We went to this restaurant to celebrate Keith's parents' 70th birthdays. Upon arrival, the rustic inn had charm and I was surprised by the casual attire of the staff - all in jeans and plaid shirts. The menu was pretty simple with quality ingredients, but nothing too elevated. For an initial drink, I ordered a bottle of Prosecco, Tullia Spumante NV from Veneto, Italy for us all to share. The bubbles were delicate and a nice way to open the palate. Afterwards, to go with our main meal we chose the Pinot Noir, Chapter 24 JG Cuvee 2020 from Willamette Valley, OR. It was a decent medium red wine that paired well with all the dishes we ordered.
We ordered a few starters to share. The Fluke Tartare with shiso, cucumber, and plum sesame was bright and interesting. I loved the crunch from the cucumber.
The group really liked the Broccoli Dip with Everything Pita and the Tuna Tartare with avocado, radish, and ginger soy marinade. Again, the freshness of the ingredients really shined through in each dish.
The Crispy Calamari had a little kick from the citrus-chili emulsion. The squid itself was tender and lightly breaded.
Another sleeper was the Octopus à la Plancha with green olive-citrus dressing, capers, mint and arugula. The char flavor from the grill really came forward and the Mediterranean flavors from the olives were just lovely.
For my main course, I opted for the Parmesan Crusted Organic Chicken served with white asparagus in a lemon basil sauce. The white breast meat was thick and huge. It was cooked perfectly, however the texture in the middle was too "fleshy" for my liking. The asparagus were more flimsy than I would have preferred, but the lemon sauce was divine!
Keith enjoyed the Swordfish Milanese with grilled lettuce hearts and brown butter. The meaty fish had great flavor. As a side dish, we also ordered the Roasted King Oyster Mushrooms. These, too, had a spicy kick from the jalapeño but were a nice side dish addition.
Lastly for dessert, we all shared the Molten Chocolate Cake with vanilla bean ice cream (basic), Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting (delicious), and the Puff Pastry Rhubarb Tart with marzipan ice cream (delightful!).
All in all we had a very nice dinner together to celebrate my in-laws. Service was great and the food tasted wonderful. It was a little on the pricey side and lacking creativity, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Total Rating: 3.85
Food: 4, Price: 3, Service: 4.5, Ambience: 4, Accessibility: 4
