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| - Kaleidoscope Cafe is a few streets off Butler in the heart of Lawerenceville's business district. It's housed in a stand-alone row house filled with charm. It's the kind of restaurant that keeps the city vibrant and moving forward as a food destination. The dining room only has 10 or so tables so I'd call ahead just to be safe because this is one meal you won't want to miss.
I've heard good things about Kaleidoscope Cafe but I'm not sure why I didn't know about the deep-fried gnocchi. Seriously, people. Order anything you like on the menu because it all looks amazing, but be sure to add an order of Gnocchi Nirvana as well.
The homemade potato gnocchi is deep fried which is a feat in-and-of itself because according to Chef Dan if you try and deep fry gnocchi it explodes. So personally, I think Kaleidoscope should win awards for being able to even make this dish.
When I think deep fried, I automatically think of a heavy, chewy batter and a greasy taste. This was the exact opposite. It was so light and fluffy, with a light crisp in each bite that they might have replaced Osteria's gnocchi as my favorite in the city. The gnocchi itself was set on top of a bath of kafta (Indian spiced tomato cashew sauce) and topped with bits of chorizo (Soyrizo is also available). The flavors combined together to make a nice blend of mild heat and tang, a welcomed surprise since when I think gnocchi, I think Italian.
Although the Poached Pear is its speciality, I can't resist chocolate. So I went with the Flourless Chocolate Torte for dessert. Chef Dan said something along the lines of "this will be the best dessert you ever had." And maybe something about it being orgasmic, life-changing... basically a slew of very powerful words that I didn't believe. Boy, was I wrong. I didn't get what he meant until about half-way through my first bite. Then it hit me. The tort was rich and moist and sexy.... if cake could be sexy. And the white chocolate ganache with raspberry hearts was the perfect compliment. That tort was so good that I didn't even offer to share it with my dining partner. Sorry... but not really.
My only really problem with Kaleidoscope Cafe is the fact that I'll never want to try anything else there after this meal. But that's one problem I'm totally fine with...
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