| rev:text
| - Possibly the greatest date restaurant anywhere that I have seen. Too bad that I was there alone, but I still enjoyed a great meal and a very pleasant experience.
We are talking about a hybrid decor of French "country" and retro arty; a small shelf of books with titles such as French Country Cooking, Home Sausage Making, and Lautrec by Lautrec; that absolutely perfect light level and lamp-lit color; fun but casual music at just the right volume; and warm, friendly service to top it off. I also enjoyed the front doors standing open onto the warm night, but I would bet that even in winter this place has charm coming out of its ears.
Oh, and the food was great too! In addition to the regular menu, they had about half again as many specials; so if what you see online doesn't tickle your fancy, go anyway. I started with the soup du jour and the escargots. I had never had the latter before, not because of any bias, just never feeling the desire in the right place and time. But theirs were good--or good enough for my first time. (How would I know?) They are served in mushroom caps and garlic butter, with a few chopped red peppers. I can't compare it to other escargots, but on its own I give it a thumbs up. The soup was pureed red pepper with chorizo, cilantro, and creme fraiche. It perhaps was not as lively or flavorful as I would have liked, but overall pretty good.
The crowning glory of my meal was the entree: I chose the mixed grill (your choice of two or three meats from wild boar, horse, caribou, and bison) which felt a little like cheating because other than the cheval, none of those are traditionally French. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add another "exotic" meat (caribou) to my scorecard.
Both meats were amazing. Truly cooked to perfection, somewhere between rare and medium rare. I've had wild boar a few times, but never like this. Imagine a cross between a great pork tenderloin and a really really good New York strip. And the caribou--if you've ever had elk, imagine that, but more tender and somewhat more savory. I'm not sure if they seasoned these meats at all; if so, you couldn't tell, and if not, they didn't need it. Wonderful, wonderful flavor. Both were all-time 99th-percentile pieces of meat.
I got a little adventurous for dessert and chose the special creme brulee: pink peppercorn and Drambuie. It's an intriguing idea, and I can see how those flavors would complement, but I simply didn't like it. The peppercorn left a bitter aftertaste with each bite, and I was still tasting it several hours later. I will say this though: whoever was wielding the torch back there is an expert at putting a crust on a creme brulee.
Somehow this humble little place has three beer taps, as well as several bottles, not to mention a respectable wine selection. I could easily see spending several hours here soaking up the ambiance and the great food and drink (and, if you're lucky, the company). It's tough for me to give five stars after one experience, but if I were local this would definitely be a regular spot and get the precious fifth star.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)