This is a small intimate restaurant. We arrived a few minutes before our reservation but we were…read moreseated immediately. Much needed cold water was poured as we perused the menu. There is an option to order off the menu, a 5 course sea menu or a 7 course research menu. We opted for the research menu The wine list is impressive. They have by the glass, standard, and large format bottle options. They also have wine flight options. I think it was a 5 and 7 glass option. We decided on the research menu. We asked our server what he thought the best pairing would be. He stated the 5 course wine pairing was all local wines, that paired well with the dishes that were being prepared for the evening. How could we not go with that option.
Prosecco was poured, bread and olive oil were brought out. The Prosecco was crisp and light. I usually think overly sweet but this was completely different, in a good way. I didn't want to fill up on bread but I figured I had to try it. The crust of the bread had a really nice, lite bite to it, the center was pillowy soft. The first dish was fish, maybe local sea bass, mixed with a little cream, that we were instructed to eat with the bread. The first bite took me back to,school lunch, tuna fish sandwich. It was a pumped up, high end, recreation of a tuna sandwich. The dish really made me excited to start our dinner journey.
The next course was shrimp served with leeks in olive oil and topped with lemon. The portion size was perfect, the leeks gave the dish some texture and the shrimp was so fresh.
We moved on to a salad as our next course. I don't think I've had a salad, on a tasing menu before. The dish looked simple with some mixed greens with a light vinaigrette. As I dig into the salad everything was at the bottom of the plate was excellent Beautiful knife cuts of dried prunes and tomatoes and maybe just a hint of ginger, gave the dish a palette cleansing reset for the next course.
Next we had cuttlefish fish in I'm not sure what it was. The dish looked like a hamburger patty with greens on top. I thought tartare at first. As you ate the dish it kind of reminded us of bolognese in texture and taste the you get a piece of fish and it takes the dish in a completely different direction. The dish was really complex and kind of mind blowing.
Now we moved on to the more bolder dishes. Bbq lobster served on top of a beurré blanc sauce, that was finished an herb infused oil. The lobster was rich in flavor . The bbq sauce, gave the dish some smokiness and the beurré blanc sauce gave the dish added butteriness. The sauce was so good, I sheepishly used a piece of bread to soak up the remaining sauce. Maybe not the classiest thing to do but damn the sauce was that good.
Risotto was our next course. Now I understand Italian al dente risotto. Usually I think risotto is creamy and soft, this dish wasn't like that. It was borderline dry, but the tiny bits of burrata added creaminess, the rice had texture and the dish had some heat to it. It was spicy. This dish was eye opening for me
Next was a beef course with endive and mashed potatoes. This was a next level, middle America, meat and potatoes dish. The meat was seasoned perfectly, the potatoes were more puree than a mashed tater and the endive tied the other two components together. A really nice dish. This was my daughter's favorite dish.
Now we moved on to dessert. Dollops of cream and sorbet with what looked like crushed up Oreos with grapefruit granita on top. This was a bright, cut through the richness of that last few dishes, course.
Our closing dish was tiny biscotti cookie with a coco covered piece of chocolate. The almond in the cookie, with the chocolate was a perfect bite. The other dish was a compressed fruit with a tiny blackberry pie. Think hostess pie but no seeds in the pie.
This was a fun whimsical meal. The dishes were well thought out and executed to perfection. Our server was friendly and his English was impressive.
