Gastrojeff

I'm a meat and potatoes kind of guy; while I enjoy watching television shows about haught cuisine but my own palate is pretty conservative(read 'timid'). That may have something to do with my discomfort in the kind of formal settings wherein high class nosh is usually served. I much prefer the diner atmosphere with all its greasy charm. But this latest Tuesday I was invited to my boss's birthday party at the Wellington Gastropub and, being flattered immensly simply by the invitiation, decided to take a chance.

Thank God I did.

The Wellington, for those who don't know, is organized around the 'gastropub' concept imported from England: gourmet food and good beer in a casual atmosphere. The menu, which changes daily, is arranged in classic starter-entree-desert fashion. We ate in a private room set aside for parties of a certain size, with an extremely pleasent and professional waiter who hovered about at fifteen or twenty minute intervals, replacing water and bread unbidden as we talked.

The food itself was delectable; I have it on good authority that the wine and beer was also excellent but seeing as I don't drink I was satisifed with pepsi of an unremarkable vintage. xD For a starter I had a puree of 'potato, leek, and red peppers, with a smoked garlic sauce.' The potato and leek rounded out the flavor of the peppers and the sauce provided an oily undertone that gave the dish alot of depth; I cleaned my bowl down to the dregs.

My entree(and last course cooked by the Wellington kitchen that night; our dessert was bought from a nearby cake shop and graciously served up in segments by the resturant itself) was a plate of 'potato scallion ravilois, with creamy local cabbage, Le Coprin Mushrooms, honey roasted shallot sauce, and aged chedder'. It was all delicious; the mushrooms flared up in a kind of controlled burn of flavor that left me suitably impressed. Overall, it was a wonderful dining experience. And not toooo expensive; those who drank paid more, but I made off with a 55 dollar bill, and I have to say it was well worth the price.

Here's a link to their website, for those that are interested.