When you arrive you notice that the parking lot looks empty from the road, its not. There is a bunch of parking on the side and around the back, so it is pretty busy it just doesn't look like it from the road. We decided to go there because of the menu, it had some items I wanted to try like bone marrow. When we arrived it seemed like we picked the wrong week because they were opening their bistro and had a $10 special going on. They cut down on their fine dining menu to compensate for the business of the bistro. Almost everything I wanted to try was cut off the menu including the marrow.
Once we were seated in the dining room our waiter came over and told us the specials and took our drink order. When he left I looked around, we were the only people in the dining room, everyone else was in the bistro, it was weird. For our appetizers my wife got the sausage stuffed figs and I got the soup special the gazpacho. It took a very long time for the appetizers to come out, I don't know if it was because of the bistro or what. When the appetizers did come out my wives dish was really good, she got three figs stuffed with italian sausage and wrapped in prosciutto. The figs were earthy and sweet almost like a pear, the sausage had a bit of spice and the prosciutto added the saltiness to round out the flavors. The balsamic vinegar was excellent, it didn't overpower the dish it was more of a back note to bring the dish together. The gazpacho I had I really didn't like. To me a gazpacho is tomato, cucumber and something to thicken the juice either bread or yogurt. All this dish was, was tomato juice and a bit of spice. It was far too watery and needed the cucumber juice to cut through the acidity in the tomato juice. It was almost like V8 in a dish with a garnish of corn.
For our entrees my wife got he pappardelle with lamb and again what I wanted was cut for the bistro opening so I got the Filet Mignon. The lamb dish was so good, the pasta was made in house and cut almost as thick as a lasagna noodle. The noodles soaked up the sauce which made them so much better just by themselves. The lamb shoulder was fork tender and just fell apart in you mouth. The little chunks of squash and white asparagus gave a nice freshness to the heavy lamb and pasta while the sage demi-glace just pulled all the notes on the plate together. 
My filet was cooked a perfect medium rare and just melt in your mouth tender. The wilted cucumbers I thought were a bit weird at first but if they would have been cold it would have ruined the dish. The cucumbers gave the dish a freshness and still a crunchy texture. The asparagus were cooked perfectly and I just love how well asparagus and steak go together, the flavors just pair so well. The potatoes on my dish were the only thing I didn't like. They were under cooked and hard in the middle. I just like my potatoes cooked through, they don't have to be falling apart tender but I don't want to have to use a steak knife to cut them, I feel a side of a fork should do it.Overall this was a good, fresh and local dinner. I was disappointed that they cut the menu down because of the opening of the bistro but I understand. Would I go back? Yes, if I were in the area. I wouldn't go out of my way to get there but the food was good and I like how they try to get everything local. I have to say don't let the parking lot deceive you, there are people there the lot is just way too big.
Price 7 of 10
Food 8 of 10
Service 8 of 10
Overall 7.5 of 10
1740 Rt. 228
Cranberry Township, PA 16066
I have been wanting to go there!
ReplyDeleteIts worth it and their Bistro menu looks really good and cheaper than the main restaurant menu. Its a bit out of the way being in Cranberry but it is worth the drive
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