We’re baaaaaaack!!!!! Chris and I had our first “date night” in 14 months last night, and what a comeback!!! We visited Midlothian Chef’s Kitchen, a new place at 11501 Busy St, across Midlothian from Chesterfield Town Center. Since we are still a bit Covid shy, we chose outdoor seating, and it was a perfect night for it. We had a reservation and were seated right away. Inside, the restaurant is small but nicely spaced. Outside, we did not feel at all crowded. We started with a lovely Chenin Blanc and a Devil’s Backbone Vienna Lager. The service is slightly slow, but in a “we’re not rushing you” sort of way. Had I not been both excited to finally be out, and hungry, I would not have noticed. We were given a basket of warm bread with honey butter, and then the fun began. There are no printed menus - there is a QR code on your table that brings the menu up on your phone. They can change the menu on a moments notice, and never have to reprint. It’s brilliant! As I’m typing, I cannot find the menu from last night, so I’m going PURELY on memory. Wish me luck.
We started with 2 remarkable appetizers. A pea and mint custard with lump crab meat and pea shoots. I know you’re turning your nose up at the word custard, but trust me, you want to try it. It’s creamy and savory with beautiful big chunks of succulent crab meat and the tang of pickled ramps and asparagus. Blew our minds, until... We also had hot honey roasted carrots. Again, hear me out. The carrots were cooked to butter knife tenderness, yet still al dente. They were drizzled with a spicy hot honey, and were lying on a bed of cumin infused yogurt and sprinkled with candied walnuts and pickled red onion. Those things made you cry to your Mama! They were sweet and crunchy and spicy and the yogurt was like nothing I’ve had before, and yes I did lick the bowl. (Okay not really, but I made sure there was nothing of the sauce left). Next we had our entrees. A roasted pork loin which was juicy and tender, served in an onion and maitake mushroom broth that was transcendent! This was Chris’ dish so I can’t remember what it was served with, but the broth... oh, the broth. I had Agnolotti pasta stuffed with lamb. Comfort food on steroids! So rich, yet not heavy. Like the big giant hug we’re all craving. This was served over a pea puree with grilled asparagus and preserved lemon. Both entrees we quite delicious. Aaaaaaaaand dessert. Always dessert. We had a strawberry rhubarb crumble. Tart, sweet, crusty, buttery goodness, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. And a chocolate crème brulee. Smooth and silky on the inside with a perfect crunchy sugary shell on top. There is nothing I would change about this meal. It’s hard to pick a star of the 6 dishes we tried, but I’d have to say the carrots, oddly enough, were just magnificent. A perfect evening after a long, long year away from restaurants. Dinner for 2 with 3 glasses of wine (don’t judge I was on a date) and 2 beers $134. Definitely check them out! https://www.midlothianchefskitchen.com/restaurant
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Dorey just turned 30 and with that came "Dorey's 30th Birthday Dessert Challenge". Last night was week one. After spending the evening eating (I'll post a recipe or 2 later) and decorating our tree, we didn't feel like going out so we sent the boys to Coco + Hazel, a little shop next door to Bernie's Subs at 411 North Ridge Rd. We told them to bring home a variety and they did. We sampled 4 of the desserts and all were great! We had their Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookie. This says it has cinnamon, sugar, and chili powder. It was a very good cookie, but I expected more spice. Dorey said her bite had a bit of a kick so maybe I got a piece with less chili. That cookie was a bit dense, which I liked and others did not. Comparatively, the Sprinkle cookie was very light. Different from the heavy buttery richness of a short bread cookie. Nice, light and sugary and of course, pretty with all the rainbow sprinkles. Our 3rd dessert was an ice cream sandwich. The menu lists this as build your own which sounds like fun! Ours was 2 cookie dough cookies which were almost candy bar like they were so compacted. These were filled with a really luscious vanilla ice cream. They are big so one sandwich fed us all. Definitely a shared dessert. Finally, and I think the all around favorite, was a lemon filled powdered donut. The yeast dough was so light and the lemon filling was perfectly tart. I would order all 4 desserts again. They were delicious! I did not go on the trip but by my calculations it was a round $15 for the 4 treats. Enjoy!!!
Chris and I have recently decided to reinstate Date Night, a tradition we had when the kids were young and we never spent any time alone. Last night we had some unexpected time so we visited Hobnob, at 6010 Hermitage Rd. It's a small place, but very accommodating. We had short wait for a table so we sat at the bar and chatted with the bartender. She offered Chris a taste of a dark peanut butter stout. Not his favorite or mine, but very interesting if you like darker beers. I had a glass of a lovely Viognier and Chris had a Tropical Thunder Ale. Then it was time for our table. We started with the Brussels Sprouts appetizer. The sprouts we cut in half and roasted to perfection with just enough char to bring out the sweetness. These were served with toasted hazelnuts and a hazelnut vinaigrette. They were sublime! Often brussels sprouts are not cooked enough for me, which is odd because I barely show my veggies the heat before I'm ready to serve, but not brussels sprouts. They were handled expertly. On to dinner. There were many things on the menu that I wanted to try. All of the salads sounded delicious! The thing that grabbed me though, was a grilled cheese sandwich. Crazy I know, but so good. Manchego cheese, fig jam, baby spinach, and cremini mushroom all on grilled sourdough bread. BOY HOWDY that was an amazing sandwich! Sweet, and fatty, and salty, and creamy. They knocked it out of the park. I also ordered a beet salad (always with the beet salad) which was an entree, but I figured I could bring home the leftovers. Honestly the sandwich was so big and so filling that I ate half and saved the rest. The salad I barely touched. It was lovely though, Arugula, beets, grilled chicken, goat cheese, avocado, candied walnuts, and dried cranberries with a balsamic vinaigrette. It will make a nice dinner tonight. Chris angsted between fish and pork but landed on the fish. Pecan crusted rainbow trout with a maple sage butter, sweet potato apple hash, and more brussels sprouts. The fish was flaky and moist and the butter added a nice fall flavor. The hash was a little sweet, but very good. I am a sweet potato purist. No marshmallows or brown sugar, not even butter. The sweet potato was created perfect on it's own. THis was very good, but on the sweet side. Chris had the quintessential autumn meal! Of course we had to try dessert. How do you top off a fall feast? Pecan pie and coffee. Then of course, the food coma. Hobnob is definitely a keeper. Dinner for 2 with 4 drinks, appetizer and dessert $88. Bon Apetit! Baby arugula, grilled chicken breast, roasted beets, goat cheese crumbles, sliced avocado, candied walnuts, dried cranberries, balsamic vinaigrette
Today Chris and I had an unexpected day off, so after buying a new stove and searching thrift stores for junk that could be turned into beautiful furniture, we had a real live lunch date at Hot Chick at 7 N 17th Street. We had both heard of Memphis Hot Chicken, but didn't think it had come to Richmond until Chris had some time to visit. It was good enough that he dated me. We arrived a bit before 12 and were greeted ENTHUSIASTICALLY by the manager who LOVED all over Chris' Game of Thrones t-shirt as they are about the have a Game of Thrones season opener party including a GOT flight! She was very excited and we immediately loved her. We were seated and given water and menus. Chris walked me through what he had had and we made lunch time choices. We decided to share everything. Our waiter was charming and cute and very good at his job. Hot chicken is meant to be hot so we wanted to experience the real thing. We started with "hot wings" but we got cauliflower since it was different and chose the house hot sauce. The cauliflower was tender inside and so crispy outside. Obviously breaded in a light batter and fried to perfection, it had just the right amount of tomato, vinegar, and spice to round out the flavor. They were hot, fried, and spicy with just the right amount of sweet and acid. These were served with house made ranch, not my favorite normally but this one was nice, and celery. Next was the shared sandwich. We had the "Hot Chick", a fried chicken sandwich with Nashville Style hot sauce served with a ranch slaw and sweet potato waffle fries. I assumed the "HOT" chicken would melt my face, but the flavor started out sweet, almost like honey and then morphed slowly into the spice and finally settled in your palate with warm tingly spice. Not too hot. Not tame. Just the right amount of fire to make you come back for more. The sweet potato fries were fresh from the fryer and just the right compliment to the spicy chicken. I admit, the slaw was not much to talk about. Fresh veg, but not much more. Still the sandwich and fries rocked my world! It was time to pick Reid up from work so we were about to ask for the check when out waiter mentioned dessert. Hmmm... What do you have???? He mentioned Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches! Why YES! They make a special ice cream sandwich just for Hot Chick. A hot honey maple ice cream with waffle chunks on a brown sugar cookie. It's served in the honey maple pepper syrup and it makes you cry it's so good. We were sopping up the syrup with our fingers. A-MAZING!!!!! This is definitely worth the trip! The food is great and the people are warm and accommodating! Shared lunch $28! Bon Appetit
Friday night was Dinner Group night and as it was Chris' choice this month, he chose ZZQ Texas Craft Barbeque at 3201 W Moore St in Scott's Addition. We had been told the food was great. We had been told it was OK. We had been told that it was casual with counter service and paper plates. We had been told lots of things but we went anyway. Yes, it is casual. Chris and I arrived separately so I found him at the bar enjoying a Czech Pilsner called Czechbar which he said was lovely. I grabbed a glass of Chenin Blanc and we waited for the rest of the crew. The most interesting drink, which I did get to sample was a Lincoln. Bourbon, with a blackberry rosemary ice cube and an amaro averna rinse (I don't know what that means either) served in a smoked glass with a large piece of lemon zest and a rosemary sprig. I don't care for bourbon at all, but the aroma of rosemary (my favorite) and lemon (my other favorite) as you sip the bourbon made just slightly sweet with the ice cube was really wonderful. An olfactory sensation! Seating in the restaurant is first come first serve so we could not reserve a large table but we were told by the waitress that she would make sure we were seated when we were ready. You enter and walk down the counter to order your food. Meats are served by the quarter pound so you can get as much or as little as you'd like. As you progress down the line you hit the sides and breads. Chris got the brisket, which we had been told was the best thing there. It did not disappoint. It was beautifully crusty and super tender and smokey. The unctuous cut of meat was slightly fatty around the edges which I find desirable. (fat=good) The flavor stood alone so we did not try any sauces I'm sorry to report. I had pulled pork. Again with the adjectives! Smokey and fatty and tender and yummy. We also tasted sausage, ribs and turkey from other plates. All superior! Could not have been cooked better. Now on to the sides. COLLARDSCOLLARDSCOLLARDS!!!! So, they had collards. Warm, flavorful, savory, tangy, sweet, dark, delectable collards. Cooked with black strap molasses and a touch of meat and spiced just right. They served these with raw chopped onion as a garnish. Everyone at the table had a serving and we all agreed that we could easily bathe in these greens forever. Chris even said he was going to divorce me and marry the collards and be Mr. These Collard Greens. Yes. They were THAT good. Unfortunately, any other sides are now going to pale in comparison but here goes. All really tasty and wonderful. Chipotle sweet potatoes served with roasted pumpkin seeds. Warm and creamy, with a slight kick and a surprise crunch from the seeds. Terlingua Cole Slaw. Purple cabbage slaw that was fresh and cool next to all the fatty meats. Pickled onions which added a nice acidity to all of the food. Jalapeno Mac and Cheese. I did not order this but tasted it. Spicy and cheesy, really perfectly done. Everyone was raving! And green beans which were the lower point of the evening. They were nice green beans, but along side all of the stand out dishes it was the redheaded step sister. We also had some corn bread at the table. Those who had it are more accustomed to the Virginia tradition of sweet corn bread, which this was not. Nothing bad, just not what was expected. All in all a FABULOUS evening out! Price for 2 glasses of wine, 1 beer and dinner, $52! Bon Appetit!
![]() We just returned from our maiden voyage to River City Roll, at 939 Myers St, beside the Movie Time Theater on the Boulevard. River City Roll is what is known as a “boutique bowling alley”. That sounds a little pretentious to me, but I can tell you it’s just simply GREAT! We visited for dinner. What? Dinner at a bowling alley?? YES! There were 4 of us - Reid and I arrived first, and we were seated on the patio, as it was 70 degrees outside and just plain gorgeous! I started with a glass of Pinot Grigio. Really nice Summer wine. Chris and Jennifer joined us a few minutes later, and Chris got an Oxbow Farmhouse Pale Ale. Also excellent. Me, not being a beer fan, found it a little bitter, but that’s what beer people like!! Chris loved it. Reid and I toured the place: 20 bowling lanes, three Skee Ball lanes, a wood fired pizza oven, a concert stage, an indoor /outdoor bar, and many other cool features. Really impressive stuff. So food, because that’s what I really care about: since the place is new, I wanted to sample things. We ordered a roasted carrot hummus, which was sweet and savory, and perfect with the grilled naan that came with it. We also had charred asparagus. Holy Moley! This was served with lemon, pistachio, and goat cheese. ALLLL of my favorite things. It was citrusy, but not too much, nutty in a perfect way, and had exactly the right amount of creamy tangy goat cheese! So good, and cooked to a perfect al dente. We also tried the house made salt and vinegar chips. This is not something I would go for, but Reid was with us, and his options were limited. Normally, we carry his food with us, but we were venturing out of his comfort zone. The vinegar taste was not to his liking, but boy did the rest of us clean up those chips. Crunchy, fatty, slightly, but not too much, salty, vinegary, they were so good! Now we move ahead to the stars. As I said, they have a wood fired pizza oven. Yeah yeah, everyone has that now, BUT NO!!!! Shut up, you don’t know! The pizza size is big for 1 regular person but not quite enough for 2. There were 3 of us eating, so we ordered 2 pizzas which was perfect. So here’s the thing. The crust, the crust, the crust!!!!!!!! Crispy, fresh, tasty, thin , crusty. I don’t have enough adjectives to choose from. AMAZING! Rather than buying frozen dough, they have a local bakery making it fresh for them. You can tell the difference right away. We had the Kegler, which has asparagus, miatake mushrooms, egg, and parmesan. This was warm and savory and creamy. The mushrooms were definitely the stars, but the pizza was really crispy comfort food. The other pizza was the Deadwood. Where the Kegler was comforting, the Deadwood was exciting! Garlic (I’m already sold) spinach, yellow pepper, olive oil, herbed ricotta cheese, and, are you ready? Honey!!!! It’s the sweet honey that made this pizza! I love garlic and spinach and ricotta, but you add honey on the beautifully crispy fresh crust and it’s ambrosia! Honestly so good. As a side note, Reid, who is very picky and allergic to everything, ordered a plate of slow roasted pork that was really delicious, Very smokey and so tender. They serve the pork on tacos and pizza, and it’s quite good. We did not bowl, but we watched. Reid played a few games of Skee Ball, and had a blast. This is a place to revisit over and over. If their opening is this good, just think how stellar they will be when they’ve worked out any kinks! Dinner and drinks for 4 with 5 glasses of wine and 2 beers: $129. What a delightful day!!! Our friends Bill and Jennifer were gifted a FOOD TOUR for 4, and invited us along. What is a Food Tour you ask? It's a walking tour around areas of Richmond that cater to foodies. You get the history of the areas, the stories behind the restaurants and samples of some of their best recipes. Well we chose Church Hill, but there are many other choices. We also chose a perfect weather day. It was warm in Richmond, but breezy enough to make it quite pleasant. The tours are run by Real Richmond http://realrichmondva.com/ and ours began at the park across from St John's Episcopal Church in Church Hill. Because our first restaurant is so small and busy, we had a picnic of sorts in the park with Proper Pie http://properpieco.com/ . Our Tour guide, Nicole (fabulous) filled us with historical facts about the area, stories about the rich life downtown these days, and yummy food from 6 different restaurants. We were offered tastes from 6 different Proper Pies that she had just picked up. I chose a vegan "steak" pie which was surprisingly meaty tasting and unctuous. Chris had the pork pie with with savory chunks of pork and gravy with spices, but the real star of both was the crust! Buttery and flaky and melt in your mouth!
Next we walked the streets until we reached the WPA Bakery. http://wpasouthside.com/ Here we sampled lemon coconut macaroons and caneles. The macaroons were light and fluffy with a strong citrus flavor. A perfect light dessert. Very sweet, but what would expect from a macaroon. They were lovely. The caneles are caramelized crepe batter. This was new to me. They are gluten free which is a plus for our family, but I admit they were not my favorite. Others in the group loved them! The great thing about WPA is that they ALWAYS have at least one gluten free vegan option!!! Many fun choices! On a bit of a sugar rush we wandered more of the Church Hill area learning as we walked. We landed at Nile Ethiopian Restaurant. http://nilerva.com/ A small family owned place. The owner told us the story of her son who was on the Ethiopian Ski team at the Olympics! So amazing!!! There we tasted siga wat, misir wat, and buticha. All were served over injera, a fermented Ethiopian flatbread. Siga wat is small bits of beef cooked in a berbere stew. Misir wat is red lentils with the same berbere spices and buticha is garbanzo bean paste similar to hummus. All were wonderfully spiced. I like spicy and this was perfect. Enough to enhance the flavor of the food and compliment all of the subtleties and make your lips sing, but not so much that you cry or sweat! The berbere spice blend is so perfect that I bought a jar of it. Prepare to eat something cooked in that spice combination next time you're at my house! It was all so good that once I ran out of injera I was picking up lentils and bean paste with my fingers and licking them. I'm not proud! Ahhh.. now on to Sub Rosa Bakery. http://www.subrosabakery.com/ How do we live in this city and not know about all of these places? Sub Rosa is an organic wood fired bakery that strives to use locally sourced ingredients. We walked out back after we ate, and saw the big wood pile and were told that if you are there on a day when the owner is working you can get a tour of the bakery/oven space. Our treats at Sub Rosa were a beautiful light rye bread, crusty on the outside and delicate on the inside. We were given a pungent bowl of extra virgin olive oil for dipping which was a perfect match. We also tasted roasted red pepper, pesto, and cheese in puff pastry. Beautiful with the red peppers being the star. A very strong flavor against the buttery dough. Interesting and yummy. Finally, all of our favorite, an amazing cherry pistachio sweet roll. This wasn't just any sweet roll. No dripping spread of white sugary glaze. No layers and layers of honey laden goo. Just a luscious roll with tart cherries and dusted with toasted pistachios. Sweet, but not too sweet. Savory but not too savory. The perfect marriage of both! Bill took 2 of them home for tomorrow's breakfast! Yes, we were stuffed. Yes I felt the food coma coming on. Yet, we forged ahead to Union Market. https://unionmarketrva.com/ This is a nice combination market, cafe, bar and all of them work. Fun different choices in the market. A bar that appears to be just the right size for a cocktail at the end of the day, and a small restaurant of casual inside seating with fun outside tables as well. Our choices here were a tarragon chicken salad sandwich and a canellini bean salad. The sandwich was as traditional as it was unique. Tender chicken mixed with plum jam, crispy chicken skin and avocado served on a bun. The crispy chicken skin added just the right "bacony" salty, textury flavor. It was sweet from the jam and had a lovely scent from the tarragon. A beautiful sandwich. The bean salad was less exciting but perfectly yummy. Smooth white beans with herbs, onion, and artichokes. Really nice. We shopped a little after we ate and left with a couple of interesting jerkys and a can of chipotle peppers. (our Kroger does not carry them) Onward. At this point we can barely walk but if I had slipped into food heaven, it would have been worth it. Last stop, Alamo BBQ. http://alamobbq.com/ Small outside counter with an awning and outside seating. They didn't know we were coming so were not quite ready. No worries we sat and talked and compared notes on all of the food we'd eaten. While we waited Bill grabbed a couple of local beers. Smart Mouth out of Norfolk, a light pleasant beer, perfect for a summer day, and Fair Winds IPA out of Lorton. Chris is not usually an IPA fan but it was pretty smooth and it felt good after all that walking and went well with the upcoming barbecue. When the food came we were not disappointed. They served us Texas Caviar, which I've had many times. This one was light with very little sauce or dressing. It just let the beans and vegetables shine. Perfect. We had a jalapeno mac and cheese. Very creamy with a light touch of the pepper. Nice if you don't like spicy... but I do and using jalapeno in the name made me think I was going to be slapped by my mama. Finally the star. The barbecue was just plain smokey. Beautifully smokey. Wonderfully smokey and tender and yummy with a sweet slaw over the top. What a perfect ending to the day. We could barely eat it but yet we kept going. It was that good! To summarize: The tour was worth it. Try it sometime for a special occasion. From our 6 places I'll return for the gluten free options at WPA, ALL of the Ethiopian, The cherry pistachio roll, and so much barbecue!!! Maybe the other places too. They were all good. Don't quote me but I believe the tickets for the tours are $60. Well worth it. Have fun!!! Yes I've previously reviewed Toast, and this was probably just the exhaustion and the hunger talking, but Boy Howdy did we have a fabulous meal at Toast, Father's Day weekend!!! Saturday I worked a very long day, standing on my feet and doing non-stop bleaching, for about 7 hours. Cooking is usually my escape, but I just couldn't stand up any longer. Add to that an hour of watching the contestants on Master Chef sear duck breasts and scallops, and make beautiful southern fried chicken. I was tired and oh so hungry. We had some money left on a Toast gift card, so we headed out. Cardboard covered in cheese would have tasted good, but OH. MY. GOODNESS!!!! We started with cocktails: a less than pleasing South African Sauvignon Blanc, which our waitress immediately replaced with a better wine, and a dark Legend Ale. Both hit the spot. The place, which can be loud, was not yet busy, as we are old and went out early. Did I mention I was tired and hungry? We started with a scallop appetizer. 4 lovely scallops served on a bed of brussels sprout/carrot/kale slaw, and a citrus aioli. It was fresh and light and smooth. A really beautiful beginning. Then? life as we know it changed. We both ordered specials off of the special Father's Day menu: I ordered fried cat fish, and Chris had pork chops. Sounds pretty normal right? The cat fish just about killed me. The crust was golden brown, and SO crispy. The seasoning was perfect. Enough flavor to add to, but not hide, the fish. The fish inside was creamy and rich and supple. My dish was served with smoky beans and grilled green tomatoes - both were good, but not terribly memorable. Wait for it, though... Chris' pork was really nice, served with a hearty gravy, pork belly crumbles, and dirty rice. BUT, the unexpected star of the evening was a side of overnight braised collard greens with tomatoes. They were savory, and sweet, and salty, and unctuous. They were everything. I could easily have had an entire plate of these greens (and I'm not a huge greens fan) and nothing else, and been happy. I came home and tried to replicate the dish without the overnight cook time, but as good as it was, it was not the same. Let's just say you need to go to Toast to really experience it. Hopefully I made enough of an impression, raving and drooling to the waitress about how amazing it was, that they'll put it on the regular menu :)
After that, there was coffee and a lovely lemon cake. The cake was dense and sweet with a nice light icing. It was a perfect evening all around. And - oh my GOD - those collards! ![]() Merry Christmas!!! That's right! We have, for many years now, gifted dinner out for Chris' family, at Christmas time. We choose a date, usually late January or early February, and go out for "Christmas Dinner". Last week found us at Shagbark, at 4901 Libbie Mill East Blvd, across from the empty Southern Seasons building. I will add a disclaimer before I start: Shagbark is not cheap. That said, let's begin. Chris and I arrived a few minutes early on purpose, to make sure our reservation was in order. It was, and we were promptly seated and ordered our drinks. Both were local. An Early Mountain Vineyards Viognier blend, and a Foggy Ridge Cider. Both were very nice. The atmosphere in Shagbark is warm and inviting, although the lights were a bit low for reading the menu choices, and even though it was not noisy, there was some low level chatter that made it harder to hear (yes, I'm old). As the rest of the family arrived, we all started studying the menu and the specials. Our server brought bread, which was nothing special. It was a respectable bread served cold which was weird, but certainly not a deal breaker. Chris and I started with half a dozen raw oysters. They were a special, not on the menu, and I honestly don't remember the type [I found it! "Morattico Sweets" - Chris], but they were low in salinity, meaty, fresh and cold, and just lovely! I have recently developed a new love affair with raw oysters, and these did not disappoint. Half a dozen really isn't enough, but there was more food to come. For dinner I chose a Seafood Bouillabaise. Before I move on to Chris' food and such, I must say, I was the winner. The broth, the broth, the broth! A warm, rich, buttery oceanfest. Clams, mussels, squid, shrimp, white hominy, tomatillo, charred red onion and coriander aioli. So nice. Chris ordered a pasta special, which was also filled with seafood. His broth, although lovely, was somewhat salty and quite a bit heavier. Still a very nice dish. (not as good as mine, but very good) For dessert they had one of my all time favorites: Sticky Toffee Pudding!! If you've never had this, it is deceiving. It's not pudding. It IS sticky. It's a cake. (correct me if the texture is considered a pudding - felt like a cake to me). The dark warm date cake was covered in a thick brown caramel sauce. Very decadent. Other dishes at the table: a poached pear and frisee salad, a cider braised pork belly appetizer, a pan seared duck breast dish, and a baked apple crisp. All the plates were cleaned, and no complaints were heard! It was a lovely, leisurely evening. As I said, Shagbark is expensive - five people, drinks, appetizers, dinner, and desserts all around: just under $400 with tip. Merry Christmas :) Everyone go eat at Sen!!! Go right now and spend an evening with these lovely, lovely people. The food is so fresh and local and organic and skillfully prepared. I don't know what else to say! 8 of us went to dinner at Sen Organic Small Plate at 2901 Cary St last night and I'm not sure I've been this excited about a restaurant in a while. This is not just another Vietnamese restaurant. It's a beautiful fusion of Vietnamese and French cuisines cooked with very fresh local ingredients and all of it comes together in perfect harmony. Chris and I got there early and were surprised to find the restaurant in the old laundromat on the corner. The place is small so we sat outside on an unseasonably warm February night and waited for our friends with a glass of wine and a beer. Both were house picks and fit the bill. Once we were seated the adventure began. Our hostess was charming and fun. Our server was super helpful, and the chef came to visit our table a few times during the evening to ask about the food and share stories. Truly delightful people. Chris and I started with 2 appetizers, Organic Crispy Golden Roll, and Mushroom Trigon. Both appetizers were vegan, which scared Chris the carnivore, but he was not unhappy! The spring roll was filled with carrot, taro, mung bean, glass noodle, and mushroom. It was fried beautifully crispy and was soft and luscious on the inside. I shy away from egg rolls normally , but this was so fresh and the combination of vegetables was delectable. The mushroom trigon was a pastry pocket stuffed with mushroom, onion, and garlic. Pretty simple but done with perfection. For dinner I ordered Lemongrass Salmon "Grandma Style". No lie. Our hostess explained that this really is the way her Grandma cooked salmon. Grandma was no fool! The salmon was a bit crispy on the outside and moist and flaky inside. It was served with organic brown rice, sunflower root, tomato, cucumber, and Sen pickles. From start to finish everything we ate was so refreshingly fresh (is that redundant?) This was no exception. Light yet filling. Chris had Com Tam (with punctuation I don't have) which is a grilled pork chop with a "Grandma Sauce" for dipping, broken rice with a quail egg, organic cucumber, organic tomato, and Sen pickles. Grandma sauce is a little spicy but quite light and added a nice sweetness to the grilled pork with just the right amount of char. The quail egg was a rich buttery accompaniment to the dish but Chris said it was too small. He wanted a MANLY portion of the egg. (a manly quail???) Sen prides themselves on their coffees and teas. Chris had organic (yes EVERYTHING is wonderfully organic) French press coffee, a bit too strong for him but he's a coffee wimp. I had a tea from the extensive list and, although I loved it, I only remember it was a decaf with no mint. Aaaaaaand dessert. Wow!!! Chris and I shared Apple a la Mode. 2 crispy apple tarts, very nice, BUT THE ICE CREAM!!!!! A sweet vegan coconut ice cream. Reid is vegan and we buy coconut milk ice cream all the time. This was not that. Our chef explained that vanilla is so expensive in Vietnam, that they use leaves of some sort for flavoring. I've looked and can't find a reference to what leaves they are, but they turn the ice cream a lovely light green. And there are bits of coconut throughout. Chilly yummy heaven!! I could go on more and more about how much we loved this one, but I'll stop here and let you get up from your chair and go. So, 5 cocktails, 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 1 dessert $116. WORTH IT!
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