On Sunday Craig and I celebrated 4 years since we went on our first date. We went to a really fun play, Paris by Night, at the Trinity Repertory in Providence, and then to dinner at Gracie's. Our second time there, and I can't say enough good things about the place. I could not bring myself to take any pictures there in the restaurant, but I will do my best to describe.
Knowing it was our anniversary (she asked when I made the reservation), the hostess gave us a secluded booth at the rear of the restaurant, with menus that had a special page reading "Happy Anniversary" in the front. Our waiter brought us a complimentary aperitif of sparkling wine while we looked at the menu. I had basically memorized it from the website already, and I was disappointed to see the buffalo tartare had been removed as a first--the waiter explained that it just wasn't being ordered so they had to pull it.
So what did Megan eat??? We were brought an amuse bouche of a cold melon soup that was sweet and just a tiny bit spicy, with a dab of creme fraiche. The waiter then appeared with a gift from the chefs, who had heard I was disappointed about the buffalo. It was a small portion of beef tartare with white truffle oil and some beautiful parmesan shaved on top. The single most amazing thing I've ever eaten. The meat was so tender and soft and the aroma of the cheese and the truffle oil just filled up my mouth and nose. I was so happy, I could have stopped then but I'm glad I didn't.
We ordered a half-bottle of Champagne, a Duval-Leroy Rose, to begin. For his first course, Craig chose the agnolotti with favas and morels. I'm a big fan of anything involving favas that someone else prepared, and this was really good. The morels were sliced thinly, which makes sense given their price, but I was a little disappointed because I think they're so cool-looking. The flavor was definitely there, however. I had previously obtained permission from my husband to order two firsts (I SHARED), because I really wanted the foie gras, but I've never had pork belly and it seems to be all the chefly rage. Now that I've tried it, I'm not sure why, though. It was good, with a yuzu-miso glaze and served with edamame and threads of pickled cucumber and honeydew, but I'm just not sure what the fuss is about. The foie gras, on the other hand! I love foie gras when it's done right (and it's the grossest thing ever when it's done wrong), and they did it right. It was crisp on the outside and just melted on the tongue. That was served with a blueberry lemon verbena reduction and a tiny croissant. We also enjoyed the house-made breads, rosemary onion foccacia and beer bread made with Murphy's Irish Stout--Craig said he could taste the beer, I couldn't but I still thought the bread was super.
We chose Rosenblum Cellar's 2004 Carla's Zinfandel to accompany our entrees. Craig surprised me by not ordering the scallops for his. Perhaps the scallops he'd cooked on Friday were so delicious he rightly worried Gracie's would pale by comparision; at any rate, he ordered the lamb. I didn't want to get the same thing, so I went for the other baby animal on the menu. My veal came "two ways"--as far as I can tell that means plated with two different sauces. Beautifully plated, by the way, I have a lot to learn in that department. I had three small tournedos (if you can say that with veal), each wrapped in bacon and plated carefully atop the two sauces, a carrot emulsion and a brown sauce. They were accompanied by sweet peas and baby carrots and sweetbreads, which I'd never had before. It was all good, not spectacular, but very good. The sweetbreads didn't really taste like much of anything, although they were beautifully fried and had a nice delicate texture that offset the meat well. Craig's lamb was out of this world. It was cooked medium-rare and served with fiddleheads, morels, "spring onion rings," and a minted lamb jus. The onion rings were also well-fried and felt just perfect in my mouth with the incredibly tender lamb, and the fiddleheads were so tiny and so delicious in the jus.
To cleanse our palates, we were brought a bite of lemon sorbet, then another gift from the chefs, shortbread served with tiny mugs of chocolate-Chambord sabayon. After that, Craig thought we couldn't manage another bite, but I really really wanted to finish with a cheese plate. They get all their cheeses from Farmstead in Providence. At this point in the evening, I really should have taken notes if I wanted to remember anything, but here's my best attempt. The first cheese, and my favorite, was a very mild and subtly flavored soft thimble from Shy's Farm in Westport, MA, called Hannahbells, accompanied by apple butter. You have to take your time and bother to taste this cheese, but it's worth it, I think. The next two were less memorable--sorry! Both hard cheeses, served with complimentary condiments. The last one, the blue, was Craig's favorite, natch. Cashel Blue, served with raw honeycomb (which is WAY better than cheese served with regular honey, I think), quite creamy and fairly mild, for a blue.
And then the ball ended and we got into our pumpkin and went home. I really recommend Gracie's, the food is excellent, the staff is pleasant and very professional, and they've figured out that a little attention paid to special occasions makes them feel even more special.
Websites
Gracie's: www.graciesprov.com
Farmstead: www.farmsteadinc.com
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