Restaurant Week: Rialto
Aug. 16th, 2006 12:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillibetThat was much better!
After the experience at Croma last night, I called this afternoon to double-check that Rialto could actually accommodate us at 10pm and was assured that they could. It turned out that they were actually running late, so we weren't seated until about 10:15, but we had drinks in their very comfortable lounge and the waiter even offered to bring us water. Once seated,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hotpoint and I started with the potato gnocchi gratin with mushrooms, zucchini and cherry tomatoes. I had been afraid it might be heavy, but it was a relatively small portion and the vegetables gave sparkle to the gnocchi. Jason's serrano ham with peaches, pecorino and pistachios was a lovely light bite of unusual flavors that combined nicely, while preraphaelite's white bean soup with summer minestrone and fennel pesto got good reviews, although we weren't sure exactly what "summer minestrone" meant in this context. Jason asked the waiter to help him choose between the bluefish and chicken and was very pleased with the spiced chicken under a brick (but they never actually serve the brick!) with fregola, almonds and apricots. My roast brined pork loin with crisp fresh bacon, punchy spring greens and vinaigrette agrodolce was very tasty and the slight sweet notes balanced the saltiness without making the dish overly sweet. I never have gotten used to the idea of rare pork and felt this would have been more flavorful if cooked more fully, but it was still quite satisfying. The other two both had the grilled salmon with lemon aioli, farro, salsa verde and corn-pepper salad and were generous with bites so that we could all agree it was a delicious preparation. For dessert, M. and Jason had the flan with roasted plums in spiced balsamic syrup and hazelnut-lemon biscotti. I only tasted the plums, but I hope plums in balsamic syrup become a more popular item so I can have them often! hotpoint got the chocolate espresso torta with blueberries and orange cream, which disappeared quickly enough that I assume it was a tasty treat. My own tropical fruit (passionfruit, I think) sorbet with a crisp almond tuile was a nice, light finish to a very satifying meal.
Given their usual prices, returning seems a bit daunting, but they have a regular Sunday-night prix fixe for $45 that might be worth considering, and I'm certainly very glad to have had the opportunity to try it out.
After the experience at Croma last night, I called this afternoon to double-check that Rialto could actually accommodate us at 10pm and was assured that they could. It turned out that they were actually running late, so we weren't seated until about 10:15, but we had drinks in their very comfortable lounge and the waiter even offered to bring us water. Once seated,
hotpoint and I started with the potato gnocchi gratin with mushrooms, zucchini and cherry tomatoes. I had been afraid it might be heavy, but it was a relatively small portion and the vegetables gave sparkle to the gnocchi. Jason's serrano ham with peaches, pecorino and pistachios was a lovely light bite of unusual flavors that combined nicely, while preraphaelite's white bean soup with summer minestrone and fennel pesto got good reviews, although we weren't sure exactly what "summer minestrone" meant in this context. Jason asked the waiter to help him choose between the bluefish and chicken and was very pleased with the spiced chicken under a brick (but they never actually serve the brick!) with fregola, almonds and apricots. My roast brined pork loin with crisp fresh bacon, punchy spring greens and vinaigrette agrodolce was very tasty and the slight sweet notes balanced the saltiness without making the dish overly sweet. I never have gotten used to the idea of rare pork and felt this would have been more flavorful if cooked more fully, but it was still quite satisfying. The other two both had the grilled salmon with lemon aioli, farro, salsa verde and corn-pepper salad and were generous with bites so that we could all agree it was a delicious preparation. For dessert, M. and Jason had the flan with roasted plums in spiced balsamic syrup and hazelnut-lemon biscotti. I only tasted the plums, but I hope plums in balsamic syrup become a more popular item so I can have them often! hotpoint got the chocolate espresso torta with blueberries and orange cream, which disappeared quickly enough that I assume it was a tasty treat. My own tropical fruit (passionfruit, I think) sorbet with a crisp almond tuile was a nice, light finish to a very satifying meal. Given their usual prices, returning seems a bit daunting, but they have a regular Sunday-night prix fixe for $45 that might be worth considering, and I'm certainly very glad to have had the opportunity to try it out.
