Paid a return visit to the Glass Knife recently to see how it is settling in. When I first reviewed the cake restaurant, back in February, the place was still quite manic, the new kid in town that everyone wanted to try. The procedure was confusing, seemingly to both the customers and the staff, and there was a wild positioning for open seating, then a struggle to hold a conversation with your companion. The food was good, but the experience was lacking.
On my recent visit, in the evening, things were much calmer. The ordering procedure is still a bit confusing, but this time there were plenty of open seats — even one of the small booths so that my friend and I wouldn’t have to sit across from each other at the large communal table — and everything was more relaxed.
The food didn’t shine as well, however.
Kale soup was bland, but in its defense I don’t really expect much flavor from kale.
The crust of the Mediterranean Flatbread did not taste fresh. Arugula was the dominant flavor but unfortunately not dominant enough to cover the balsamic vinegar. The crumbles of goat cheese were very nice but there could have been more of the applewood smoked bacon for my taste.
Because it was evening, I was able to order the Chicken Pot Pie (it’s available only after 4 p.m. and only for guests dining in. It’s an impressively large serving — they apparently took the pot part of the name to heart — and is better than anything you’ll find with Swanson’s stamped on the box. The top crust was fashioned out of a rectangle of cheddar biscuit dough. Underneath was a creamy sauce with carrots, peas, chicken breast meat and surprisingly large hunks of potatoes.
Because sweets are the forte here, we also got one of the gooily iced cinnamon buns. A tad bready, but deliciously sweet.
Servers still don’t seem to know what they should be doing, and I could identify no one during my visit that appeared to be a manager.
The Glass Knife’s niche was always meant to be elegant cakes, and it would seem that the retail business is the real goal.
The Glass Knife is at 276 N. Orlando Ave., Winter Park. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. The phone number is 407-500-2253.