RAM-December: Emmer & Rye

Restaurant-a-Month (RAM) for December was emmer & rye, seasonally inspired, locally derived cuisine. I bought a Groupon awhile ago, knowing that I wanted to try this restaurant – some way, some how.

The day before our RAM date, I sat at my desk just before lunchtime perusing the menu. Big mistake. I think I may have gotten drool on my keyboard. Not knowing if I’d ever be able to decide, and seriously contemplating whether or not I should wear elastic waist pants to dinner, I closed my browser window and tried to focus on work, not artisanal cheese with roasted plum-currant preserve or rabbit sausage or grassfed beef bolognese.

Turns out that Jaime was doing the same thing. Haha! Great minds, I tell ya.

Emmer & rye used to be a house.  It still has a cozy feel; it’s comfortable like you are going to a friend’s for dinner, but you don’t actually feel like you are going to a friend’s house for dinner.

We arrived early, in time for hapopy hour, and took advantage of the situation by immediately ordering drinks and appetizers. I tried their Rye Manhattan while Jaime ordered red wine. The Manhattan was good, but strong. One of these days I’ll remember that I’m not much of a hard liquor fan – especially not with food – and I should stick to water and red wine (and the occasional Mike’s while watching a sporting event).

Our appetizer selections were farro fries with apple-sage dipping sauce and two artisanal cheeses with herb crackers and roasted plum-currant conserve. The farro fries were tasteless, but significantly better when covered in the dipping sauce. Both artisanal cheese were divine, one being a soft truffle cheese and the other was Tom d’Cruise, a semi hard cheese with a mild pungency. I’m terrible with remembering names, and though we asked the server to repeat them, all I heard was “truffle” for the first and “Tom Cruise” for the second (which Jaime thought was perfect – Tom Cruise being “cheesey” – LOL). Anyway, I figure if I go to Metropolitan Market and speak quickly and mumble a bit when I ask if they have any Tom d’Cruise  they’ll be able to figure out what I mean. Here’s to hoping.

Another awesome thing about emmer & rye is that they offer almost all of their entrees as half or full-sized portions. The half-sized options was perfect for us since we wanted to be able to try more dishes. Jaime ordered their special which was a rabbit pasta, we ordered the wild mushrooms, goat cheese, new potatoes,  and wilted greens to share. I was stuck trying to decide between the chicken with chanterelles, cauliflower, ozette potatoes, and black truffle aioli, the grassfed beef bolognese with pancetta, red wine sausage, and little bells, and the cider braised pork shoulder with root vegetables and rosemary-bacon potatoes. My usual “rule out what you would make at home” rule wasn’t helping, so I went with my second rule called, “Ask the Server”. His favorite was the pork. Sold.

Our meal came and Jaime found the rabbit dish to de delightful, and we both concurred that the vegetable dish was quite good as well. The wilted greens were actually fried kale and the semi-crispy texture worked we with the softness of the goat cheese.

But, I must say, if we were to give an award for Best Plate of the Night, the pork would win. Hands down, the pork would win. I took my first bite and couldn’t even speak it was so delicious. I dared not open my mouth lest any of the particles of goodness escape into the air. I gave Jaime a bit, and as she was describing the virtues of the pork she interrupted herself to say “Oh, it just melted. It melted in my mouth.”

I was so good. I can’t really explain it properly, it was so good. Such a great flavor, cooked to perfection – my mouth was too stunned to even do any kind of a happy dance. I woefully took that last bite and didn’t put another thing in my mouth for a full 10 minutes. I needed to savor the moment. The server came and asked if he could take away our plates and I looked lovingly at mine, some pork juices still lingering. With a deft swipe of my index finger I gathered as much of the sauce as I could, licked my finger, and with a sigh said, “Okay.”

On to dessert (that I thought about not ordering so that I could maintain my relationship with the pork for a little while longer). Jaime ordered the cheesecake with huckleberry sauce and I the hazelnut financier. I had to ask for the definition of a financier and it turns out that it’s a type of dense cake. neither of us were blown away by the cheesecake – it had a great taste but a very light and fluffy texture. If you like that sort of thing, this is the cheesecake for you. We both prefer the heavier, dense cheesecake so felt like it was a bit of a bait and switch. The huckleberry sauce was delicious, but really how can anyone mess up huckleberry sauce?  The hazelnut financier was delicious! The full order includes two 2-inch squares whipped cream and spiced poached pears. Jaime doesn’t eat chocolate (not for lack of want) and described the financier as “brownies for people who can’t eat chocolate.” Very yummy.

Overall I highly recommend the restaurant – we both do. While they had items that weren’t good to us, they were artfully prepared and not inedible – you might like them. The real selling point is that when they got it right, the would knock it out of the park. Way out of the park.

I asked and they anticipate that the pork will be on the menu through mid-late January. I may have to get back before then.

Rabbit Pasta

Kale, Goat Cheese & Potatoes

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Pork Shoulder