Our waiter began telling us about the evening's specials and the first word out of his mouth was bacon and the second was cheddar so Karen and I were obviously instantly sold. The other special of the evening was fresh english peas. We choose to start with the bacon cheddar biscuits, the english peas, and the sunchoke salad. The bacon cheddar biscuits were the most delightful little bites. These buttery, flaky biscuits melted in your mouth with the perfect balance of cheddar and flecks of salty bacon. Karen and I both agreed that we would like these every week and that we have to find a recipe (which Susan has already obligingly done for me). The peas were fabulous as well. There was a hint of curry powder in these fresh peas that popped in your mouth. As soon as I saw Karen's fervor for these peas, I insisted she draw a line on the plate for even splitting as I feared there would be none left for me. The sunchoke salad was okay but forgettable, but the other two starters more than made up for it. We each started out with cocktails, Karen had the pineapple painkiller which tasted like vacation and I had the spring fling which was rhubarby-tart with lime and prosecco.
Now, as Karen and I often do at such restaurants when undecided (which is inevitable as Karen and I pretty much always want to order the entire menu), we deferred to the waiter for which entree to have. I was sure about my choice of the meatballs, but Karen was torn between the seafood stew and the smoked kielbasa with potatoes and sauerkraut. The waiter was very passionate about the kielbasa so Karen went with that. However, when the dishes arrived there was a small bowl of the seafood stew as he wanted us to taste this as well. The seafood stew was fabulous with a base of what tasted like some sort of squash and again there was a hint of some indian spices. The fish, scallops, mussels, and shrimp were all cooked perfectly in this stew. Regardless, one bite of the kielbasa dish and Karen knew she made the right choice. The kielbasa was fantastic...just the right balance of smoke and crispy outside. The sauerkraut was also the exact correct amount of sour without being overpowering and the potatoes tasted like grandmas. My meatballs were some of the best I have ever had. There were two giant meatballs on the plate each cut in half with a thin layer of perfectly melted fontina and parmesan on each. The plate had red onions lightly pickled in red wine vinegar and a cheese tomato/red wine sauce that was to die for. I am happy to say I was a member of the clean plate club. We both elected to have a beer with our main courses, as these seemed better suited for beer and any complement to the Tavern's beer menu would be an understatement. I chose a Unibroue Trois Pistols, and Karen had the Ommegang Hennepin. Excellent...If you know anything of my beer obsession, you know that these are my two favorite breweries.
Now a birthday (and well lets face it a dinner out) is not complete without dessert. We again deferred to the waiter and he said the strawberry pie with ginger ice cream. To accompany this we each had a glass of an aged port which was a delicious mushroomy flavored dessert wine that went perfectly with the strawberries. When the dessert arrived, the waiter had once again gone above and beyond. The strawberry pie had a candle in it and said happy birthday brownie and the waiter brought out a complimentary chocolate pudding with salted caramel and brioche croutons stating that you have to have chocolate on your birthday. The strawberries on the pie just popped with flavor in your mouth and the ginger ice cream was the perfect compliment to the strawberries without being too strong, as ginger ice cream often is. The chocolate pudding was rich and caramelly and the brioche croutons were surprisingly a winning combo. All in all, an amazing dinner that I hope to re-create soon.
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