DYNAMITE WOODFIRE GRILL

Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★

Wood-fired steaks and seafood

Perfect For: Upscale Dining; Drinks; Date Night

Standout Dishes: Reuben Croquettes; Filet Mignon; Chicken Bolognese

Hotel restaurants often get a bad rap. They can be an afterthought addition; the hotel knows its guests need a place to eat, so it offers a token restaurant that doesn’t have much personality culinarily.

That’s not the case at Dynamite Woodfire Grill, the restaurant inside The Farnam, and it’s evident from the first step you take inside.

The restaurant is stunningly gorgeous, and it’s clear that the hotel invested a lot in bringing this place to life. It’s intended to be a downtown destination, not just a hotel eatery, as evidenced by the modern, upscale ambience, brightly-lit dining room, and the open kitchen concept that allows you to watch the team cook on unique wood-burning ovens.

The open flames add a pleasant smokiness to many dishes. The restaurant seeks to use them as a modern twist on classic wood-fired dining, and the result is mostly a positive. The smoke permeates the restaurant and stays in diners’ clothes and hair—similar to a bonfire—and causes some uneven cookery, but for the most part, it makes dining at Dynamite a special experience.

Steaks are the star of the menu, and the Filet Mignon is an excellent example. Certified Piedmontese beef is inherently lean and delicious, and Dynamite treats this beloved, juicy cut well.

The beef is so tender it practically dissolves in your mouth, and the flames create a flavorful, salty crust on the exterior. The middle is cooked to a pleasantly pink medium rare, maintaining the filet’s luscious nature. It’s a beautiful example of a well-cooked steak.

The seafood preparation is a bit more uneven. On one visit, the scallop was cooked nearly perfectly; it could’ve used a bit harder sear on top, but the interior was as soft and buttery as one could ask for.

The shrimp, on the other hand, while large, was a touch overcooked and a bit tough.

Dynamite offers four sauces to accompany the steaks—chimichurri, bearnaise, horseradish sour cream, and red wine demi-glace. The latter has a concentrated beef flavor combined with notes of red wine, but the sauces aren’t necessary. The steaks are excellent on their own.

Though steaks are the star of the menu, Dynamite does more than beef. You’ll find plenty of other options on the menu, from seafood to a burger to pasta. That includes the Chicken Bolognese, a dish that’s richer and creamier than a traditional bolognese. The creme fraiche gives the tomato sauce a luscious consistency, as does the grated parmesan as it melts into the dish. The al dente pasta has good bite, and the ground chicken is tender with a bit of a kick.

The chefs are talented enough to create new off menu dishes for diners, and we got a real treat on our initial visit. Chef David Freyle presented us with a crab cake perched upon compressed watermeon and drizzled with local honey. The result was a mind-bending dish that balanced sweet and savory in all the right ways.

But the best dish the restaurant offers might be on the appetizer menu, and that’s the Reuben Croquettes. The corned beef is rich and salty, contrasted nicely by the crispy breaded blanket. Mustard seeds and pickled onions added a tangy punch, and creamy, tangy housemade 1000 island pulls it together beautifully.

The restaurant offers several side dishes, from loaded baked potatoes to creamed corn, whipped potatoes, and truffle mac & cheese. The Wild Mushrooms, which are cooked down to a meaty consistency and have a nice buttery glaze, are an excellent choice.

The complimentary Cornbread served to each table is a nice touch, but it’s rather bland. It’s dry and a bit crumbly, and though the honey butter helps, it doesn’t offer much flavor.

Dynamite also puts a spin on several classic cocktails, including the FOMO Paloma and the Coast-to-Coast Sour. The Blood Orange Old Fashioned takes the classic whiskey-forward cocktail and gives it a citrusy twist with blood orange bitters and a peppery rosemary syrup. To this palate, it’s not an improvement on the original, but the creativity is appreciated.

Price is certainly a factor when dining at Dynamite, as this would likely qualify as a special night out for most diners. The steak plates range between $70 and $160, and most of the appetizers run north of $20. A dinner for two with drinks will likely run you more than $200.

But that price tag includes the impeccable ambience that’s perfect for both the romantic and the foodie; it’s an intimate, elegant atmosphere with an open kitchen that allows you to watch the wood-fired grills and see each plate come to fruition at the pass.

And the service is hard to beat, as your waiter/waitress, the manager, and even the chef are likely to often visit your table and see how the experience is going.

The price point makes dining at Dynamite often a tough sell for most people, but the experience is worthy of a higher price tag. The cook on certain dishes can be uneven, but the overall flavor, combined with the atmosphere and impeccable service, make it worth a special night out. If you’re going to be downtown and need an elevated spot to eat, keep Dynamite on your list.