Craft

The mushrooms!  Oh, the mushrooms!  That's all I have heard for years as people have told me time and again how great Craft is.  I think people are just so delighted that a restaurant known for meat prepares a vegetarian dish so well.  I agree, the mushrooms were delicious, as were the simply roasted butterball potatoes.  Neither are items that should jump off the menu, but they were both elegant in their simplicity.  That said, the meat is as good as should be expected of a meat-centric restaurant.

I went to craft with a group of six for a work event so we took down a large chunk of the menu.  I did not realize the dishes were meant to be served family style, but once the waitress told us so, we decided our family's style was to try as much as possible.  For starters we had some oysters, scallops, the pork trotter with farm egg, and crispy bacon with yogurt.  The bacon and yogurt was my favorite of the bunch.  I was concerned it would be Greek yogurt topped with bacon bits but was happy to have pork belly with a creamy sauce.  For the main courses we had the striped bass, duck, short ribs, bacon wrapped venison (my favorite - if I could eat that once a week, my demeanor would likely improve immensely).  In addition to the mushrooms and potatoes, we also had the cauliflower, kale, and garlic risotto.  I found the risotto, so creamy and rich, to be the perfect complement to the meat entrées.  We ended the meal with the doughnuts, which came with a fudge and a coffee sauce.  The waiter pushed us to get two orders and when we saw the size of the dessert we were upset.  We had warned him we were already full and just wanted a bite of something sweet but he seemed to just want us to spend spend spend.  After complaining around the table that he sold us more than we needed, we ate both desserts in full.  I tip my hat to you, dear waiter, you recognized the pigs in us.

As we were leaving, the hostess handed us a chocolate chip scone for tomorrow's breakfast.  It's a touch I rarely see but one I love.  The food managed to be different without being revolutionary, all perfectly executed.  When I'm going for meat, I don't want anything crazy, I just want it to be cooked really really well.  There were a few unique touches (like the yogurt with the pork belly), but for the most part, the food was basic but rich.