Tag Archives: Restaurant Week

First Tine Eating Here, but Second Tine Is a Charm

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Mark T

Update: Even though this post was very negative of Knife and Tine in Chicago during Restaurant Week, we were treated to a comped meal courtesy of the management. With this free money, we spent it very well given that their menu had plenty of great options compared to the Restaurant Week offerings. While the food from our first visit was either bland or super salty, the food this time around was great all around since they weren’t under the gun to throw out tons of food all at once. We started the meal with a free plate of their biscuit bread. It was crumbly on the outside and soft and warm on the inside. Plus, the giardiniera butter spread was a spicy cherry on the cake. Moving on to the main course, I got the bone in pork chop ($24) that was succulent and served on top of a bed of farro or an Italian wheat that tasted like fried rice with sprigs of green onion mixed in. My girlfriend ended up getting the dry roasted mussels ($12). I’m not a huge seafood person, but after trying one, they weren’t too bad compared to the more snot-like oysters. My girlfriend said that they were absolutely wonderful especially with the fennel infused salsa verde. Overall, it was a pleasant time, and I recommend a visit if you have a chance.

Welcome one and all to Mastication Monologues where I review restaurants and bring you some of my food adventures throughout Chicago and the rest of the world! This post is the final installation of Chicago Restaurant Week, and sadly it doesn’t live up to other great days that were filled with spicy plates and savory treasures. Today’s review deals with the brand new eatery Knife and Tine that opened in 2014 in the chic Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago.

The outside of the restaurant was modern and clean with flagstone from corner to corner, and the inside was like most modern American gastropubs: dimly lit and dark accents. Upon sitting down, we were supplied with our Restaurant Week menus. It was like most other restaurants that allowed for diners to try a three course meal for the low low price of $33 dollars, but Knife and Tine also had a $44 souped up menu that had more decadent options. The complimentary bread that started it all off wasn’t decadent. The pimento cheese spread that came on the side was a bit too salty for my liking, but it was slightly spicy that salvaged my taste buds. To start, we got an order of the spoon bread and the pear salad. The former actually didn’t involve any bread, rather fried pieces of whipped cornmeal. This staple of Southern US cooking left much to be desired on their own. They were quite bland, and the batter had no character whatsoever. They came with a hot sauce bacon aioli (dipping sauce) that might as well have been called “cream of salt with a dash of bacon”. On the other hand, the pear salad was light, refreshing, and balanced in terms of the earthy baby arugula, sweet pear slices, and salty Parmesan flakes that were liberally strewn about the salad. Then there were the arancini which are a Sicilian dish allegedly being invented in the 10th Century A.D. during Arab rule. As for the name, it comes from the Sicilian word “arancine” meaning orange since these fried rice balls are shaped like their fruit namesakes. It was fried like the spoon bread, yet a lot more flavorful than the cornmeal stuffed bites. Unfortunately, it was a matter of quantity over quality in terms of tastes as the pimento cheese and cheddar took over this plate, and even then it was more salty than savory. As we moved from snacks to the main entrees, I tucked into my chicken and dumplings platter. It looked ok, and when I had my first bite, it was a let down. While the crispy skin gave the chicken a satisfying crunch, the meat was greasy, and the ricotta dumplings were bland and semi-soggy soaking up the au-jus. As for Janice’s beef cheeks, I actually preferred the brussel sprout salad that had a tangy vinaigrette over the over roasted meat. I’m sure if you really like pot roast or other really stewed meats, this would be the dish for you. It’s not quite my cup of tea. The bone marrow bread pudding (on the left below) was confusing since I felt like the bread part overshadowed the spreadable goodness that is bone marrow. It was a case of gilding the beef cheek in this case. I was extremely impressed with the desserts, and this isn’t just my sweet tooth talking. The denouement of our dinner took the form of coconut lime panna cotta and a super brownie. The panna cotta (Italian for “cooked cream”) was coated with a blueberry coulis or thick sauce and topped with sesame tuiles (French for “tiles”) or a wafer of sorts and candied ginger.
This Italian version of flan was also infused with a bit of coconut and lime juice with gave it an interesting tropical feel. My favorite part were the toppings like the crispy sesame bits that brought a savory side to a sweet dessert and counteracted the sweeter pieces of ginger. As for the super brownie, I might as well have slapped an “S” on it and called it, “my hero”! It consisted of a blondie brownie buried under more brownie bites, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and candied walnuts. On top of this avalanche of chocotastic flavors and crunchy walnuts, it was slightly warm that left me in a food coma and drifting off to dreamland.

While many diners have raved about Knife and Tine on Yelp and Urbanspoon, I honestly don’t know if we were eating at the same place. Based on my experience and Amy Cavanaugh of Time Out Chicago’s, don’t go to Knife and Tine unless you like overpriced and salty food.

One In A Milion

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Mark T

Hola and Namaste to a new Mastication Monologues post! I got to apologize for the lack of consistent posts due to a new full time job that has been quite time consuming, but I promise that today’s entry will be all killer and no filler in the form of a great Latin fusion eatery in Chicago known as Vermilion.

Fusion in food is as common as the intermingling of cultures. For example, America is a nation of immigrants, and our food reflects that concept of culinary cross-pollination. Even traditional barbecue draws elements from Spanish, African, and Native American cooking traditions. However, Vermilion focuses on a menu based on mixing Indian and Latin American cuisine. What that means is that the super savory and aromatic Indian dishes get a spicy south of the border kick many are familiar with in Mexican cooking, but that is only part of the picture. Janice and I went for our second to last reservation during Restaurant Week, and it was on a Sunday night after a delicious lunch at Demera. The interior was super hip and sleek with a black, red, and white motif. We were quickly seated in the dining room as a blend of Spanish pop and Bollywood hits bounced out of the speakers overhead. I would also recommend dressing up a bit since Vermilion is a bit more upscale than most Latin and Indian restaurants. We both went with the $33 restaurant week dinner which consisted of a standard three course meal with an appetizer, entree, and dessert. However, our waiter surprised us with a free, little taster plate with a chef’s creation. These petite squares that we were face to face with was a fried plantain chip topped with mango pico de gallo and resting on a sweet, brown tamarind chutney. It was a mini t-bomb (taste bomb) of flavor where the sweet backbone of the canape was supported by the chutney, mango, and plantain, but was then tempered by the sour lime juice and semi-savory aftertaste of the fried plantain. As for the appetizer stage of our meal, I went with a Bombay frankie and Janice got the pumpkin squash curry leaf soup. The frankie was great. It is one of India’s favorite street food snacks, and I can see why. It consisted of a fried flatbread known as a roti that was then filled with chunks of chicken coated in Indian spices like cardamom and curry, but the best part was the shot glass of mint curry on the side. It wasn’t toothpaste minty, but it gave the spicy sauce a cool aftertaste. Janice’s squash soup was just as delicious. It came with an Indian cracker on the side known as a pappad or papadum depending on where you’re at in India. The soup was extremely creamy and rich with a pepper infused oil that gave each curry-filled spoonful a mild kick. These bold flavors warmed us up for our entrees that came soon thereafter. I got the Brazilian feijoada which I was pretty excited to try since it is considered to be the national dish of the South American nation. Contrary to popular preparation which utilizes black beans and a dark, purplish-brown broth which is a mix of the aforementioned beans and various meats stewing in the dish, Vermilion’s take on it was a mix of Indian and Latin flavors. First, the color of the stew was a vibrant red that contained a mound of white rice and a rice cracker in the middle that acted like a nacho with taco dip. As for the rice, it was an element more in touch with its Brazilian roots, but I didn’t see any traditional farofa (manioc flour roasted with butter and bacon) on the side which made me quite sad. As for the contents of the actual dish, there were red beans (supposedly black beans according to the menu), large chunks of succulent chicken, and hunks of spicy Portuguese chorizo sausage. Not only was the meat spicy, but the actual stew had an Indian vindaloo flavor to it which means that it was super spicy with a smoky background. This fiery quality was also a sign of Indian/Latin fusion since a typical Brazilian feijoada isn’t spicy. Even though it wasn’t the most traditional dish, it was innovative, warm, and hearty. Perfect for a cold day like it was when we went. Janice didn’t go down the super spicy route and got the heart of palm Valencia paella. It consisted of large rings of the pulp found in the middle of palm trees, curried Indian rice, and a bit of orange zest. Neither of us found it to be as interesting as the feijoada since it just tasted like curry. However, our meal got more interesting in the wrong way since we found a hair in Janice’s paella. Thankfully, they replaced it for free with a dish of her choice, so she got the feijoada as well. It got even better when our desserts came. I got the mango cardamom flan which was out of this world. The flan had the perfect firm yet gooey texture and was infused with cardamom. It was soaking in a mango escabeche (a word originally from the Persian “al-sikbaj” meaning a meat dish soaking in a sweet and sour sauce) or syrup which imparted an incredibly but not overwhelming sweetness to a mostly neutral tasting dessert. The coconut foam on top tied this entire dish together perfectly since it was both light and sweet. If you wanted to cleanse your palate after all that sweet flan and heavenly foam, you could follow the trail of pitted, juicy lychees covering mini mounds of cranberries to the end of the plate. I jumped from one plate to another to get a taste of Janice’s date chocolate rice pudding that had a little bit of cinnamon and clove to add a savory yin to the semi-sweet yang with the date chocolate. I never was a big fan of rice pudding though, so it didn’t capture my imagination as much as our final dessert. Since Janice didn’t make a big deal about finding the hair in her food, our waiter brought out the most popular dessert to our table for free. It was a flourless chocolate lava cake that was covered in a subtly spicy dark chocolate mole sauce…words can’t describe how satisfying and incredibly rich this dessert was. It was further embellished with an undulating raspberry syrup trail that led to a creamy, small ball of vanilla bean and coconut ice cream that rested on some fresh sliced strawberries. These desserts were by far the best part of the entire meal, and the service was superb.

So, even though things got a little hairy midway through the dinner, Vermilion managed to win us over with its creative food (especially the desserts!) and great service. I highly recommend this restaurant if you are tired of the same old ethnic eateries.

5 Comments

Posted in Indian, Latin American Cuisine, Southeast/Southern Asia Cuisine and tagged Brazil, cardamom, Chicago, chocolate, coconut, curry, dessert, fusion, Indian, latin, mango, paella, pudding, Restaurant Week, rice. Bookmark the permalink.

All Fired Up For Demera

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Mark T

Hello and sorry everyone for the lull on Mastication Monologues, but I’m back with a fresh new post that is part of Restaurant Week that is now over in Chicago. For those of you who don’t know, Restaurant Week in Chicago is a multiple week event where a multitude of eateries throughout Chicago open their doors to everyone with great deals. In this post, I’d like to tell you a little bit about Demera, one of Chicago’s premier Ethiopian/Eritrean diner.

Janice and I went there for their lunch special, and the inside was brightly lit and bumping with some funky Ethiopian jamz. We were quickly seated, and we had some trepidation with what to pick since everything sounded so delicious. I started the meal off with a St. George Beer to drink. Ethiopia is interesting enough since it is a mainly Christian society surrounded by Muslim nations, and some go on to even speculate that the Ethiopian people are descendants of one of the 12 lost tribes of Israel. The name of the place, Demera, is the term in Amharic for the ceremonial bonfire used in the Ethiopian Christian version of Ash Wednesday, and we had a similar religious experience with the food. However, the St. George Beer wasn’t very noteworthy since its neutral flavor and watery consistency left me hoping for the second coming of my food savior to resurrect my taste buds from the bland rapture. Luckily, the beef sambussas and timatim selata did just that. First, there were the beef sambussas that I could liken to a lighter version of empanadas. The dough was less pie-like and more flaky and light like Greek philo dough. The meat was spiced and amped up in terms of flavor with the spicy yet sweet yet dangerously addicting awaze sauce. We also got an order of the timatim selata which I likened to an Ethiopian version of pico de gallo. It consisted of tomatoes, onions, and jalapeno pepper slices all coated in a lime vinaigrette. It was tangy and flavorful and was handily consumed (pun intended) with the ubiquitous Ethiopian flatbread known as injera. While flatbreads can be found around the world in cultures that eat with their hands like naan in India or pita in Greece, injera is super unique in the sense that it is spongy with a slightly sour taste compared to its more doughy brethren. Thankfully, it had plenty of nooks and crannies to soak up all of the lime juice but was also strong enough to enclose the large slices of tomato. After polishing off that flavorful and refreshing appetizer, we got our main entree. Traditional Ethiopian cuisine focuses on family style dining where everyone eats from the same plate. On our plate, we got the ye-beg alicha (mild lamb cubes), doro wat (chicken in a mild sauce with ayib cheese), ye-misir wot (split red lentils in spicy berbere sauce), and gomen (chopped collard greens). With the spicy lamb, it was a great mix of spice and the slightly gamey taste that comes with lamb. The doro wat chicken wasn’t as bold as the lamb, but the ayib cheese was like an African queso fresco that gave this savory part of the meal a cool and semi-salty twist. I really enjoyed the split red lentils because they were super spicy, but I was mixed on the collard greens. On the one hand, I enjoyed the earthy, spinach tones, but the ginger notes kind of left me cold on this hot entree. Surprisingly, we had a bit of room for dessert, but we could only get the missionary delight, a basic vanilla sundae, because they apparently didn’t have enough ingredients for the dessert we wanted, the sambussa turnovers. Super normal for a restaurant that serves food that isn’t on many peoples’ radars, but thankfully, our waitress told us that we could get the dessert we originally wanted, the turnovers. What they consisted of were sweet versions of the savory sambussas we had earlier in the meal. It was the same flaky dough, but instead of beef, there was a melange of walnuts, cardamom, walnuts, saffron, and rose water. It reminded me of a honey-less baklava with an almost flowery aftertaste compliments of the rosewater. The strawberry sauce was a bit too much of guilding the rose for me which made me prefer the savory version of these handheld treats. At the end of the meal, we were absolutely stuffed but greatly pleased with Demera’s food selection.

So if you’re tired of the same old restaurants serving foods you’ve heard of before, check out a red-hot slice of Ethiopia at Demera.

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Posted in African Cuisine, Alcoholic, Beer, Beverages, Ethiopian, Ethiopian and tagged Beer, Chicago, chicken, collard greens, dessert, Ethiopia, flatbread, injera, lamb, lentils, onions, Restaurant Week. Bookmark the permalink.

You’ll Love Olive This Food

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Mark T

Welcome one and all to another mouth-watering entry on Mastication Monologues! This is part three of my Restaurant Week series in Chicago where a plethora of eateries open their doors to the public with great deals for some of the best food in the city, country, and perhaps the world. Fig and Olive in the fancy Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago manages to bring the best of the entire Mediterranean region to the Midwest.

It was a fancy eatery to begin with, so I highly suggest you get on your Sunday best as we did on a Friday night. This place was so fancy we had to take an elevator up to the main dining room. Once we arrived, we were greeted to the strains of light jazz and sumptuous surroundings in the form of long cloth couches in a lounge area. However, we were led to our seat in the mainly glass and metal lined dining room with the creative bar that had trees growing out of the middle of the drink shelves. Nothing like admiring a little greenery while spending some. When we sat down, our friendly waiter greeted us with the drink menu. I ordered a glass of cabernet sauvignon- tenuta mazzolino from Italy. It was a bold wine that had hints of smoke and blackberries. While we were sipping on our wines, we got a complimentary olive oil flight with small cubes of rosemary foccacia. The three cups were filled with an Italian extra virgin representative, a buttery Spanish olive oil, and a bold Greek olive oil that was a bit spicy. The Italian option was good but not great. The Spanish oil was extremely rich when the warm nooks and crannies of the foccacia soaked up the golden nectar. As for the Greek entry, it slowly grew on me as the most palate engaging of the trio. After that little appetizer, we ordered off the Restaurant Week menu which was $33 plus $10 for our crostini tasting which was recommended by a ton of people on Yelp. This was 10 bucks well spent. We got six of the chef’s choice, and when they came out, they looked amazing. The most interesting thing about them was that it wasn’t as crumbly and stiff as typical crostini, but rather crusty yet soft. First, there was the burrata, tomato, pesto, and balsamic vinaigrette. It was in my top three as it was like a caprese salad on a fresh piece of bread. Burrata is a softer than normal fresh mozzarella that also is a bit softer than a buffalo mozzarella. It might not be for everyone with its goopy texture, but I couldn’t help myself. Then there was the grilled vegetable crostini with the ricotta olive tapenade. This crostino didn’t leave me with any sort of positive or negative impression. It just tasted like a lot of olives yet not really. Thankfully, I followed it up with a lovely manchego cheese, fig spread, and topped with a marcona almond. This was also in my top three crostini since it was the perfect mix of the buttery and slightly salty manchego, crunchy almond, and sweet fig jam. The mushroom crostino was in the same category as the grilled vegetable crostino, i.e. a less flavorful mix of greens with a healthy dose of Parmesan cheese. Next up were the two seafood entries with shrimp and crab.

Crab

and ze shrimp

If I had to pick one, I’d go with the shrimp as being the lesser of two evils since I’m not a huge fish/crustacean fan (sorry, Aquaman). Both were served cold which didn’t help, but while the crab just tasted like sweet, cold, flaky meat with a hint of avocado, the shrimp had a bit more body to it and a nice cilantro zing. While we couldn’t choose the crostini, the table next to us ended up getting a sample of the one crostini I was hoping to get but didn’t. It was the pata negra, tomato, peach, Parmesan cheese, and ricotta cheese. I couldn’t believe our waiter brought it out to them because I was just telling Janice why the pata negra was the best crostini on the menu. First off, the name “pata negra” literally means “black hoof” in Spanish due to the color of the pigs from which this ham originates. Then there is the price of this precious commodity is anywhere from $52 to $95 per pound. Why is it so expensive? The reason why is because they are a specific type of black pig that roams southern and southwestern Spain and is raised to roam throughout the oak forests between Spain and Portugal. They then eat the acorns that fall which then produces a peppery flavor in the meat with a good ratio between the fat and deep red meat. It took me back to my time living in Spain where I couldn’t turn around without being smacked in the face with one of the large slabs of pork hanging from the ceiling. Fast forward to that night at Fig and Olive, and I asked our waiter if we could try one of the ham crostino for free. He obliged and was amazed that someone actually knew what this ham was. It was my number one crostino hooves down. The crimson ham, salty cheese, and fresh tomato made it an appetizer I wouldn’t soon forget. Then the appetizers came out off of the Restaurant Week menu. Janice got the octopus a la gallega or Galician octopus which was the best I ever tasted. Even though I’ve been to the emerald green, northwestern province of Spain to taste where this octopus comes from, the thinly sliced tentacles at Fig and Olive bested the Iberian version. I loved the spicy and sour lemon vinaigrette combined with the melt in your mouth texture of the tentacle laden creature. As for me, I got the fig and olive salad. It was delicious but not as unique as the octopus dish. It was a melange of almost every variety of taste around. There were sweet elements like the fig vinaigrette and apple pieces, salty manchego pieces, earthy greens, and crunchy walnuts. The food train didn’t stop there. We still had our entrees to take down. Janice ended up getting the Mediterranean branzino or European sea bass in English. It looked good, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I’m sure fish lovers would be bowled over by it though. The only downside was that Janice said the plate overall was a bit one dimensional with a bland mashed potato side. In comparison, I got the Fig and Olive tajine. Now, Fig and Olive labels itself as an eatery serving the best of Italy, Spain, and southern France. However, what they didn’t mention was that they serve North African food since diners would most likely be a bit hesitant to try something from Africa, and might not be seen as sexy as the three aforementioned cuisines. Two good reasons why I chose it over all of the other entrees. Tajine (in Arabic طاجين‎) originates from Morocco but can be found also in Tunisia and Libya. It is traditionally stewed in a clay pot that tapers at the top to promote the return of condensation to the bottom of the vessel. This technique definitely came in handy in the hot and arid climate of the former Barbary States. As for what tajine actually is, it’s basically a North African stew of figs, olives, carrots, tomatoes, and onions. At Fig and Olive, they don’t serve it in a clay pot, just a regular bowl, but that didn’t take away from the amazing flavors. On the side, I got a bowl of couscous to mix in with the stew along with a bit of cilantro sauce and harissa (هريسة‎), known as “the national condiment of Tunisia”, mixed with some Spanish Hojiblanca olive oil.

Yellow couscous, green cilantro sauce, red harissa, and fresh almond slivers

I found the couscous a negligible carb element in the stew since it didn’t stand a chance going up against the giant vegetables and chunks of spicy chicken (beware of the bones). However, I did like the harissa since it was a mix of chili peppers, garlic and coriander and managed to nudge itself above the intense flavors found in the dish. By the end of our main course, we were stuffed and couldn’t think we could eat anymore, but au contraire! We got both of the Restaurant Week desserts. The dessert crostini wasn’t like their more savory brethren. It was basically a cookie topped with candied cherries and a smooth and sweet mascarpone cheese. I preferred the chocolate pot de creme which was like a fancy chocolate and vanilla mousse cup with a crunchy praline cookie on the side. It was even better when I crunched the cookie up and mixed it into the decadent cream.

We left the restaurant with some trepidation due to the crush of people by the elevator upstairs and door downstairs and because we were so stuffed with delicious food. Although it might not be the cheapest place for Mediterranean food, you can get high quality dishes for half the price in a modern and classy environment.

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Posted in African Cuisine, European Cuisine, French, Italian, Moroccan, Spanish and tagged bread, carrots, cheese, Chicago, chocolate, cream, crostini, Fig and Olive, Mediterranean, Morocco, mushrooms, olive oil, olives, Restaurant Week. Bookmark the permalink.

A Capital Idea!

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Mark T

Welcome one and all to part deux of Restaurant Week on Mastication Monologues! If you’re not sure what Restaurant Week is in Chicago, then I highly recommend reading my first post at Hub 51. Today’s post is somewhat in the similar but even classier vein of high end dining for low low prices. While I’m all about trying new and exotic foods, my meal at Capital Grille in Chicago was classic steakhouse dining at its finest. While it’s not one of the old stalwarts of steak in the home of the dearly departed Union stockyards, I really enjoyed my experience at this establishment.

While walking to Capital Grille, I saw that they had valet parking which is a great deal in a part of down that isn’t known for cheap/free parking. The outside was just a hint of the regal interior inside that had all the pomp of a classic steakhouse down to the dark wood bar and portraits of random white guys sporting some facial hair that would make any modern day hipster proud. Capital Grille even has personal wine kiosks for clients who are willing to pony up the cash for their pinot noir, but the coolest thing I thought was that they even had a cabinet for wine for what seemed to be for anyone who is or has served in the armed forces. I was quickly led to the table for our guys night out that quickly became a double date plus two dudes. Still, it was a good time had for all as we kicked off the dinner with some drinks. I got a glass of the Jameson 12 year Reserve. This drink was smoother than James Bond and Ron Burgundy in a velvet room. It was the perfect compliment to the free bread basket that was filled to the brim with crisp flatbreads, warm slices of black rye bread, and rock hard rolls (not a fan, personally). So, since it was Restaurant Week, I went with the accompanying $33 menu which was a bargain for a three course meal. For my first course, I went with the wedge with blue cheese and applewood smoked bacon. Initially, I had to ask the waitress what a “wedge” was since I was curious what this wedge consisted of, and she sarcastically answered that it was a type of salad. When it came out, it all made sense. Looking at it, it seemed like the laziest salad ever created. It literally was a quarter of a head of lettuce with dressing and bacon pieces adorning it and sliced tomatoes placed at the foot of this odd looking dish. So, I proceeded to sliced the lettuce piece to bite-sized pieces along with mixing it up with the extremely decadent ranch, blue cheese chunks, and bacon. It was the Paula Dean of salads given how fattening it was yet oh so tasty with the tangy dressing mixing with the salty bacon and pungent blue cheese. It was only a prelude to the epic entree that came out soon thereafter in the form of the 14 oz. bone-in, dry aged sirloin steak along with a side of mashed potatoes and french beans with heirloom tomatoes. Funnily enough, the girls at the table got the smaller, 8 oz. filet mignon, but that didn’t take away from its quality. When I dug into the sirloin, it was heaven in meat form. I got it medium rare which meant that it still was a bit bloody but well done enough to keep in all of the juicy flavors. It was superbly succulent, and a generously sized piece of steak for the price. The sides were equally exquisite. The mashed potatoes were creamy and buttery, and the beans were neither too firm nor too soft. Then there were the desserts…lord, the desserts. First, I got the flourless chocolate espresso cake. It was like a slice of fudge that wasn’t as sugary and not as crumb based as a typical slice of cake. This texture combined with the intense dark chocolate flavor with coffee hints in each forkful made it hard to beat, and the raspberry sauce was the icing on a cake without equal. My other dining companions tried the creme brulee which looked lip-smacking good, but sadly I didn’t get to try it. However, based on their gleaming white bowls at the end of the dessert course, I could only assume they liked it!