The Refectory Restaurant

My husband and I went to The Refectory last night and had a wonderful experience. Our server Lisa was very personable and did such a wonderful job educating us about the dishes offered and drink selections. The Refectory operates differently than most Ohio/US restaurants. It's recommended to order all courses ahead of time as they are small batch. We ordered 4 courses and even though the plates are smaller than "normal" we were pleasantly stuffed at the end of our meal. To note, courses do come out at a slower, more European pace. Our entire dinner took 2.5 hours. I highly enjoyed the slow pace, it gave us more of a chance to slowly savor our dishes and really connect. The escargot is more in a loaf type form and comes with a garlicky sauce that is just amazing. Not pictured is the soup I had which was the vegetarian, which was deliciously simple but definitely warming. My husband had the shrimp that had a lovely bright vinaigrette followed by the arugula salad. The arugula paired with the pancetta (I think) was delicious as the fat cut the sharpness of the arugula. For my main course I had the sturgeon which I highly recommend. It was meltingly soft and the potatoes/vegetables provided a contrasting crunch. My husband had the duck which he highly enjoyed, the cherry sauce had a tartness he enjoyed but I did not particularly care for. Dessert we both chose the creme brulee. The grand marnier was a nice change from a standard vanilla, it was beautifully silky and paired so well with probably the BEST latte I have ever had. There were a few items I'm going to grumble about but really are minor and not worth detracting any stars: I have celiac and the gluten free bread basket at $5 extra was rather disappointing. It looked like regular sliced sandwich bread that was cut in diagonals. I'll skip the bread next time as Cameron Mitchell restaurants, Cooper's Hawk and others have better to offer. The other grumbly item is the lack of dessert options for someone with celiac. I could choose between the creme brulee or I believe a sorbet. Dessert is my absolute favorite course so this was disappointing. It's the reason we'll come back maybe once or twice a year, but probably not more.

As someone not from Ohio I was nervous especially with celiacs. When we visited tonight we talked to the owner (we had no idea he was the owner until later!) he had told us all about the history of the restaurant and building. We had the five course menu and I will never forget that amazing meal. I will come back to Columbus just for this restaurant! Thank you for the amazing time!