Food Adventure Team

Overall, a wonderful culinary experience. High quality, well-prepared food. Fantastic drinks. Totally indulgent. We shared a bunch of appetizers, all of which were to die for, and each got our own entrees. Dessert was semi-shared because we were pretty full by then. Service was excellent. Ambiance was lovely — feels classy without being stuffy or pretentious.

We shared:

• Escargots in shell, garlic herb butter, crusty bread
  YUM. Better eaten alone, not on the bread (though the bread was good, it masked some of the yumminess of the snails).
• Antipasti plate, cured meats by Fra’Mani, Zoe’s & La Quercia, olives, pickled vegetables, crostini
  YUM. And those little red peppers are SPICY.
• 3-cheese plate
  Josh and Besha chose the cheeses so I don’t know what we got. All I know is that they were all amazingly delcious.

Besha got:

• French Onion Soup
  It looked amazing and full of gooey cheese.
• Scharffen Berger chocolate Pot de creme, creme chantilly

Josh:

• Frisee (baby leeks vinaigrette, house-smoked bacon, fried duck egg, fines herbs, caviar)
• A cocktail I can’t remember
• Pan seared black cod, sweet corn sauce, Manila clams, chorizo, wilted chard
• Fig crostini, fennel ice cream

  I tried the fennel ice cream because it sounded so weird! It was like nothing I have ever tasted. I exclaimed, “HOLY BALLS!” People laughed at me, then tried it and realized that was the only appropriate response. So, so amazingly good.

• Pillow Talk (?) cocktail (can’t remember what was in it, crazy stuff though)
  I had a tiny sip of this. It was weird. Looked super creamy and thick, but tasted light and fruity.

Heather:

• Za’taar spiced grilled scallops, black garlic farro risotto, winter squash puree, pumpkin seeds
  I actually wasn’t super impressed with this. I’m not normally one to complain about portion size because usually restaurants serve enormous portions and I think that’s stupid. But this went too far in the opposite direction. I mean come on, THREE scallops? Though I wasn’t as hungry as I thought I would be when I was done, but I was still a bit disappointed. And aside from the size of the dish, it was just kinda “eh”. Some bites of 2 of the 3 scallops had a kind of off taste– like dirt almost. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be like that or not, but it wasn’t very pleasant. The Za’taar spice wasn’t very prominent. The winter squash puree was pretty much just that (although its subtle sweetness nicely offset the scallops’ flavor), and I did enjoy the nuttiness of the risotto and pumpkin seeds. On the whole, I thought the dish was just so-so, which presented a stark contrast to the exquisiteness of the rest of the food we ate. Next time I’ll get the beef cheeks, for I know they are amazing.
• Kubler Swiss Absinthe
  YUMYUMYUM!
• Scharffen Berger chocolate Pot de creme, creme chantilly (to share)
  I basically had a heart attack from the yummy of this dessert. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Super rich and chocolatey, with a generous dollop of whipped cream on top.

Ed:

• Red wine braised beef cheeks, smashed potatoes, English peas, roasted baby vegetables, horseradish gremolata
  I tried a bite of this the previous time we went to Absinthe — it is incredible. Fork tender (really!) and flavorful. The sides it comes with are very tasty as well.
• Kubler Swiss Absinthe

Laurie:

• Red wine braised beef cheeks, smashed potatoes, English peas, roasted baby vegetables, horseradish gremolata
• “Absinthe Lemonade” – non-alcoholic, containing ginger syrup, fresh lemon-lime juice, ginger ale and a topping of cranberry juice (I think)

Absinthe at Absinthe. Photo by Ed