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| - The Artisan makes me feel like I'm back in LA--in a good way. The place has a lot of character and is a refreshing change from all chain bars and casinos in town. We decided to have dinner at Mood last minute (after trying to go to Wayne's sushi, which was closed for private party. Blargh). Anyway, arrived around 8:30pm on Sat night sans reservations and were seated immediately. There were a few other groups having dinner and a piano player providing some "mood" music (yeah, i know, terrible pun...couldn't resist). The manager came over to us right away and gave us a wine list and said the server would be there in a minute with menus and to take our drink order. He was very helpful and asked what kind of wines we preferred and said he might be able to suggest something off the list. Now, at that point I wasn't really sure if I was even going have to wine and felt a little uncomfortable when he started asking our price range, but I know he was just trying to be helpful. To his credit, he brought out a bottle of red and poured some for us to try and the bf and I both liked his choice. He asked if we wanted a bottle or just 2 glasses and we said just the glasses and he poured practically a half bottle of wine into 2 glasses. I always feel sort of pressured in those situations and I hate to ask how much it is, so I just hoped when we got the bill it wasn't going to be $30 a glass or something (turned out to be $15/glass for a generous pour so I was fine with it).
As for the food, the first thing we got was the bread basket containing lavash, garlic infused sourdough (um, hello delicious warm garlicky goodness) and another type with raisins and walnuts I think--didn't try that one. We shared the Mediterranean plate to start, which had hummus, tzatziki and an eggplant dip with pita crackers. I'm a sucker for any kind of appetizer containing a trio of dips and this didn't disappoint. It was a generous portion, nicely plated and tasty. For our mains, the bf got the pork loin special and I got the swordfish. The pork dish was ridiculously huge--the bf took one of the 2 giant slabs of pork home--and came with mashed potatoes and veggies. I had a bite of the bf's pork and it was flavorful and moist, but perhaps was brined a touch too long because it was a tad on the salty side for my tastes. However, it was still good. My swordfish was perfectly cooked and seasoned, but I do wish it had a bit more of the mango chutney with it. There was just a small spoonful of it on top. The fish came with jasmine rice and veggies. The rice was surprisingly good (I'm not a big rice person) and I'm not really sure what was in it. It was almost like fried rice and I could swear a saw some egg in it, but I don't recall seeing that on the menu. Regardless, it was freaking yummy. The veggies were fresh and simply prepared--baby carrots, asparagus, squash.
Our server was super on top of things. My water glass was never empty, and that makes me happy. The prices are super reasonable--all of the entrees are in the low $20 range and the appetizers are mostly $10 or under if I remember correctly. We will definitely be back-and next time stay for drinks in the bar after!
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