RESTAURANT WEEK / Amalia

This restaurant scores points with me for its beautiful design, which included a mosaic staircase and lace-patterned bar, both illuminated. I was accompanied by my charming friend, Vera Eisenberg, a.k.a. "the strudel queen". You have, no doubt, seen her artful food stylings on various Food Network shows. The Restaurant Week menu was interestingly divided into 2 categories, one featured an assortment of "bar food", where you were able to sample 4 small plates, which is the route my friend chose. I stuck with tradition, and had an appetizer of watermelon gazpacho, which tasted exactly as you would expect—like a sweet, juicy, summer melon. For the main course, I sampled the short ribs, which was an extremely rich, delicious and decadent contrast to the soup, which made it all the more enjoyable. For dessert, my chocolate sorbet seemed a little washed out. But then again, I find eating sweets at the end of a meal unnecessary. Vera had the panna cotta dessert, which I believe was flavored with lavender—that had a light, slippery texture and was nicely sweet. We visited this restaurant after attending a delicious sauvignon blanc wine tasting at Morrell's, which we enjoyed so much that we giddily and tipsily ordered 3 cases to be delivered to our homes! If you want to get in on wine tastings in your area check out this link.