Nolia Has Potential

Mrs G. and I had dinner at Nolia the other evening. It was kinda sorta pretty good. What they are calling Southern Bistro. Mrs G. had a crab cake appetizer and a goat cheese salad. She reported the crab cake was excellent, liked the texture had lots of crab and a nice remoulade. The salad had beets, walnuts and goat cheese. She felt it was too light on the dressing. I had seared sea scallops with beets and requested the sauteed arugula as a sub for the mashed potato's. The scallops very nicely seared, firmed up the outside with a very moist inside. The arugula was well seasoned. The beets while tasting good were not drained and created a pink watery puddle on my plate. Other than the pink puddle which The Godfather did not like the meal was pretty decent. The atmosphere felt a bit bleak. Boring white tile on the floor, boring white on the walls, and boring white paper on the tables. I think they are going for a minimalist vibe but this felt sort of low rent industrial. The wait for the waitress to arrive at our table a bit too long, but she was accommodating once she arrived. The owner introduced herself after the meal and was very charming and eager to hear feed back about our experience, kudo's to her. Overall a pretty good meal but the place needs some tweaking. I am impressed enough to try again soon. I feel they have potential to be something special