Omar wanted to go out to dinner on his birthday. We went through the long list of restaurants we like to visit and landed on the Brewery, as per my previous post, I am on a new “wellness journey” and the Brewery’s website listed a large tossed salad that had all the ingredients I could eat. Early on in this journey of mine really limited my food to a small range of fruits and vegetables. No dairy, gluten, oils, etc.
Omar would be happy; he could order his Escargot and Oysters Rockefeller. We got there fairly early and had made reservations at the bar. Fun fact for this place, you cannot reserve the bar online, but you can call and reserve at the bar. (Which we referenced in our last blog post for this restaurant found HERE). We were seated right away, and Omar ordered a martini, with anchovy stuffed olives, but they did not have any, nor did they offer to stuff any. When Omar asked if they could stuff some, they said they did not have anchovies. Odd since they offer Caesar salad, which means the dressing must be bottled.
I had all intentions of ordering the garden salad, but when I arrived, they had changed the menu to offer an Asian Chicken Salad in its place. By the time I removed the chicken, almonds and noodles, I would have been left with a very expensive plate of cabbage with mandarin orange slices. I opted to pass. This left me, someone who was trying to eat vegan and gluten free, almost impossible to find anything to order. There are NO vegetarian options on the menu. They did offer to make a veggie pasta, but that would not work also gluten free.
I had an option of an expensive side salad, and asparagus. That’s it. Omar suggested I order the sauteed perch, with broccolini and side salad. Perch was not on my diet, but I figured a small amount of sauteed perch wasn’t going to kill me. I had already asked so many questions regarding my special “diet” that I did not inquire regarding the perch. It arrived fully breaded, which I did not expect. I ate the side salad, and the broccolini and tried to scrape off as much as the breading as possible. I ate a small amount of the fish, leaving Omar to finish for me. I will say, the perch was absolutely delicious and could have happily ate the entire plate, but I was diligent in trying to adhere to my “new lifestyle”.
Omar, as I mentioned, ordered the escargot, which if you do not know, is snails baked in a butter sauce. They do some served in a cute little pan that has little cups for all the snails. That presentation still does not entice me to try. Omar enjoyed them, and frankly, he is welcome to them! Also, Oysters Rockefeller, which are Oysters baked with a spinach, cheese and breadcrumb topping. This particular dish, came with Hollandaise sauce, which is not common for Oyster Rockefeller. Omar would have much preferred these served without the sauce.
We were there a bit too early to see the live musician that night, but they typically do have live music on the weekends. The bottom line here is that the food is good, and the ambiance is good as well. It has that old timey – Frank Sinatra – speakeasy type vibe that Omar loves. However, if you have a special diet, you follow be aware. This restaurant does NOT cater to vegetarians or vegans. If you like your meat and potatoes, then this is still a great place to go.