Voice was during Unilocal Eats and I was underwhelmed by the service. They have done a complete 180, our server was attentive, but not overly so. And how can you not love TWO amuse bouche (s?)
I had the crabcakes off the lounge menu to start, which aren’t on the dinner menu, but they obliged. The crab cakes are shaped like tater tots and are a bit too fried for my liking, but they were reasonable. The grouper entrée I had was amazing. Perfectly prepared.
I still miss Bank, but Voice is a fair substitution.

It was a dark and stormy night…
Earlier this week, 2 of my British colleagues wanted Tex-​Mex for dinner. A local friend recommended Irma’s, and from the Hotel we hopped a cab. Unfortunately, it was the perfect storm of a very rainy night, a cab driver who had no sense of downtown direction or knowledge on how to use his GPS, and ultimately a closed restaurant (on Tuesday?). I mentioned Tom W.‘s Huynh recommendation, but we decided to press on to another place and unfortunately with the same cabbie.
After a second closed restaurant and more lost cabbie travel around several blocks, the driver then had the gall to suggest that there was really no good food in downtown anyway and he could take us to Southwest Houston! That was enough at that point and I immediately told him to take me to the first closest restaurant I could think of that would do justice to my guests and get me out of this cab. And if it wasn’t for the rain, we would have been on foot as early as the time the cabbie stopped at the Hilton to ask for directions!
After even more lost blocks and a reluctantly paid cabbie, the inviting lights of Voice invited us in. We passed a bar area busy with holiday celebrants and proceeded to a comfortable table for dinner.
The building containing Voice and the associated Hotel Icon is an old bank building and despite the nice carpets and curtains, noise reverberation is still an issue that made conversation a bit challenging. The menu items also seemed a little pricey, but at the current pound sterling to dollar exchange rate, my British colleagues thought Voice was a bargain. And since these guys are world travelers who know their wine, our red wine selection (with screw top) was excellent.
The dinner itself was excellent as was some of the people watching (especially the stabbing fork dining technique). I had a nice striped sea bass, while my friends very much enjoyed their rack of lamb. It was great to hang out, relax and chat about company happenings, share family stories and share a few laughs. Voice turned out to be the perfect place to cap off an interesting evening.

We had a reservation for 4 at 7:45 on a Saturday night during Houston Restaurant Week so we expected Voice to be a little busy — what we where greeted to when we arrived was a restaurant packed to the rafters!!! So off to the bar we trotted like asked for the requisite 10 – 15 minute wait… 40 minutes later we where beginning to wonder what was going on!!! We’d been forgotten about!!!
Thankfully all was forgiven the moment the first taste of the mushroom cappuccino hit our lips! What a deliciously delightful surprise! The mains where also pretty delicious however I must admit coveting my fiancé’s steak more than my fish after he grudgingly offered me a bite!
Final course offered up warm chocolate cake which was just like warm chocolate pudding when you cut into it — oozing chocolatey goodness all over the plate and apple rhubarb crumble which was the right mix of sweet and tart!
The hotel is simply gorgeous, full of old world charm and the food delicious!

So, it’s Restaurant Week 2009 and the family decided to give this place a try. Upon arriving at the hotel, we were all impressed with the décor, it was very nice blend of old and modern at the same time. Note the vault behind the front desk!
We had reservations and were seated immediately. The waitress was very prompt, got our drink order not too long after we were seated. She was acknowledged we had a 6-​year old with us and took our food order immediately.
Our foods came out at just the right time. Between courses, we didn’t feel once that the food was taking too long. Maybe because we had a child with us.
My first course was the mushroom soup cappuccino, which was nice but not all that. I was expecting more because of the reviews written about it. I do like that it wasn’t too salty. I also tasted the risotto and it was really cheesy and delish. For the entrée, our table opted for the black grouper and the coulet beef sous vide. Out of the two, everyone agreed that the beef dish was better, it was more flavorful than the grouper. I wished someone ordered the pork, just to compare but no one did. The desserts were both good. The strawberry rhubard was refreshing. A few family members thought it was a bit on the sour side but I liked it, I thought it was a nice combination of sweet from the crisp, and sour from the filling. The chocolate cake was also nice, it was surprisingly lighter than I expected, and the ice cream indulged your palates with it’s sweet and salty flavors.
Overall, we were pleased with our dining experience, not blown away, just pleased.
Note: the restaurant will validate your valet parking.

What’s taken me so long to partake in the sweet bliss they call «Mushroom Soup Cappuccino?»
I came here at the behest of a friend from Studio Communications. He worked his magic and Andrea R and I were able to get a reservation and enjoy a comped meal during her stay here. It was a semi-​long few days filled with cold sammies and not-​so-​great grub, so this was a pleasant change of pace for the two of us.
For those who don’t know, Voice Restaurant & Lounge is Hotel Icon’s «new» restaurant, debuting in April of this year after a four-​million-​dollar renovation from the former restaurant, Bank Jean-George’s. Since then, Voice and Executive Chef Michael Kramer have received much acclaim in numerous local and national publications, including the honor of Esquire magazine’s «Best New Restaurant 2008.» Excited yet? You should be.
Studying the menu and wanting it all, Andrea made a suggestion to go for the five-​course tasting menu ($ 65). «Okay!» I gladly agreed, not knowing she was being slightly sarcastic. Reevaluating the opportunity, she realized it was the best bet. We were at Voice, after all.
Our waiter Chris asked us if we had any allergies or preferred any certain meats. With Andrea not being much of a beef-​gal, we let the kind fellow know. After a basket of fresh artisan breads and spreads, the culinary fun began with Voice’s famous Mushroom Cappuccino. Served in a cappuccino glass, the rich and steamy Crimini mushroom soup is topped with a cold truffle foam and porcini powder. The play on the contrasting temperatures and textures, and overall presentation, is a unique experience. Second course was a Patchwork of Baby Beets: Texas goat cheese, micro arugula, beet caramel. I’m not much of a beet lover, put paired with the goat cheese and a sweet, fruity sauce, you can bet I cleaned my plate. Third course came the Potato Gnocchi. Slightly rich for my palate, the serving size was perfect; we also had the herb-​marinated lamb. Sopping up the jus with the bread basket was heaven, but nothing topped the Alaskan Halibut. Oh my. The crispy, well-​seasoned outside was just as magnificent as the succulent inside. Though I plan to re-​explore the menu on my next visit with Voice, the Alaskan Halibut is one entrée that will temped me back. Last but not least came dessert: warm chocolate cake with a helping of a white chocolate foamy froth (sorry, forgot the name but it was delish; and I’m not a fan of white chocolate).
Curse me for detoxing before the holidays; I’m sure the wine pairing would have synchronized everything even more so elegantly.
During this past visit, the scene was pretty laid back, which can be expected on a Wednesday night. I’ll definitely be back to Voice, more than likely I’ll hangout at the ultra-​hip bar and sip on some of the great cocktails that I tried during their grand opening; I believe one was called the Scarlet Johanson.
After all this rave, Voice is definitely worthy of five stars; however I only knocked half (not a whole) a star because a few times when dishes were brought out, our waiter was not there to explain what it was we were tasting, even after waiting a few minutes. I could tell it was probably a busier night than expected, so I’m not complaining. Just thought I’d throw that in there. I’ll still be back, and recommend anyone to swing by for sophisticated drinks or a full-​course feast.
EN: Just got word that Voice now has a new GM, so it looks like these small kinks will be fixed shortly.

My wonderful girlfriend took me here today to celebrate my birthday though I actually picked the restaurant. I decided on Voice as an alternative to the usual suspects because I felt like it would take «contemporary» to a different level… It didn’t disappoint.
We both started off with the mushroom cappuccino– by far the most popular dish from Voice. It receives rave reviews from everyone– bloggers, Unilocalers, food critics, the waiter… It is clear that Voice itself is very impressed with the soup– it is on the website and the Chef sends out little cups soup sample if you don’t actually order it. For the most part, I agree– it really is one of the best soups I’ve ever had. Smooth, creamy, flavorful, creative, I can go on and on… I just wish we shared a cup (they were quite large and also quite heavy) and tried something else.
For dinner, my girlfriend ordered some coffee-​rubbed filet ($ 36) and I had the venison sous vide (also $ 36). Now… what can I say to describe the venison. It was by far the most interesting dish I have ever come across in my short life, all things considered. Sous vide, according to Wikipedia, is «a method of cooking that is intended to maintain the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period of time at relatively low temperatures”– not to be confused with crock pot. According to our waiter, the deer tenderloin is placed in an air tight vacuum and cooked underwater at 150 degrees for x amount of hours. The venison was really something incredible. At first, without the sauce, it tasted particularly gamey but not so much in a bad way. With the sweet cherry sauce, it was just perfect. Every bite was tender and delicious. I can go on and on…
On the other hand, my girlfriend’s filet was underwhelming. In part, because she asked for it medium rare and it came medium, leaning toward medium well. This is why I took away a star. We don’t like sending things back out of fear of stuff we see in movies (probably not true but why take the chance) but she did say it was very good with the sauce. I wish one of us tried a fish. We had sides of creamed corn (which my buddy described as corn with cheez-​its on top) and truffled fries (which were much better than mcdonald’s). The sides were $ 6 each.
For those planning on going to Voice, I would highly recommend the tasting menu at $ 65 for 5 dishes. We spent about $ 50 for 2 dishes and while I left feeling full and satisfied, I coulda gorged down a lot more of that amazingly inventive food. I’m a small guy too– light eater. If I hadn’t stuffed myself with so much bread and creamy soup earlier, I highly doubt the 4 – 5 oz. of deer, sliced on a large white plate would have been enough to fill me up. Also, be sure to valet your car. I read a review that it was $ 10 but if you get it validated by your waiter, it is actually complimentary.
Service was pretty darn good. Our waiter was a nice guy who ended up bringing out two small chocolates on a plate that said «Happy Birthday» in chocolate. It was a nice touch, except he called me Michael and didn’t recite to us the specials… no complaints though. However, one small problem I would correct is that the waiters seem to be standing around… a lot. We went pretty early, at around 6:15 and there was a lot of standing around. Like the entire wait staff would be hanging around in their gray uniforms that sharply contrast the lighter colors of the restaurant (but match the seat leather). Even later on during the night, there would be a lot of hanging around. Maybe the place is overstaffed– when we walked in, we were the only people at the large dining room.
Overall, I hope Voice makes it. They serve some seriously modern food and I had a great experience here for my birthday.