Marjorie L.
Yelp
We came here to celebrate our 7-year anniversary. We are new to the region and did not expect there would be such fine dining in the area. We really enjoyed our experience here and look forward to coming back. We were met with champagne and multiple "happy anniversary" wishes. Our server (Lee) and manager/partner (Brad) truly went above and beyond to make sure our night was memorable.
For our first course we had:
Artisan Salad: it was very refreshing and had great textures from different varieties of seasonal vegetables. Loved the pear vinaigrette, such a light touch and not overpowering.
Squab: The meat was marinated with juniper. It was very tasty. Both my husband and I never had squab before so we did not know what to expect. I would say the meat taste like duck and quail mixed. It was very tender and lots of flavor. Red wine raspberry was such a good dressing to pair with gamey meat like squab. However raspberries were not glazed which feel a bit unfinished.
Foie Gras torchon: the foie gras was cooked perfectly, but the presentation could have been improved. Pickled rhubarb was placed on top on the dedicated foie gras. They did emphasize their brioche is on the dry side but I found it was too dry - a bit unpleasant.
We were also gifted a treat from Brad of the sweet corn veloute. It was very creamy and flavorful! Sweetness from the corn and savoy from speck. Enjoyed the presentation and the taste of that dish. A great dish to end our first corse.
For our main course we had:
Duck paired with fennel and confit potatoes served with red wine-cherry reduction. The duck was perfectly seared, with crispy skin and tender interior. Fennel was very sweet and caramelized on the edge. A lovely combination.
Steak Gnudi: the steak was very juicy, and the gnudi was creamy. A lot of the textures in the dish (the steak, the gnudi, the carrots) were similar to one another. I wish the carrots were a bit firmer to bring our more texture and complexity of the dish, but the flavor was great and comforting. I feel this dish is more like a beef stew to me.
We had our fill at the end of the night with three desserts!! Two of them were complimentary, again as a nice gesture to celebrate our anniversary. The desserts included:
Caramel creme brûlée: what a fun way to eat creme brûlée, and certainly not traditional! The top layer was caramelized sugar with caramel pearls with meringue. Below that was a layer of custard flavored with salted caramel, and a thick coating of salted caramel at the very bottom. I do have to say the salted caramel was VERY salty. We enjoyed the first layer with light whipped cream and the custard itself, but when you dig into the salted caramel part it proved to be too salty (the dessert became a salty sauce). The presentation was pretty, the custard itself was very flavorful, but the base of the dessert was overpowering. The custard didn't have much vanilla flavor to it either (though, again, it's a salted caramel one so it may have been overpowered by that).
Affogato - we were split on how much each of us liked this. My husband enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite. I felt the espresso was more like an Americano, and the ice cream was already melted before it came to our table so it was too soupy to eat. My husband on the other hand enjoyed the flavors and texture combining the chunks of the rocky road, the creaminess of the ice cream/espresso mix, and the hard biscotti. I suppose it's a matter of preference! I also thought the biscotti were over-baked but my husband felt it married well with the texture of the affogato.
The pavlova was our fav dessert of the night. Chewy-crispy texture on top, soft marshmallow texture inside, and a crunchy crisp texture around the edges. That's three completely different textures in one single bite! Not to mention the tangy peach sauce balance out the sweetness of the egg whites. I wanted another but was extremely full by then!
Overall it was an amazing experience and a remarkable night for us. They also update their menus regularly. We can't wait to come back and see what they do to satisfied our palate.