Restaurant Week Synopsis

I went to 3 restaurant week meals! Count em'! Anyways, there's the lowdown:

1. Pigalle: (A-) Very nice ambiance, absolutely love the decor (mod blue and brown combo) and the service was excellent. What was impressive was the extensive selections they had for a restaurant week menu when all the other joints in town were only offering up one or two meager choices. For appetizer, I had pan-seared duck liver on risotto...yum. Although I've had much better mouth-watering foie-gras, it was not bad. My entree was a nice mushroom risotto with all sorts of mushrooms -- chanterelle, oyster, cremini, portobello, shitake (if it's a shroom, it was in my dish). My only complaint is that the risotto was a bit stiff and hard. Maybe I'm just not a fan of risotto. Dessert was an ice cream sundae which they innovated on by crumbling bits of sugar cone all over it instead of using nuts. It took a while to figure out what the heck it was but pretty ingenious if you ask me! Overall, this is definitely a place I'd return to! Plus I had requested a booth and they gave it to us, even though we only had two people! It was a luxurious and rewarding meal after a hard day's work of shopping!
2. Avila: (A-) This is the new modern Mediterreanean restaurant in that building across from Finale's, a former parking lot that they've since built into luxury condos. I worked across the street from this construction site for 5 years and it took that long to finish it. Well, this restaurant was an exact carbon copy of Davio's - since it's owned by the same people. However, the light wood paneling and multi-colored pattern on the chairs just really did not appeal to me. I felt like I was in some hotel restaurant where they serve breakfast buffets instead of sitting in a fine dining establishment. BUT, the waiters were ultra-attentive and the food was delicious. Chef's compliments included 2 bowls of gazpacho - I think they thought we hadn't gotten it and gave us eah another bowl. Appetizer was a divine octopus dish made with hot peppers, olives, and chili oil in a red sauce that you just want to keep sopping up with bread. The entree was either a lamb souvlaki or a scallop and crab paella. The lamb was seared just right although I like mine more on the rare side. The paella was way too stiff and undercooked and frankly, a bit tasteless. Dessert was a smash though, it was a trio of flan, chocolate torte, and raspberry cream puff. Yum! All in all, probably the best restaurant week meal we had.
3. Excelsior: (B+) This is one of those chic hangouts where pretty people like to be seen. However, since it was restaurant week, there were lots of young people and college types. We didn't like the service as much here, or the ambiance, which was just kinda loud and crowded. The appetizer made up for everything though! It was a seared duck cobb salad. Generous slices of duck breast on top of greens with gorgonzola, avocados, and carmelized onions. The entrees they had included a veal schnitzel or a scallop and crabmeat pasta carbonara. The pasta was good except mine was a bit too creamy. The schnitzel was way oily and quite a disappointment. Dessert was this blueberry shortcake that was not as tastey as advertised. The bread basket and the duck salad I think, made up for all.

Till next year!