It's been too long.
This is where we're going:
www.vierestaurant.com

It's walking distance from our house (ink nice weather), and we've been dying to try it.
We're gonna do a chef's tasting and enjoy every damn minute of it! Awwwww yeah!!!

Phil (epa): I'll fill you in on Wednesday.

hott.

are you shamrocking on wednesday?

Yea, make sure you wrap your willie (saw the thread on Hipinion. BTW, you and the rest of Hipinion are disgusting...)

LOL

This is a true statement.

This sounds really cool... We have no really nice restaurants like this in my area - I'd have to drive the wife 8 hours (ink nice weather) to partake of such a treat.

I see the menu prices, but about how much does a chef's tasting cost? (if you don't mind my asking.) And what, exactly, does a chef's tasting entail?

A chef's tasting (aka - "Degustation") entails letting the chef make whatever the hell he wants to make for you. It's always a multi-course meal (usually between 5-7 courses). You just tell him/her if there's anything you are allergic to, or won't eat, so he can avoid that ingredient.

Then you sit back, and be surprised at what comes to your table.

It's a lovely and very fun way to eat at the nicer restaurants.

We noticed that the price of this restaurant's New Year's Eve menu is $70 per person, so I'm guessing that ours will be about $50-60 each, plus wine. That's pretty standard for this area for this type of meal. Charlie Trotters runs, I think $70 - $85 per person. So it ain't too bad.

Looks like a great night out, Todd...and if you can do a chef's tasting for $50-$60, that's not bad at all.

The one curious thing on the menu is the $1 cake-cutting fee. I understand the corkage fee, but I guess I've never brought my own dessert to a restaurant. Not that the $1 really means anything...but if the desserts are as good as they sound, why wouldn't you celebrate with one of theirs instead of bringing some store-bought thing?

THE REVIEW:
So... we went last night and had a 4-course tasting at Vie (they also offered 5 courses). Each course was paired with its own wine and I will do my best to remember exactly what each was. (Chef Virant wrote the menu for us and I have it at home, if you want to catch any of the details that I miss).

Started out with a glass of rosé French bubbly. Not a big champagne fan, but this was delicious.

1st course (Sharon's favorite):
-Monkfish with beluga lentils and glazed winter radishes w/ a mustard vinagrette
Delicious, the fish was fall-apart flaky and the edges were browned for a nice crunch.

Paired with: a French Chardonay, nice and buttery

2nd course:
-Herbed gnocchi, wood-grilled rabbit loin, braised rabbit meat, winter squash
I love game and this was not a disappointment. The 2 preperations of the rabbit was a really nice touch.

Paired with: a German white of some sort, I forget... but it was big and crisp all at once

3rd course (Todd's favorite):
-Grilled veal chop, braised veal cheeks, polenta, and creamed leeks w/ garlic toast point
Again with the grilled/braised meat pairing, but the flavors were different enough that it wasn't really redundant. The veal chop, by the way, was actually chunks of the meat, sliced OFF the bone, so it wasn't a chop, as you would normally think of it, but more like veal chop medalions.

Paired with: a French Pinot Noir

Desert course:
-Warm, Venezuelan chocolate (a liquid-center cake, really), topped with homemade FRESH mint chip ice cream.
Typical decedant upper-crust chocolate desert. And typically awesome. The ice cream tasted of the fresh mint, and not mint extract -- that was something special.

-Gingerbread with homemade white chocolate ice cream.
Yummy, but I preferred the chocolate.

Paired with: Some sort of port that neither Sharon or I cared for.

The decor was nice, but not totally inviting and my chair was even a little uncomfortable - just plain wood. Service was efficient and knowledgeable, and a bit unpolished. However, that unpolished-ness kind of added to the charm of the place. Made it feel more like a neighborhood establishment which , for us, it is.

Chef Verant came out to the table. We chatted with him a bit and he said to say "hi" to Steiney.

Overall, we had a really great 2.5-hour experience and would strongly recommend that you all get your asses out here and try it!

BTW: The total bill, not including tip, was $130 for the two of us. I don't think that's bad considering the high quality of the food and that we got a generous pour of vino with each course.

*bump*

In case anyone who wants to see the menu missed it.

Sounds like a great romantic evening.

damnation, that looks good. i'm going to have to keep something like this in mind for my anniversary.

fantastic.

Man, I am now starving to death, with little in my fridge but leftovers! That sounds amazing!