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| - "Cheer up, love. You know what the Monty Python boys say: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition." -- Sliding Doors (1998)
In from out of town for work and meeting work friends for dinner, this was the suggested restaurant for the evening. Loving Spanish cuisine, I jumped at the chance (especially after looking over some other Yelp reviews). Our arrival was staggered, so our waiter took special care to adjust his style to cater to each of us as we arrived.
Brandon, server extraordinaire, greeted two of us right away and started with wine suggestions. We were unsure of his recommendation, so he brought us a glass to try (seriously?). We tasted and liked it, but were not big fans. So he brought us what we were pretty sure we would like - a Tempranillo. As we waited on the other half of our party, we ordered an appetizer - Manchego y Jamon (Manchego cheese and rolls of proscuitto). Brandon brought us a side of a blueberry-balsamic reduction sauce that he insisted was the perfect accompaniment. Wow was he right! The butteriness of the cheese, paired with the salty cured meat was delicious...add in the rich sweetness of the sauce and it cut though in such a delightful way; it really rounded out the flavors. Add in a basket of breads and we were in hog heaven - we weren't sure if we needed dinner.
But alas, Brandon rattled off the specials once the rest of our party arrived and we began to salivate and the very thought of all 4 of the items - in fact we ordered 3 of them. This says nothing of the regular menu, but these specials sounded so incredible we were helpless to resist. One of my friends ordered the Red Snapper with Shrimp special with a cream sauce while two of us practically fought over the two veal specials. We ordered both and basically did a coin toss when they came to the table - they were both delectable.
Special 1: Veal Shank marinated overnight, braised and served with duck bacon (and over garlic mashed potatoes). Since this is a veal shank it comes with it's marrow intact (aka meat butter). Spread that on a fresh roll and you have heaven right at your table. Succulent, rich, delicious and who doesn't love duck bacon???
Special 2: Veal Chop, seared and served with a mushroom reduction, jus with rosemary and server over garlic mash. The chop was perfectly cooked to a mid-rare per my request and it was not over seasoned. The jus was rich and flavorful and soaked into the potatoes without overpowering the garlic. The mushrooms were winey and slightly sweet without bring saccharine. I devoured it and had I been alone, I might have gnawed on the bone.
Then came the trio of desserts - Brandon (the evil dessert pusher) brought in a platter of like 20 slices of goodness (okay, maybe not 20), but took us through each and every one. From Chocolate Mint to Bananas Foster to Blackberry Cheesecake. We settled on 3 very different flavors: Tres Leches (their signature dessert), Flourless Chocolate Cake, and Pineapple Layered Cake. Brandon also brought us a cup os espresso since I almost picked the Tiramisu Cheesecake - he said pouring a spoon of espresso on the Tres Leches was very similar - he was not wrong. Everything was amazingly rich and delicious and the four of us just could not stop until we were about to pop.
I will be back again as this was a truly enjoyable experience. Great atmosphere (it doesn't interfere with your dining experience), delicious food, and great service. I'm still full and think I might be full when I wake up in the morning.
As quoted by one of my friends: "Who can have a bad time with great company, good laughs, meat butter and duck bacon!" Oh and great service! Thanks, Brandon, for making our evening enjoyable, easy and complete.
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