Varanese

A little belated in posting this, but c'est la vie.  It is still the month of May, and May was "V" for Supper Club...Varanese it is.  I was excited to try another new place, and had heard great things, so I figured I was in for a treat.

I was right!

It was a very warm and humid May night.  When I arrived, some of the ladies already had cherry blossom mint juleps, a house specialty, and fresh bruschetta was on the table (not sure if it was complementary or if someone ordered it).  I decided to give the juleps a try, being a huge mint julep fan.  (Some of you are cringing right now, but if you've only had them at the track, don't judge, those are premixed and terrible!  But that's a whole different blog post.)  I can't imagine anyone not liking Varanese's take on the classic Kentucky cocktail.  Fresh, light, just a bit fruity and sweet, with a nice base of bourbon.

We all laughed and chatted for a while, enjoying the elegant yet casual ambiance of their outdoor patio.  I was facing their slate wall with softly lit water cascading down and enjoying the live jazz duo who were unobtrusively playing in the background.  I basked in this mellowness long enough that I needed another cocktail, and this time I went with their mojito.  By FAR the best mojito I have ever had.  Not overly thick or sweet, just balanced between all the flavors.  A perfect accompaniment to a summer weather meal.

Complimentary breadsticks were brought to the table and enjoyed by all.  A decadent mix of garlic butter and parmesan was baked into each piece, making any type of dipping sauce or spread superfluous. 

Looking over their menu, I was hard-pressed to choose just one entrée, they all sounded amazing.  I finally settled on one of the nightly specials, lightly seared Ahi tuna served on a bed of risotto, greens with roasted artichoke hearts, and heirloom tomatoes.  It was a pricey meal, but when it came out, I was amazed at the portion.  Had I gotten a salad, it easily could have fed me and another person.  The tuna was perfectly done, the risotto creamy perfection.  My only slight disappointment was the tomatoes, which essentially tasted like any hothouse tomato, not heirloom or home grown at all.  But the greens were a nice mix and very lightly dressed (I discovered I REALLY don't like fennel!)

Afterwards, all of us decided to order a couple desserts and share.  I chose the mocha crème brûlée and one of my friends selected the fried banana with oatmeal cookie dough ice cream.  Both were absolute sinful heaven!  The crème brûlée was huge, served in a latte mug, and the fried banana was a good-size portion as well.  Everyone got to sample a little of each and we all loved it.

I highly recommend Varanese for a romantic dinner or just to hang out with some good friends.  I'll have to convince the hubby to go soon!

Mojito's

I was surprised when I got to Mojito’s Saturday night with my girlfriends and there wasn’t a line out the door. I hope this doesn’t mean this eatery will be leaving us soon. If you haven’t gone to Mojito’s…GO!

Mojito’s bills itself as a “tapas” restaurant. For those of you who are not food geeks like yours truly, tapas are appetizers. But don’t think that’s all Mojito’s offers. I particularly love the paella; a huge pan with rice, chorizo, chicken, fish, shrimp, mussels, scallops, calamari, olives and vegetables; and they have a couple different takes on the classic Spanish dish. There is a choice of whether you want the paella to serve 2 or 3 and we ordered the 2 person version which fed all 4 of us with leftovers to take home! If you want paella though, you MUST order it the second you sit down. While the menu says it takes an hour to prepare, it has never taken that long in my experience but it does take awhile so be prepared to nosh on some tapas while you wait.

My hands-down favorite tapas there is the guacamole and chicharritas. Chicharritas are fried plantains and they are excellent. They have the crunch of a good tortilla chip but lack the over-saltyness and have a slightly nutty aftertaste. While I would like to have more guacamole to dip them into, the serving is decent for the price and it is easy to share with a group.

Which is more than I can say for the ravioli…while the taste was good, I was extremely disappointed in the serving. When you think “appetizer” you think that it can be shared between a few people, and being a “tapas” restaurant, you would think Mojito’s had this down. Then why in the name of all that is holy would an appetizer of ravioli come out with only 2 pieces? Between me and my three girlfriends, we had to cut those 2 raviolis in half and we each got one bite. I don’t remember the exact cost for the ravioli, but I believe it was somewhere around $6! We all felt jipped.

However, the mussels made up for it. A heaping bowl of about 12-15 mussels was brought out with a few pieces of crusty bread. They were by far the best mussels I ever had. Warm, garlicky with a rich, chunky tomato sauce, more like a salsa. I do wish that more bread had been provided to sop up all the yumminess left in the bowl after the mussels were gone. It was such a waste, there was over a cup of the sauce there that just went back to the kitchen to get discarded.

Same goes for the queso fundido. While the queso itself was excellent, ooey-gooey with some Spanish ham and chorizo tossed in for a salty/spicy kick, there were only four pieces of bread to eat it with. We all took a piece of bread, loaded it with the queso on our plates and there was still some queso left. I would order it again, but I would ask for more bread.

For drinks, make sure you try their namesake, the mojito. A mojito is a mixture of sugar, mint, lime and rum with a splash of carbonated water. It may sound a little weird, but oooh baby, is it good!

Overall, I still love this place and recommend it to all out-of-towners. It’s better with a big group so you can order lots of appetizers and swap around.