07/25/11

I have a new crush... and it's Christopher's Restaurant's pizza!  

I've been holding onto a restaurant.com gift certificate I'd purchased to use at Crush Lounge for a long time now and decided it was time to use it.  I arrived w/ high expectations, of both the ambience and the food, and I wasn't disappointed... much.  The service was a bit spotty at times- we were immediately greeted when we entered and were seated quickly, but the wait that came after water delivery was a bit long at a time when there were no other guests seated around us.  (Perhaps there were other guests seated elsewhere, but they weren't seated at the lounge, at the food bar, nor outside... Indeed, it seemed like were were the only ones in the room, besides the cooks at the open kitchen area, the servers, and the bartenders.)  Bread was delivered, but we were each given only one one-inch slice of a baguette.  How strange, especially when the butter cup held enough butter to spread over a whole loaf!  Whatever...  Two of the three dinner specials were relayed to us, w/ the promise of coming back to tell me about the scallop dish, but when our server finally came back ten or so minutes later, he asked if we were ready to order, so I had to remind him about the scallop entree... What was in it, and how was it prepared, and how much?  Hmmm, maybe he was ready to go home...

Came in w/ Mom, so we had to try the calamari.  I also chose the Duck confit, goat cheese, and fig pizza.  For dessert, we had the profiteroles.  I really liked the calamari's coating-- lightly battered and fried golden-brown.  My fave pieces of the squid are also my Mom's fave, the tentacles, so these were soon finished.  At least half of the remaining pieces, the sliced bodies, were undercooked-- poor value for the $12 menu price tag (and I was charged $13 on the ticket).  The pizza* was TERRIFIC!  Loved the semolina thin crust, and the duck confit gave the entree a great smoky flavor-- I thought perhaps there were lardons included in this dish too, but all the smokiness came from the duck.  Mmmm.... The goat cheese was very creamy, and there were lovely chopped figs all over the place-- I'd order this pizza again in a heartbeat!  The profiteroles were fantastic, as well.  Three sliced choux pastry rounds, filled w/ dark chocolate sorbet, vanilla, and chocolate ice cream, sat on a pretty display made of chocolate ganache and creme anglaise, whole blackberries and blueberries, and a sliced strawberry.  More ganache was poured over the top of one profiterole upon presentation.  I asked if I could have more ganache, and our server quickly obliged-- thank you!!  We loved the crisped flakiness of the pastry (so perfect!), and out of the three flavors, we liked the fudgy dark chocolate sorbet the most.  I tell you, if I could've licked the plate clean, I would have.  :)  Excellent dessert-- I totally recommend!

(*Pizza reheats well!  Still lovely in flavor and just as crispy as it was when it was first delivered.  Can't wait to go back and try the other varieties!  Happy hour UYE, anyone?)