As usual on Tuesdays, I am tempted by Stacey coming into town and the promise of some inexpensive Happy Hour fun. Last night, I suggested that we head to new Wine Bar & Bistro in Rocky River, Tartine (one of my co-workers was raving about the decor, wine menu and food over lunch yesterday, so my curiousty was peaked)
Although Tartine does not offer Happy Hour specials, their menu is priced incredibly fairly and can accommodate a limited HH budget. Yay for me and my checkbook!
The exterior and interior decor was as my co-worker described, absolutely charming. It felt like we did escape to a lovely French Bistro. The warm red ceiling, small cozy tables and excellent view of the single hard-working chef/kitchen were amazing. I was really impressed.
Then came the service, it was fabulous. We were greeted promptly with a pleasant server, our water never ran dry and the entrées were served incredibly fast. I haven't seen this kind of service in a while, and it was really refreshing to know it still exists. ;)
And on to the food....
I must mention that Stacey has several food allergies including gluten (wheat products), so when we can find an accommodating menu (as we did last night), it is always awesome. She decided to order the Roasted Mussels and the Asparagus Salad. They were the largest mussels I have ever seen; she was very pleased with them. I took over the bread served with the mussels and dipped it in the fresh marinade consisting of lemon and basil. It tasted absolutely amazing, so I assumed the mussels were fabulous as well. I couldn’t wait to try them myself sometime soon. Stacey then, moved on to the Asparagus Salad. It was served with greens, tomatoes, an over-medium organic egg and horseradish vinaigrette. Stacey said that the egg/aspargus combination was amazing, and that the dressing was good, but a little too spicy for her taste. I am obsessed with horseradish (bias Krista), so I loved the bite I tried.
As for me, I ordered the Roasted Beet Salad and the Bacon Pear Pizza. I was trying to be as adventurous as possible (aka I don’t eat many beets). There were several things on the menu I was dying to order (such as the daily special of foie gras or the medjool dates with goat cheese), but I needed to expand my palate.
Although I was nervous to try the beets, I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the salad consisting of beets, ricotta cheese, greens, honey vinaigrette and fabulous roasted pistachio immensely! I think that although the beets are the star of the dish, there was too many for my taste. A little more greens to beets to cheese balancing ratio was needed.
The pizza was pleasant enough, consisting of: a lovely thin crust, roasted bacon, pears, cheese and a balsamic glaze. I feel that the pears were overcooked because they lacked any of the wonderful sweetness I was expecting and the entrée was quite heavy, so I boxed most if it up for Stevie. Overall, the dish was good and priced well.
Stacey and I went on to split the flourless chocolate cake with port wine syrup for dessert. It was wonderful! Stacey, especially, was raving about it. I really enjoyed the chocolate/port wine syrup combination. Next time, I will ask for extra syrup for sure! J
In conclusion, I was very impressed with Tartine’s menu choices, prices, décor and food. Alas, we did not sample any wine, but the menu is truly amazing.
Check them out online:
www.tartinebistro.com
Au revoir,
Krista
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