Supino Pizzeria

On the East side of Detroit there is an enormous public market called, surprisingly enough, Eastern Market.  It is primarily a food/farmer's market, it is primarily a food/farmer's market but there are some vendors that sell crafts and flea market type items.  The market area itself is about six blocks in area but a market area of that size will draw a lot of people and with the number of people that the market draws, there will be other businesses that have sprouted up on the outskirts of the market area.  One of these places is a tiny pizza joint that does creative thin crust pizzas that are vaguely Neapolitan style (Thin fluffy crust with served with or without tomatoes and not an overabundance of ingredients).  Supino Pizzeria is this pizzeria and he calls his pizza a cross between east coast and Neapolitan-style.  It is small, seating about 15 or 20 people and frequently has a line out the door.  It is so popular in fact, that it has drawn the attention of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  Much of their business is take-out which is what we had.  The pizzas come in two sizes, small (12") and large (18") and while the oven is brick lined, there is no flame in the oven.  This does provide a more even heat so there is very little scorching but without a flame you also lose any smokiness that you may have gotten from the flame in the crust.  For our pizzas we decided to go with two small pizzas, one red and one white.  For our white pizza, we got an Affumicata aka "Smoky" Pizza.  It had Speck (smoked prosciutto), Roasted Garlic, Chopped Parsley, Mozzarella, Smoked Gouda, and Ricotta Cheese.  The crust was crisp on the outside with a chewy texture with some air bubbles around the edges.  The flavor of the pizza was definitely smoky with the speck and the smoked Gouda but there was also a very definite creaminess with the ricotta and the mozzarella.  The items were sprinkled over the crust as opposed to being layered on as you might find with many fast food American Pizzas.  This allows you to more easily taste the individual ingredients.  There was enough on the crust though that you could easily enough taste the ingredients in combination.

For our red pizza, we got something that was a little off the grid as far as pizza was concerned.  It is actually a joint creation between Supino and City Wings in Detroit called the City Wing Thing.  On top of the tomato sauce that comes with a red pizza, it was topped with braised and shredded Smoked Turkey Legs from City Wings, Smoked Gouda, Cherry Peppers, Mozzarella, and Roasted Garlic.  With the smoked meat, smoked Gouda, Mozzarella, and Roasted Garlic, it was actually kind of similar to our white pizza.  The crust again was crisp and chewy with a multitude of air pockets and there was some smokiness and creaminess from the meat and cheese but the turkey was a little more substantial as far as individual pieces go and provided more chew.  The cherry peppers were spicy and provided a nice bite to the flavor and the tomato sauce while light, did provide some added savoriness to the pizza.  Of the two pizzas, while they were both good, I preferred this one.

I really liked Supino.  While it is small and can be crowded, they are very good at getting orders taken and as they are located next to the Eastern Market, if you come on a market day, you can shop while you wait.  I would happily return here.  I only tried two pizzas and there about 13 on the menu.

Trenchermen - Brunch

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a trencherman as someone who enjoys eating and drinking in excess.  It was a much more common term around the turn of the 20th century which makes it an appropriate name for a restaurant in a vintage building.  Trenchermen (the restaurant) is actually located in the former Russian bathhouse that was the former location of the restaurant, Spring, a restaurant that I really liked, so I was pretty familiar with the space.  The space is divided into two rooms, one room is primarily the bar and the other is the dining area.  This is actually the same as the former restaurant.  They did however, change the design radically by enlarging the bar and removing the drywall that had been covering the bath house walls.  The space has a decidedly vintage feel to it (to go with the name), and it is also carried through the typeface used.  Trenchermen is actually run by two chef brothers whose resumes include Blackbird, The Signature Room, and Three Floyd's Brewpub.  I have tried their food before and really liked it.  They seemed to have a handle on hearty and savory fare and I was excited to see them opening Trenchermen.  Even if I have not been here for dinner, I am confident that it is very good and it is on my short list to visit for dinner.  I recently visited for brunch which while not as inherently obvious as dinner that it would be very good, reviews have said that it featured one of the best brunches in the city so I was excited to go.  When I go for brunch, I try to try both sweet and savory dishes.  My starter here was actually both sweet and savory.  It was a Pretzel Cinnamon Roll with Pretzel Streusel.  It looked like a cinnamon roll but the roll seemed to have been made from pretzel dough.  There was cinnamon between the rolls and sugar and salt on the top.  The roll was crispy and flaky and while not squishy soft as a regular cinnamon roll might be expected to be, it did have a nice give to it after crunching through the outer crust. 

Many brunch places that serve cocktails will have bloody marys, screwdrivers, mimosas, and frequently, Prosecco.  Trenchermen has a complete list of cocktails that are different from those served for dinner and there was one that sounded pretty good to me so I had to try it.  It was called a Funky Chicken and it was a combination of Rye, Lemon Jam, and 3 Floyd's Gumballhead Wheat Ale.  It was served like a Mexican Lollipop meaning that the edge of the glass was coated with Cayenne Pepper as well as being topped with Cayenne Pepper.  While I wasn't crazy about how cloudy it was, wheat beers are cloudy so I could give it a pass.  The drink was tart, sweet, and a little oaky and the cayenne pepper added a nice spicy touch. 

There were several things on the menu that really looked good so it took some thought and asking the waiter questions before I decided on the Potato Basket.  This was made of Potato Skin Tuille (a thin crisp cookie/cracker made of potato skin) that were braided together to form a basket.  The basket was filled with Potato Puree (mashed potatoes), Mole Breakfast Sausage, Arugula, and a Poached Farm Egg.  This was rich, savory, a little spicy, and very good.  The basket was like a basket of braided potato chips, the potato puree was very creamy, the sausage was a very good and spicy breakfast sausage, and the egg was poached to perfect firmness.

For my brunch dessert, I went with something on which I had tried many variations.  I had a Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta with a Salted Almond Granola and Tangerines and Grapefruit.  The panna cotta was very creamy.  Panna cotta is supposed to be creamy but I think that this is actually creamier than most of the other panna cottas that I have had.  The granola was nutty, salty, and sweet and provided a good counterpoint to the creaminess of the panna cotta.  The tangerines and grapefruit were complementary to both the panna cotta and the granola.  The tartness of the fruit matched well with the tartness of the yogurt and also provided a good counterpoint to the sweetness of the granola.  Any two of the items in this would have worked well together but all three together made the dish that much better.

There is a reason that Trencherman was recently rated one of the top brunch places in town.  The food is creative and hearty in a beautiful vintage space.  I really enjoyed my brunch here and it has actually got me looking forward to dinner here whenever that may occur.

Vera

The West Loop has become a hot area where restaurants are concerned.  Randolph Ave. is where most of the hot restaurants are although there are several very good places that are off the strip by a block or two that occupy spaces surrounded by food warehouses and art galleries.  Just because these places are off the strip does not make them any less good though.  Next and Moto are both Michelin quality restaurants that are off the strip and the Wine Bar, Vera, one of the best wine bars in the city, is also located off the strip.  It is run by husband and wife team Mark and Liz Mendez.  Mark is the chef and Liz runs the wine program.  As it off the strip, the vibe is a bit more low key and relaxed.  This does not mean however, that the service is anything less than excellent.  The waitress, bartender, and head of the wine program were all very attentive and very willing to educate diners (and drinkers) about their food and drink. It is located in a vintage building and it uses that in it's design.  The painted sign in the window is very stylized and has both plant-like and Art Deco elements to it.  The door opens to one corner of the dining room which is narrow and deep opposite the bar.  The space has high ceilings and is very open with track lighting and a finished ceiling.  Lighting is also provided by large candles on the tables.  The floor and bar are light colored hardwood (as are the tables) and the dining room furniture is upholstered with a light green velvet-like material.  As I was by myself, I decided to sit at the bar where I had a full view of the restaurant.  The menu is divided into nine sections and the dishes are small plates, a nine course meal would have been a little much.  I did spread my order around though.  My first course was a dish of Clams stuffed with Chorizo and Green Onions with a broth which was a combination of the clams, chorizo, and green onions.  The dish was topped with some toasted bread that was great for soaking up the broth.  The dish was spicy and salty and the clams were tender.  It was a great start and I really enjoyed it.

For my next course, I went for a vegetable dish that was a play on a dish that I have had many versions of.  The key component of the dish was beets and in many beet dishes, they are served with goat cheese.  For this dish, the Beets were served with Quark, Pistachios, and Sherry Vinegar.  It was garnished with baby greens.  The beets were well roasted and sweet, the Quark, which is a cow cheese that is essentially cottage cheese without the whey, was creamy, light, and slightly tart and the pistachios added a nice crunch.

While it wasn't bad in the order that it was served, I actually expected it to be served first.  It was a Pig Head Bocadillo with Caper Aioli, and House Pickle.  A Bocadillo is a simple sandwich served on Spanish bread and is commonly found in Tapas bars which fits the bill for this perfectly.  The pork was ground like a burger but it was very flavorful.  The pork was well spiced and the aioli and pickle provided some acid.  As I said though it was very good but because it was so simple, it would have worked well at the beginning of the meal.

The last thing I had before dessert was another meat course and it actually reminded me of an Irish breakfast.  It was Blood Sausage with a Fried Egg and Spicy Greens.  The blood sausage was like a breakfast sausage as it would be in an Irish breakfast.  It was not as firm as a regular breakfast sausage but every blood sausage I have ever had is a bit loose so it was as it should be as far as texture was concerned.  It was however, a little more spicy than an Irish breakfast would be but that was a good thing.  The egg was fried over-hard, and the spicy greens had a nice peppery flavor to them.

As far as the wines I drank, I started out with a lightly sparkling Portuguese, Vinho Verde, continued with a nice peppery red (although I don't remember what it was), and finished with a Madeira (which was on the house)  with my dessert.  For my dessert, I had what they called a Crema Catalana which was served with sliced apples and fresh mint.  A Crema Catalana is very similar to a Creme Brulee.  it is a creamy custard with a caramelized crust.  For custards of this type, I actually like a nice thick crust that actually takes a little work to break through.  This one had a very nice crust.  The Madeira that I had with this enhanced it.  It was on the dry side and had a citrus flavor that actually went well with the apples.  This dessert had a multilayered flavor of sweet and tart with a very creamy custard and a nice crunchy crust.  It was one of the best caramelized custards that I have ever had and it was a great end to a great meal.

Vera is a great wine bar not only in that they are very helpful in helping their customers learn about their wines but also in that they have some of the best food served in any of the wine bars I have been to around town.  The atmosphere is casual and welcoming and I really enjoyed my meal here.      

Between Peruvian Cafe and Lounge

While it has been on my radar for years, and it actually changed formats since I first noticed it, I have not actually made it to Between.  Details arranged themselves in such a way that I family was able to go there recently.  When it first opened, Between called itself a boutique lounge and served an Indian-Latin fusion.  It has since changed to purely Peruvian cuisine.  While it is located in a high traffic area, the storefront is actually kind of narrow so it is kind of easy to miss which is kind of funny because you would think that the bright pink and purple trim might make it more noticeable.  The pink and purple trim follows inside in the curtains that act as dividers between dining areas and some of the lighting.  The floor is hardwood and the walls are old brick making the space look kind of old but the lighting is very modern.  The lighting is provided primarily by several white hanging lamps that were spiral shaped and very modern looking.  We were seated near the front of the restaurant which was a slight issue because despite the fact that there was a shelter around the door, it was cold outside and the front of the restaurant was definitely cooler than the interior.  It wasn't a huge issue but there were members of my party that felt cold.  As most of the population of Peru is located along the coast, the interior of the country is very mountainous, much of the country's cuisine revolves around seafood which is where my dinner started.  I ordered a Ceviche Classico, a seafood dish that is technically raw but is tenderized with the use of a lot of lemon juice.  The Ceviche Classico contained "Lechon de Tigre"-Tiger Shrimp, Cilantro, Red Onion, Glazed Sweet Potato, and Andean Corn.  As one might expect, this had a very strong flavor.  While there wasn't a lot of liquid in the dish, there was a very strong flavor of citrus in the dish.  There was also a strong flavor of onion and cilantro.  While everything was very tender, it was also still technically raw and so the strong flavors of the onion and cilantro, which are normally toned down by cooking were still at the forefront.  Everything was very tender although their was enough textural variety that it was not all mush.  It tasted very fresh, very bright, and very strong.  I liked it although I do like strong flavors and I could see where someone who does not may have a problem with this.

For my main course, I went with more seafood, this time in the form of Paella. Called Arroz con Mariscos, literally Rice with Shrimp, this dish contained Aji Panca, a mild red pepper, Aji Amarillo, a yellow pepper, Corn, Shrimp, Octopus, Squid, Scallops, and of course the Yellow Rice that is a standard of all Paella and topped with Salsa Criolla.  This is a mixture of thinly sliced Red Onions and Jalapenos with Cilantro mixed with a little Lime juice.  This again had a citrusy flavor from the Salsa Criolla but it was also kind of spicy and the seafood in all of it's varieties was very good.  In some paellas that I have had, there has been some rice that was crisped from being at the edge of the pan.  This adds an extra level of texture and flavor to the dish.  This paella however, did not have the crispy rice.  The rice was cooked to a toothsome texture (instead of being cooked to mush) and between that and the cruch of the vegetables on top, there was a good amount of crunch to this dish.  It was a good dish despite it's overt spiciness.

For dessert, I had breakfast.  It was called French Toast Sabores a Picarón.  This was French Toast with Vanilla Ice Cream and topped with Honey.  It was a little unusual in my mind but it really worked.  The French toast was thick with a crispy crust and soft interior.  It had a slightly savory flavor to it and the Ice Cream and Honey brought it back to the sweet side.  While I do like French toast, I wouldn't normally think of it as dessert even with the sweet maple syrup that is normally served with it.  Ice Cream though, is obviously dessert and with the honey, it made this a nice finish to the meal.

While I enjoyed the food at Between, I feel like I missed the restaurant's prime.  The place looked nice but there was some wear around the edges and while the waiter was friendly when we saw him, the place felt understaffed.  He also acted as a bartender and was serving the entire dining room which, while not incredibly large or full, it was a lot of work for one person.  It sometimes took a while to get some service.  I really want to like this place but there were too many little things to overlook and while the food was good, it wasn't good enough for me to overlook everything.          

Bistronomic

I have blogged about Bistronomic before when I came here for brunch.  A restaurant's look isn't going to change based on meal service but it's vibe certainly can and the menu will certainly be different.  Bistronomic is a modern bistro located in the Gold Coast of Chicago.  It's Executive Chef  Martial Noguier who was the first chef at the late, lamented one sixty blue, and later at Cafe des Architectes focuses on French seasonal cooking and during dining hours, he can be frequently seen in the dining room talking up the patrons and ensuring that they are having a good dinner.  I came for a dinner here where they were featuring the dishes of the famed French chef, Auguste Escoffier, who is known as the father of modern French cooking.  Many of the dishes offered were well known classics and it was actually a little difficult to choose what I was going to have because everything sounded good.  I finally did decide though and looked forward to my dinner.  For my appetizer, I started with a Bouillabaisse with Diver Scallops, Potatoes, Saffron Aioli, and Pernod and garnished with a Baguette Slice and Dill.  This was amazing!  The scallops were tender as were the potatoes, and the saffron and dill provided the dish with a lot of flavor complementary to the scallops.  While I did try to soak up as much broth as I could with the baguette, I had more broth than baguette.  If I thought I could have gotten away with licking the bowl, I would have readily.  I eagerly awaited my entree.

My entree was steak, specifically it was a Beef Tenderloin a la Berrichone with Savoy Cabbage, Chestnuts, and a Caramelized Onion Puree.  The tenderloin was very tender, juicy, and had a great crust.  I assume that it had been marinated in a red wine because it was more red than might have been expected from a rare steak (I ordered medium-rare).  The cabbage was crisp and slightly acidic.  The chestnuts provided crunch and the caramelized onion puree had a nice savoriness that really went well with the steak.

For my dessert, I had an Omelette Norvegienne.  I was unsure of what this might be when I ordered it, but I was curious as to what a Norwegian Omelette might be.  As it turned out, a Norwegian Omelette is the same thing as a Baked Alaska.  This is Meringue powdered with bittersweet cocoa on top of Coffee Ice Cream, Caramel, and Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce, and garnished with Mint Leaves.  The meringue was molded into a crown of delicate points and was lightly sweet.  The ice cream went well with the chocolate and it was an excellent finish to a great meal.

I again enjoyed my meal here and will surely come back for more.  The food was good, the service was friendly and welcoming, and I was able to have a pretty good conversation with Chef Noguier about my upcoming trip to Paris. 

Untitled

It may seem counter-intuitive to give a restaurant a rather ambiguous name and to not label the entrance with anything other than the address number but for the restaurant Untitled, it seems to be working.  Located in the basement below 111 W. Kinzie Ave. in Chicago's, River North neighborhood, Untitled is modeled after an old-time speakeasy.  While you don't need a password to get in, because there is no real sign, it helps to know where you're going.  Once you gain entrance though, it is fairly obvious that you are at the right place.  The front door opens to a landing above a very wide set of stairs leading to the basement.  There is also a haberdasher advertising window inside the building, opposite the front door.  The handrails for the stairs are wrought steel and are rather ornate.  Once you reach the floor, you see that the proprietors are pretty serious about presenting the illusion of a speakeasy.  The floor is painted (and sealed) cement and the walls are mostly curtain covered. In the areas where the walls are not curtain covered, the walls can be seen to be old brick and in several rooms, there are many large Art Deco style paintings. The ceiling is mostly unfinished with hanging lights and chandeliers.  The first room that you enter after reaching the main floor is essentially the entry hall with the captain's station (where you check in for seating), mandatory coat check, and lounge chairs.  There are several rooms off of this room.  One room is essentially a waiting area bar (although you can dine there if you choose) with a bar and several hi-top tables.  The room opposite that is the main dining area which is done in white and has several chandeliers.  The remaining room is a combination bar, lounge, dining area with a very long bar, several 4-top tables and a couple of long communal tables.  This room also has live entertainment on the weekends.  I started in the waiting bar and moved to the room with the live entertainment when my party was complete.  I came to Untitled for Restaurant Week and while most restaurants were doing three and four course meals, they were doing what essentially what worked out to be a tour through the menu with six and eleven course menus.  I figured that in order to get a good idea of what they are like, it would make sense to go for the larger menu.  I also figured that if they were serving more courses, they would cut down on the serving size.  I may have been wrong on that point.  If they didn't cut down on serving size, then their normal serving sizes are enormous.  For the most part, after I ordered, the courses came out rapid fire and there were times where I would have two or three courses in front of me at once.  For my first course, I had the Oyster Rockefeller.  As I was brought only one oyster, it did follow for me that the serving sizes might be smaller than normal.  In most situations, if you order Oysters Rockefeller, you will receive two or three oysters.  The fact that I only received one though did not bother me as I was going to have a lot of food to eat.  The oyster was served in the shell (as would be expected) with Spinach Artichoke Fondue, Bacon Bread Crumbs, and topped with Parmesan Cheese.  While I did receive a fork to eat this with, as it was in the shell, I picked it up and slurped it so I could get all of the juices.  It was a very good oyster and the spinach and cheese just added to it.

For my next course, I had a Little Gem Caesar Salad with Smoked Chicken, Brioche Crostini, and Gordal Olives.  I am generally not a big salad eater but I will eat it and I do like Caesars.  This was very good with small and crisp lettuce leaves, a good amount of Parmesan cheese, and enough dressing to lightly coat everything.  The crostini had a nice crunch, and there was enough chicken to provide texture and taste but not enough to make it a chicken dish with lettuce.  The dish provided a nice tang and got me ready for my next plate.

I will admit when the next dish arrived, I was a little overwhelmed.  I like charcuterie and cheese both but the size of the plate for a single person expecting many more dishes was a little overwhelming.  On the plate were samples of three types of charcuterie including a ham and a salami, three types of cheese, a cheddar, a blue, and a goat cheese, gherkins, fig jam, apple jam, and crostini to eat the meat and cheese with.  It was good and it was interesting to try everything by itself and in combinations but it did take a little work to get through.

After the oyster, salad, and charcuterie and cheese, we more or less followed the standard dinner progression with seafood or fish and then meat.  In this case, it was seafood and meat on the same plate.  I was served a Diver Scallop and Short Rib, with Herbed Bread Pudding, over a Kabocha Squash Puree.  While I thought all of the elements sounded good, when it was presented to me, I have to admit that I didn't see how it was going to work together.  After trying it, I saw that the binding part was the squash puree.  The scallop was slightly sweet and had a nice sear, the short rib was extremely tender and had a sweet glaze on it, and the herbed bread pudding had a nice crunch on the outside with a soft interior and an herbaceous flavor.  The squash puree was very creamy and provided the sweetness that tied everything together.

The next course was probably my favorite.  It was the dish that they served at the First Bites Bash and while it sounds kind of simple, there is something about it that just awakens my taste buds.  It was a couple of Grit Cakes topped with Tomato Jam.  The cake was deep fried and crunchy on the outside and very soft on the inside.  The tomato jam provided both a sweetness and brightness to the dish and somewhere, in the jam or the cake, there was a little spiciness.  It was a really good dish and I was glad to see it on this menu as well.

The next course, while also pretty good, went pretty quickly.  The serving size was on the small side which was fine because after all of this food, I was starting to feel a little full.  It was a couple of Slagel Farms Meatballs with Stewed Peppers and Black Garlic Gremolata.  The meatballs were tender and the stewed peppers and gremolata were so flavorful that while they did add to the meatballs, they were good by themselves.

The next dish was Shrimp and Grits and I am sure that it was very good.  I would guess this because all of the dishes up to this point were very good.  I will admit though that it wasn't my favorite dish partially because I was getting full and partially that I have had some really good shrimp and grits elsewhere.  The shrimp was tender and the grits were creamy although the gravy wasn't as dark as I normally like it.  The grits were pretty buttery though so there was that.

The next dish was Cornbread with Maple Bourbon Butter and Bacon.  The cornbread itself was sweet and soft although with a typical cornbread texture.  The bourbon butter provided some moisture and a slightly smoky flavor and everything is better with bacon.  I would really like to say that I enjoyed this but as this was the 9th of an eventual 11 courses.  It tasted good but I was so full that I really couldn't enjoy it and was actually looking forward to the end.

My final savory course was a Slagel Farms Chicken with a Bourbon-Soy Glaze and Braised Tuscan Kale.  The braised kale reminded me of spinach.  The chicken was probably some of the best chicken I have tasted.  It was amazingly tender and flavorful even without the glaze but I was served half a chicken and there was no way I was going to be able to eat half a chicken after all I had previously eaten.

While service up to this point was amazingly good, they found a bar stool for me to sit at the bar in the room with the live entertainment, the flow of the dishes was very good, and the wait staff was very attentive.  However, there was a hiccup in service after my final savory dish and I had to alert one of the bartenders that I had not received my dessert.  I ended up waiting about 15 minutes after my dishes were cleared for my dessert to arrive (delivered by the bartender that I had alerted).  I am not sure if the wait was a good or a bad thing.  I was very full but I had paid for my dessert so I wanted my dessert.  Dessert was a thing of beauty.  It was a Chocolate Mousse with chunks of White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, and Candied Cashews.  It was sweet, and creamy with a lot of textural and flavor variety.  I really enjoyed it even if I was pretty miserable when I finished it.

The service and design of Untitled are very cool and the food was good even if I was served way too much.  I would recommend the restaurant to others and will return though I will definitely try not to eat so much.   

The Bedford

When I think of a restaurant that takes it's inspiration from the supper clubs of the 1940's, a bank vault never enters into my mind.  However, a bank vault is a key design element of the dining area of The Bedford, a supper club inspired restaurant built in a former bank basement with the bank vault (including safe deposit boxes) as a private dining area.  While the restaurant itself is underground, it does have to have a footprint on ground level.  This consists of a picture window with The Bedford etched on it and a door which opens to a landing with a sign directing people down the stairs that are there.  The stairs lead down to the lounge and dining areas which are done with a lot of marble and steel (as might be expected of a former bank area).  There is also a lot of brass trim from the trim on the vault door and the safe deposit boxes both in the vault and in the room that is now the lounge area.  The seating consists of the large bar itself with several hi-top tables and large semi-circular booths against the walls in the lounge.  The vault is set up like a 1960's lounge area with couches and and low tables.  While you could eat in here, it seems more an area for meeting and having a party.  The main dining room reminded me somewhat of a diner with a checkerboard (marble) tile pattern on the floor and 2 and 4 top tables with vinyl seat covers.  The walls were drywall or plaster and had pictures of what could be thought of as 1960's suburban life.  This is the room where I was seated.  There is another private dining area which I imagine is in the 1960's style, but I did not see it.  Not only does The Bedford look like an old-style supper club, the food that they serve there also is of the same style that you might find in a supper club, simple food presented simply, but prepared very well.  For my appetizer, I ordered there Calimari.  It was served with a Bell Pepper Agrodolce (an Italian sweet and sour sauce), Herbs, and a Tomato Aioli.  While I like calamari, they are frequently overcooked and take on a rubbery texture.  The calamari that I had here were were among the best that I have ever had.  They were lightly battered with a tempura-like batter and the calamari themselves were melt in your mouth tender.  The agrodolce provided a nice tang and the aioli provided some  creaminess.  Color was provided by both.  Calamari is generally a pretty simple dish but in order to make a simple dish really good, it has to be prepared exceptionally well.  This dish scored on all counts.  It was simple, very accessible, and tasted really good.  For me an appetizer is supposed to work like an opening band at a concert, it is supposed to get you ready for the main event, in this case, my entree.  After having the calamari, I can honestly say that I was really looking forward to my main course.

For my main course, I had Roast Chicken.  This was another simple dish presented simply and without any surprising elements to it.  It consisted of a couple of sliced chicken breasts with Glazed Baby Carrots and Turnips and served with a Cider Maple Jus.  The chicken was tender. flavorful, and cooked perfectly.  The carrots and turnips were not cooked to mush and still had some crunch to them.  The glaze provided an added sweetness to the natural sweetness of these root vegetables and the jus was both savory and tart so this had a sweet and sour flavor to it as well.

The dessert choice for the Restaurant Week menu was very small.  As a matter of fact, there was a choice of one item but it was a classic and I very well may have chosen it in any case.  It was called The Bedford Brownie and it consisted of a Chocolate Brownie topped with Black Dog Gelato (Cherry), Whipped Cream, a Black Cherry, Butterscotch, Almonds, and was surrounded with a "moat" of Hot Fudge.  It was sweet, classic, and one of those things that you could eat at any time.

I really enjoyed my dinner here.  The setting, if thought about, seems a little odd, and while on the surface it might seem that the menu that they are serving sounds standard and simple.  In order to do standard and simple well, it has to be prepared and served perfectly which they do.  The food is very accessible so it would be easy to invite friends that are a little timid to try new things.  In any case, this is a place that I will definitely come back to.