October 2009

October 26 through November 1 is the city of Richmond’s Restaurant Week. This means that over twenty restaurants in Richmond come up with a special three-course menu that costs $25.09 per person. Each restaurant then donates $2.09 per dinner to The Central Virginia Food Bank. Good food, good cause, and a great price- you can’t really beat it.

Since I’m what I would consider a newbie to Richmond this was my first year participating and Isaac and I knew we wanted to try out somewhere we haven’t been before. We had a tough time deciding because there were many great restaurants to choose from, but we ended up making reservations at Six Burner. The place touts having a scratch kitchen and using fresh, seasonal ingredients, many of which come from local farms.

We’d already scoped at the menu before arriving at the restaurant because Richmond.com so kindly posts the restaurant week menus in advance. When we received our menu at the table there were several additional options for both the appetizers and entrees. This made choosing a bit harder, however it was nice to have a little surprise and an assortment of dishes to choose from.

To start our server brought out a manger with a nice loaf of bread swaddled inside.

Please tell me it reminds you of a manger as well and that I am not crazy.

I had a piece dipped in olive oil while waiting for our appetizers. It was good, but nothing too special- your average bread and olive oil.

So for my first course, I ordered the plum & goat cheese arugula salad with spicy cashews.

I typically like salads with fruit and this one was no exception. I throughly enjoyed the flavors of the salad and was wishing it was larger with each bite.

Isaac got the crabcake, served with mustard and slaw.

He said it was one of the best crabcakes he had ever had and quickly polished it off. He did share a tiny bite and I agree, it was GOOD.

For my entree I passed up the mushroom linguini vegetarian option (I’m not a huge pasta fan) and went with seafood- rockfish, served with sweet potatoes and mushrooms.

The piece of fish looks larger in the picture than it was, however I was content with the portion size. The fish was cooked perfectly and flavored well. Each sweet potato on the plate was a completely different size. I ended up having some crunchy sweet potato chips and then some smooth and soft baked sweet potatoes- it was interesting, but fun. I wasn’t a huge fan of the mushrooms for whatever reason. I typically like mushrooms, however the texture of this variety wasn’t my favorite. A little too on the squishy side for my tastes.

Isaac ordered the red wine braised short ribs served with a crispy polenta cake and broccolini.

He said the ribs were cooked to perfection, however the dish wasn’t consistently warm throughout. Although, he didn’t complain and cleaned his plate well so I don’t think it was too much a problem.

Last but not least, we ordered each dessert that was offered.

I got the honey panna cotta with an apple compote

and he got the cheesecake with butterscotch crust and caramel.

I’ve never had panna cotta before and at first bite I wasn’t sure that I was going to love it. However two bites in I found the texture was similar to that of a soft tofu and the flavor was amazing- especially combined with the apple compote. I also had fun jiggling it around on the table. (I’m so proper). Isaac’s cheesecake ended up being more of a bread with cheesecake icing. We’re not quite sure who deemed the dessert a cheesecake, however it most certainly wasn’t a cheesecake by normal standards and was actually quite dry.

We both enjoyed the meal and it was fun to participate in Restaurant week. My favorites were my appetizer and dessert and I know Isaac’s favorite was his crabcake. I think the chef did an excellent job plating the dishes as they all looked absolutely gorgeous. However, overall I don’t think our experience was spectacular enough to bring us back for a second visit. Especially when there are a ton of other restaurants in Richmond we have yet to try…

Sorry if you are a non-Richmond reader and this post bored you to death. I’ll be back soon with more of the usual.

Have a lovely night and get excited- tomorrow’s Friday AND it’s almost Halloween!

- Brittany

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