Craftbar

November 28th-

My whole family was in town over Thanksgiving and everyone voted to go out to dinner and leave the turkey behind for one night. (Ha!.......as if a family of foodies actually ate leftover turkey all weekend!) Anyway, my mom is a huge fan of Top Chef, so we decided to make reservations at one of Tom Colicchio's restaurants.......enter Craftbar.

Nathan and I had been there before, but I didn't have this blog up and running yet, so I guess, now is the time to include it.....plus I promised my sister in law I would. The restaurant is very spacious, and I do remember from last time that it was very dimly lit. That hasn't changed. We were all sitting around the table looking like a silly bunch of visually challenged people trying to use everything from the lights on our cell phones, to the candle at the table to try to find enough light to read the menu. I almost gave up and had my husband pick something for me. The dark room wouldn't have been a problem if the menu that was posted online was current. We had all given it a gander and had collectively agreed on a plan of action before we even arrived at the restaurant. There was a 30 day aged beef that we were going to get for the table to share, and spigarello (from the broccoli family) and cardoons (like artichokes) that no one had heard of before, and wanted to try. We were overconfident. That is where we went wrong. Of course, the whole time this was happening, I had a sinking suspicion that the menu would not be the same when we got there. It was just a little too easy. I was right. That aside, I do appreciate a changing menu that promotes seasonal, local ingredients and Chef C even included a list of the farms where he bought his. This I loved.

Eventually, we decifered the menu well enough to squeak out an order......for appetizers.....fried oysters with cucumber and old Bay aioli (my favorite thing to order), field mushroom bruschetta with fontina cheese and pecorino risotto balls with spicy tomato sauce. The oysters were too heavily battered for my taste, but the cucumbers that were ever so delicately pickled and the silky smooth aioli that accompanied the oysters were delish. The mushroom bruschetta was absolutely divine! I am not a big fan of bruschetta, because I find that when you order it, you are usually served a huge chunk of hard tasteless, boring bread with a tiny dollop of some kind of mediocre sauce on top. Chef C's was the exact opposite...... just enough bread to hold the earthy, delicious mushrooms and cheese that was dripping from each bite- yum! Kudos to my sister for picking that one! The risotto balls were also fantastic. They were so creamy on the inside.

For entrees, we ordered the Black-Angus hanger steak with baby shiitake mushroom, market onion and potato puree, the cavatelli Bolognese, the Colorado lamb shank with Swiss chard, chic pea fries and Nicoise olive, and the Pappardelle with rabbit, mustard greens and Picholine olives. I tasted and like all of it. The steak was well prepared. The potato puree was one of the best I've tried. The rabbit pasta was so full of flavor, and the lamb was falling off the bone. The Bolognese was probably my least favorite, but in all fairness, I don't think it stood a chance with all of the other more decadent dishes.

I liked Craftbar......but I would've liked it better if everyone had moaned with delight. Everyone seemed to like it, but I go for the moan.