The food menu includes small plates and large plates, intended to be shared - recommendation is two plates per person. This time, we got pickles, sourdough pull apart rolls and smoked bluefish drop dumplings for small plates and rhubarb and fennel salad, green onion gnudi and rack of lamb for the large. The combo made for good balances with hot/cold, meat/veggie/starch and sweet/savory/sour. My wife's a big lamb fan but not always easily pleased at restaurants. She said she could have eaten about three of the rack of lamb plates. Dessert was good, too. We got one of each from the menu: preserved blueberry tart for my wife, honey cake and fly me to the moon, a root beer float made with rye bread ice cream, for me. A stunning meal all around.
Rye bread is clearly a favorite flavor for the chef. The best item we've had at the restaurant involved a rye bread sauce. I don't even remember what the main feature of the dish was supposed to be. That sauce was the star.
A DJ spins vinyl to accompany the meal - the music is pleasant, though hardly conventional. On a previous visit, we were introduced to a fascinating Japanese prog rock band called Kikagaku Moyo. I recommend you check out their song "Smoke and Mirrors." We were hoping the music would be a hit with the kid but they found it a bit too loud.
The drink menu is fun, too, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Most of the drinks are named after songs or are otherwise music-inspired: Yacht Rock, Push It, The Policy of Truth, etc. I ordered a beer, something I've decided to do more often in restaurants. I feel it's more cost-effective than cocktails. Unfortunately, all of the beers on offer were in cans. I'd have made a different choice if I'd known.
Wait staff is highly attentive. I really like the vibe of the place, though I can understand how the music might not please everyone. The price is on the higher side so while I have no problem claiming Paradiso Hi Fi as my new area favorite, there are better value choices around.
Thank you for introducing us to this new restaurant. I also agree that drinking beer out of a can is awful, and the loud music must also bother those who want to have a family meal and enjoy chatting!
ReplyDeleteThe beer companies around here - and I can't emphasize enough, we have fantastic beer in Vermont - has done a good job of convincing people that beer is better in cans than in bottles. But my point is that I can drink beer out of a can at home. I do not drink cold draft beer at home so it's a meaningful part of the restaurant experience for me.
DeleteSounds like an interesting place. I don't think I have ever seen smoked bluefish dumplings on a menu or in a cookbook, but I have caught plenty of bluefish in my life and smoked is a good way of dealing with an oily fish like that.
ReplyDeleteMy wife didn't waste any time once she saw it on the menu. She knows fish a lot better than I do.
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