For Friday night's Barrielicious, we opted to try yet another restaurant we've been passing by for several months and saying "we really should try it sometime" – The Crazy Fox Bistro.
Since their Facebook page said they were open until 11:00, Alyssa called to ask for a 10:00 reservation (since Don was out socializing beforehand), but the person on the other end wanted to make it 9:00. Alyssa bargained for 9:30, promising we'd order right away – although we did see another couple come in at 10:00 and be seated, so perhaps the next time we should just opt for stealth.
This restaurant is just far enough away that we had to drive – might be close enough to walk there in summer and take a cab home, though. And the parking lot was PACKED – we got the last available spot, which might not have even been a parking spot, but we figured we could plead ignorance as the snow was covering any lines that would have indicated otherwise. But we were met at the door and told our table was all set and ready to go – when the host paused for us to hang up our coats, we were initially worried that she was sitting us at the tiny table just outside the kitchen, but were relieved when she led us upstairs to a table overlooking the bar and lower level of the restaurant. It's nicely decorated, with an elegant bar, and while the restaurant was as packed as the parking lot (at least when we arrived), we were still able to hear each other speak quite easily, and the background music was kept nice and low. It's got a nice feel to it, and the wait staff seemed to help each other out quite a bit, and were very friendly.
Our waiter was... well, if you ask Alyssa, it was Shannon, and if you ask Don, it was Janet, so... Shannet? She brought us the Barrielicious menus and the drinks menu. What an extensive wine collection! Not your ordinary fare, and quite a diverse selection – over 50 wines from all over the world, ranging from the reasonably-priced into the hundreds. We opted for the reasonably-priced Mirassou Pinot Noir, as it was part of their festival specials and we're cheap bastards. :) They also call their wine list the "Grape Juice" list, so it's important to note that we got our daily dosage of fruit!
For starters, we both had their Caesar salad – which was just as garlicky as our first night at Hudson, so we were very happy! It had a lemon-garlic dressing, homemade herbed croutons, and parmesan – which wasn't shredded, but in lovely small chewy chunks. Delicious! (We were both cooing, or maybe Alyssa was just cooing so loudly it was enough for the two of us.)
Don's main course was the Boneless Breast of Chicken Parmesan, served on a bed of basil flavoured buttered linguini. It was very good, cooked perfectly, and the marinara sauce was very tasty, as was the basil linguini. Alyssa went for the Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli on a bed of plum tomato basil with asiago. The ravioli was also made in part with spinach, and made for a pretty presentation, with stripes of green cutting across the pasta. It also tasted delicious. We each licked the platter clean (not literally, because that would be gross, but you know what we mean...). Very reasonable serving sizes, too – we didn't feel like we wanted to die after finishing it all.
For dessert, there were two options – Crème Brulée or Chocolate Cheesecake. Alyssa, of course, ordered the former, although was a bit disappointed that it tasted more like (cold) pudding brulée rather than crème. Not liking either of the options, Don ordered the cheesecake so Alyssa could take it home for breakfast the next day. Sadly for Alyssa, she made the mistake of insisting he just give the cheesecake just a little taste. The man who insists he despises cheesecake was actually heard cooing and, other than one wee taste Alyssa got to sneak out of him, ate the whole damned thing! No breakfast for Lyssy. He made a point of telling Shannet that he doesn't usually like cheesecake – once she got over the idea that somebody might NOT like cheesecake (I know, really?!?!?), she promised to tell the chef how much he enjoyed it.
All in all, yet another great restaurant reasonably close to home. it would be nice if they were open a bit later, but we realize not everyone has crazy hours like we do... maybe we'll just have to start eating earlier (or – gasp – cooking for ourselves!). We'll definitely be back to check out their regular menu.
One more report to catch up on from Saturday night, and we're sneaking one last festival dinner in tonight. And then we will – gasp – indeed, have to start cooking for ourselves. And get a larger wine selection. :)
Since their Facebook page said they were open until 11:00, Alyssa called to ask for a 10:00 reservation (since Don was out socializing beforehand), but the person on the other end wanted to make it 9:00. Alyssa bargained for 9:30, promising we'd order right away – although we did see another couple come in at 10:00 and be seated, so perhaps the next time we should just opt for stealth.
This restaurant is just far enough away that we had to drive – might be close enough to walk there in summer and take a cab home, though. And the parking lot was PACKED – we got the last available spot, which might not have even been a parking spot, but we figured we could plead ignorance as the snow was covering any lines that would have indicated otherwise. But we were met at the door and told our table was all set and ready to go – when the host paused for us to hang up our coats, we were initially worried that she was sitting us at the tiny table just outside the kitchen, but were relieved when she led us upstairs to a table overlooking the bar and lower level of the restaurant. It's nicely decorated, with an elegant bar, and while the restaurant was as packed as the parking lot (at least when we arrived), we were still able to hear each other speak quite easily, and the background music was kept nice and low. It's got a nice feel to it, and the wait staff seemed to help each other out quite a bit, and were very friendly.
Our waiter was... well, if you ask Alyssa, it was Shannon, and if you ask Don, it was Janet, so... Shannet? She brought us the Barrielicious menus and the drinks menu. What an extensive wine collection! Not your ordinary fare, and quite a diverse selection – over 50 wines from all over the world, ranging from the reasonably-priced into the hundreds. We opted for the reasonably-priced Mirassou Pinot Noir, as it was part of their festival specials and we're cheap bastards. :) They also call their wine list the "Grape Juice" list, so it's important to note that we got our daily dosage of fruit!
For starters, we both had their Caesar salad – which was just as garlicky as our first night at Hudson, so we were very happy! It had a lemon-garlic dressing, homemade herbed croutons, and parmesan – which wasn't shredded, but in lovely small chewy chunks. Delicious! (We were both cooing, or maybe Alyssa was just cooing so loudly it was enough for the two of us.)
Don's main course was the Boneless Breast of Chicken Parmesan, served on a bed of basil flavoured buttered linguini. It was very good, cooked perfectly, and the marinara sauce was very tasty, as was the basil linguini. Alyssa went for the Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli on a bed of plum tomato basil with asiago. The ravioli was also made in part with spinach, and made for a pretty presentation, with stripes of green cutting across the pasta. It also tasted delicious. We each licked the platter clean (not literally, because that would be gross, but you know what we mean...). Very reasonable serving sizes, too – we didn't feel like we wanted to die after finishing it all.
For dessert, there were two options – Crème Brulée or Chocolate Cheesecake. Alyssa, of course, ordered the former, although was a bit disappointed that it tasted more like (cold) pudding brulée rather than crème. Not liking either of the options, Don ordered the cheesecake so Alyssa could take it home for breakfast the next day. Sadly for Alyssa, she made the mistake of insisting he just give the cheesecake just a little taste. The man who insists he despises cheesecake was actually heard cooing and, other than one wee taste Alyssa got to sneak out of him, ate the whole damned thing! No breakfast for Lyssy. He made a point of telling Shannet that he doesn't usually like cheesecake – once she got over the idea that somebody might NOT like cheesecake (I know, really?!?!?), she promised to tell the chef how much he enjoyed it.
All in all, yet another great restaurant reasonably close to home. it would be nice if they were open a bit later, but we realize not everyone has crazy hours like we do... maybe we'll just have to start eating earlier (or – gasp – cooking for ourselves!). We'll definitely be back to check out their regular menu.
One more report to catch up on from Saturday night, and we're sneaking one last festival dinner in tonight. And then we will – gasp – indeed, have to start cooking for ourselves. And get a larger wine selection. :)