mere cat

Restaurant Week Wrapup

In my dreams I would be out every night of Restaurant Week (which ended last night), taking advantage of the great deals, eating in restaurants I could normally never afford. The reality is that until this year, I never took advantage of Restaurant Week, and this year, we only went out once.

With 99 places to choose from, picking one restaurant can be daunting, but I had a glowing recommendation from Messy and Picky for Valanni. Four of us had dinner there Monday night.

Making a reservation required leaving a voicemail and waiting for confirmation. Unusual, but we booked a couple of weeks ahead, so that was no problem. When we arrived, Valanni was completely full and our table wasn’t ready. A round of mojitos at the bar helped pass the time until we could be seated. The atmosphere is sophisticated yet cozy; the warm colors and materials contribute to the inviting feeling. I guess the cuisine could be called Latin fusion.

The $30/person price included three courses, and we had free rein with the menu—only one item was excluded. We started with Autumn Pear Salad (with bacon and gorgonzola), and our friends split the Medi-Latin Plate (feta and greek olives, pepperoncini, hummus and pita, some salad, chicken empanadas, etc). After that we were both pretty full, but that’s typical for us. I had Classic Paella and Anne had Braised Parmesan-Crusted Volcano Lamb Shank (I didn’t see any lava, though). We took most of it home. There was so much left over that we got two more meals out it, so we ate for three days on that $30. Every ingredient showed great care in preparation, not to mention all the creative ways they were combined. The service was flawless, and it’s an easy walk from the train. We look forward to visiting Valanni again.