My birthday was a couple of weeks ago. It was fabulous. I took the day off and did things as I wanted to. I slept in (for me), drank a lot of coffee, went on a bike ride, made myself lunch, watched 2 hours of Sex and the City reruns and then got ready for dinner out with my darling husband.
Brette had made reservations at Haute Dish, knowing that it was on my list of food goals for 2011. I was so excited to dine there after hearing great things about it from friends and reading all of the great reviews. I had to wonder if it would live up to the hype. Turns out, it did.
The atmosphere was nice. Although there were plenty of people there (though not full), I didn’t feel like I was eavesdropping on their conversations. All I could hear was our own dinner chat. They also had great music playing. It was very eclectic – lots of different genres that somehow all seemed to work. It added the perfect background.
Our server was great. It took awhile for him to acknowledge we were there, but once he did, he was perfect. He gave us great tips on how to order of their menu and added his favorites along with the most popular. Based on his recommendations and our own desires, we opted to split four different dishes.
The first two were….
Tomato and Watermelon salad with feta mousse, serrano chile, mint and olio verde.
and the……
Fry Bread with Mangalista Ham, assorted peppers, and burrata cheese.
The tomato and watermelon salad was my favorite. The combination of the feta, chili, and mint on a bite with a tomato and slice of watermelon was almost like fireworks in my mouth. So many flavors at once that balanced each other perfectly. The different types and colors of watermelon gave a great visual presentation as well. The plate reminded me of Willy Wonka and that was a good thing.
The fry bread was also super tasty. It reminded me of a flat bread. I liked to put a few smears of the soft burrata on top and garnish with a sweet pepper. Brette handled the spicy peppers on the plate which gave him a nice “glow”. This would be a great dish to have with your favorite beer and your sporting event of choice. However, it completely worked in a ‘nice’ restaurant setting as well. I love those kind of dishes!
The next two dishes were of the pasta variety.
First up was the Corn Button – a large ravioli filled with ricotta and topped with sage and hen of the woods mushrooms. It was swimming in a sea of smoked corn broth. When you cut into the ravioli, the ricotta spilled out into the broth creating a creamy river of goodness. This dish was light and delicate. I really liked it, but it didn’t really compare to our other pasta dish.
The Mac & Cheese – Big pieces of pasta with king crab, tallegio cheese and truffles. It had a bread crumb topping that added great texture. This dish was pretty amazing. The large chunks of crab matched well with the large noodles and the tallegio cheese really made this a ‘grown-up’ dish. It was creamy, but not extremely heavy. I loved the flavors together. It was comfort food at its finest.
We couldn’t not get dessert. It was my birthday for heaven’s sake!
We opted for the apricot dish. It featured a poached apricot, almond chamomile cake, vanilla ice cream, and a bit of yuzo in the mix. I loved the apricot! It had a tart sweet taste that came close to making you pucker, but really just had you going back for a second bite. The cake and the ice cream worked well together to balance the tart apricot. It was a great ending to my birthday meal.
I was thrilled with our food and experience at Haute Dish and would highly recommend it to others. If you’re able to get their during the “late summer menu”, it’s worth it just for that Tomato Watermelon salad. Seriously.
