It’s Holly

jonathan’s christmas present to me was taking me this restaurant i’ve been dying to go to.

so we went.

first:

[baby broccoli, pancetta, parmesan, soft egg, bread crumbs]
a great start to the night. the broccoli had a nice bite to it still, the crispy bits of pancetta were awesome. the egg made it for me, though. you know i’m an egg slut… such a sucker for a perfectly poached runny egg.

second:

[crispy hominy, lime]
think… individual kernels of corn, flash deep fried, seasoned with salt and a squeeze of lime on top. like, the best corn nuts you’ve ever had, ever. a little salty, but quite tasty.

third:

[pig ear, chili, lime, fried egg]
jonathan said it reminds him of that mexican candy lucas. it’s spicy and sour and salty and goodt. definitely the dish i was looking forward to the most, and it lived up to all the unrealistic expectations i set for it. the egg makes it.

fourth:

[ricotta & goat cheese gnocchi, bolognese]
some of the best gnocchi i’ve ever had. light, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth cheesy goodness. the meat sauce was also delightful.

[Note: at this point, i'm seriously seriously full. jonathan tells me to shut the fuck up, and to not mention the F word again. i take another swig of wine and hunker down.]

fifth:

[barbeque pork belly sandwiches, slaw ]
oh. my. god.
srsly.
it’s a big ass piece of super flavorful pork belly. you can’t be mad at that. ever.

sixth:

[foie gras, biscuit, maple sausage gravy]
i don’t know who thought of this, but they deserve a grammy award cause this mess was music to my tummy. i’ve never had foie gras prepared this way (i’ve had it as pate / mousse, but that’s about it). kind of amazing, but i couldn’t imagine eating that entire serving by myself. it’s ridiculously rich foie gras topped with ridiculously rich gravy on top of the best biscuit ever. the biscuit alone was amazing, then you’re gonna top it with foie gras and gravy? genius, i say. genius.

seventh:

[quail fry, grits, chard, slab bacon, maple jus]
you deep fried a quail. straight up.
the chard was honestly my favorite thing on the plate, right next to the grits – which weren’t really grits. more like… melted cheese barely held together by grits. i was too full to actually enjoy this, but i think if i weren’t overly stuffed with foie gras it would have been the best thing ever.

eighth:

[tres leches, dulce de leche]
i seriously don’t even know why this happened. i’ll blame peer pressure from the waitstaff. the lady refilled our water and said “the tres leches is awesome”. the waiter came back with the dessert menu and said “i love the tres leches.” so, jonathan said “we’ll take the tres leches”. and yes, it was quite tasty. if i weren’t so ridiculously full, i probably would have devoured it. instead, jonathan did.

Overall, an amazing 2 1/2 hour dining experience. The staff was friendly and helpful with recommendations. The atmosphere was low-key, the wine was good, and the food was served hot (you know how i am about my hot food). i’d definitely go back, but next time we won’t order like, the entire menu. maybe. i make no promises.

thank you, jono! you won “who gave the better present” this year, which really, is a win for me.