I Clean Up Well?
Originally uploaded by Tokyorosa
You only get this sad little post-dinner photo of me today. Sorry. What you are not getting a photo of is dinner, which was amazing.
Let me explain.
Tonight Dave and I had dinner with Kelly First and Kevin, and Paul and Judi. We have been meaning to check out a new-ish restaurant, Jennifer James 101, and tonight, we finally did. And it was amazing. The food was amazing. The company was amazing. And I have not a single picture of any of that because I am not one of those people who is willing to wreck anyone's dining experience by hauling out my camera to take photos of food--or of company.
Instead, I will tell you about dinner.
We went ahead and let Judi make the reservation because she can be kind of persuasive when the only tables for six that are on offer are of the 5:30 or 8:00 p.m. variety. (I would have taken 8:00, but Paul and Judi prefer to dine earlier.) After a couple of calls, we ended up with a 6:30 reservation.
The minimalist restaurant is stuck in a strip mall between a now defunct hot dog place and some shop that sells frou-frou maternity wear. The place is tiny, perhaps forty seats, with a very open kitchen in the center of the room. Our table was at the back, near the kitchen and the wait station and so on. Fortunately, it was also opposite the tiny kitchen; I like to watch so I was actually pleased.
Our waiter was a cutie, a bit wet behind the ears looking, but, more importantly, competent. We have always had flawless service at the Jennifer James joints we've dined in. (They make terrific service look easy there, which it is not. I wish that kind of service was the norm in our little burg, but sadly it tends to be the exception.) Ms. James herself was in the kitchen along with a handful of others. Apparently her sister, Kelly Burton, was also in the house. (Which I only know because Judi recognized her from the reservation wrangling and I read somewhere on the web that they are sisters.) I wouldn't know the third partner, Nelle Bauer, from Adam, but I mention it because--hello--isn't it nice to see a woman-owned and -run business succeeding?
Yes. Yes, it is.
So: Are you wondering about the food? Well, don't. It was very, very good.
We were greeted by little dishes of sweet pickles, cucumber and onion, and were soon served warm rolls that had a ciabatta-like texture. They came with a sweet butter that had hints of cinnamon and other spices in it.
For our first courses, Kelly First and I ordered goat cheese wontons with tomato concasse, garlic confit, and basil. They were absolutely wonderful. I think any goat cheese delivery system is wonderful, but these were especially wonderful. Kevin and Paul ordered a special, green-lipped mussels, that they enjoyed. Dave and Judi had the tomato-avocado salads with sweet onion, pimento olives, feta, mache and lime. It's unusual, I think, for people to comment on a salad because we've all eaten thousands of them, but Dave and Judi were very complimentary of this particular salad. Dave and I also shared a bowl of the soup du jour, a curried lentil soup.
All of the starters were declared wonderful. I would have easily been satisfied with a plate of the goat cheese wontons as a main, as they were more like very light ravioli than the fried things we associate with wontons.
Our main courses? Wow. Paul, Kevin and I all chose the St. Louis-style Berkshire pork belly with roasted sweet potato and market vegetable (green and purple beans in our case). I've never eaten pork belly before and I have to say that that has been a mistake. The pork belly we received was really rich, super, super rich. Okay, yes, it was a hunk of rich, delicious fat around the barest bit of meat. But how is that not the very epitome of what you want in a piece of pork? The pork was cooked with a slightly sweet rub or glaze perhaps, reminiscent of barbeque sauce, but light enough that it didn't overwhelm the sweetness of the meat. The sweet potato on the side could have been sweet overkill, but it was very simply prepared, just a bit smokey and salty. I happen to love roasted sweet potatoes when they are plain plain, so that was a treat for me. The beans were simple as well, basically warmed up a bit and still crunchy. Again, I'm a big fan of crunch in a cooked vegetable, so I was happy with that.
Judi and Kelly both went for the grilled buffalo flat iron steak served with provencal vegetables. The steak is served medium rare, perfect for any steak really, but especially good with such a lean cut. Dave had a dish of grilled eggplant, mozzarella, tomato, basil, and parmesan bread crumbs. It was served like a gratin, with a side of sauteed greens. He enjoyed it and I think it was a fine enough concession for a vegetarian brave enough to dine among carnivores.
The plating was not haphazard, but it wasn't fussy either. You know you were having a meal and not a series of precious little snacks. (I don't like the "a bunch of little snacks equal a meal" mentality, if that weren't obvious.)
The drinkers shared a bottle of very young red wine. I had a sip and thought it was nice enough, but very acidic. A glass of Italian merlot seemed a bit more mellow if syrupy. I had a San Pelligrino with dinner.
Desserts? Well, yes, but-- I remember reading once that, when it comes to dessert, there are two kinds of chefs. One will be enamored of dessert and will have all kinds of wonderful things to serve, rich and decadent. The other kind will be less enamored of dessert and will serve things like strawberries with balsamic vinegar and black pepper and call it dessert. I happen to love the rich, decadent desserts. Ms. James happens to be the strawberries and balsamic vinegar kind of chef. That is not to say that the effort was not there. But when I leave most of a hunk of cake (buttermilk bundt cake with cream cheese icing) on the plate? Well. The coffee was excellent.
If I had to sum up the strengths of the meal? We had a solid, tasty, well-cooked, and well-paced meal. The service was excellent. Everything on the starter and main plates was excellent. That's a winner of a meal right there.
The drawbacks? Well, we should have skipped dessert or opted for just coffee. As a non-drinker, I was not particularly happy with the non-alcohol choices. (I'm not a fan of flavored iced teas--blood orange iced tea was on offer--nor am I especially happy to pay out the nose for fizzy water, so that's on me.) But that's it.
And et cetera? Much thanks goes to Ms. James and associates for having no music in the dining room. Among us were two who have difficulty hearing and without music the conversation was much easier and nicer for them--and for all of us. Also, for the slight bit of trouble we had making a reservation for six for 6:30, I noticed that the dining room had several empty tables at that hour and didn't fill up until about eight p.m. Also, a 20% gratuity added on for parties of six is in the gray area of acceptability. I was happy to pay it because the service was excellent, but as a former server, I know it could have become a problem if the service had been anything but.
Dinner for six with wine for four was $427.07, gratuity included.
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