After discovering that Floataway is a dangerous 15 minutes away, we often find ourselves calling for a reservation only 1/2 hour before we want to go as a last minute "I need something good and we went to Taqueria last night". Two visits ago, we both ordered ... something. Something pork. It came with the most excellent and delicious succotash. I only became away of J's love of succotash the first Thanksgiving we shared together when he chose succotash as his random contribution. While I continue to admire his tenacity in finding something random to make every Turkey Day, this succotash was nothing like his. It has rich, warm, each piece was sweet and delicious. I almost ordered a portion to take home. We did return another night and I ordered it as a side, but it wasn't quite as good.
In that last visit, I had the quail which was not bad, but I can make it just as well at home. J had the cioppino which he said was a little weird, and I could tell that he didn't really like it since he didn't finish it. The seafood selection in it was amazing though. The diver scallop was enormous. For a starter, he had a corn soup. Sweet and delicious. I had the caprese was is predictable and kind of boring, but very good. I love heirloom tomatoes. We had a peach souffle to round out the meal. It was light and tasty too.
Friday night, we went to Violette with a friend and her fiance. Violette is on Clairmont near the 85 exit and we've driven by it hundreds of times without ever knowing it was there. We started off with the escargot which were buttery and garlicky as any escargot dish. They were like little molten drops of fire and I burned the hell out of my tongue on the first two (of three). We also got some salmon rillettes which I rather didn't enjoy. Our server had specifically mentioned that the pork rillettes turned her off because of the way they looked and the look of the huge amount of lard they took. Well, if you are going to eat French food, you really need to be comfortable looking at fat.
For an entree, I got the canard a l'orange, half a duck that had a cointreau/orange sauce. It really was half a duck that arrived, incredibly crispy on the outside. The sauce was a little stingy so that I didn't really taste most if it. The duck itself was cooked well, but at the point when you are struggling to cut meat off the bone, it's a little hard to tell. Our server said that it had been a long time sine she had seen anyone clean off the bones that well. All I have to say is... they must not get a lot of Chinese people in there. (In case you are worried, knife-and-fork-work only, no pick-up-and-gnaw.) It also came with mashed potatoes and some rather bland steamed veggies.
J got the steak forrestiere which looked like sirloin topped with a mushroom port wine sauce. He found it to be decent, though I'm surprised he ordered steak out. But as we both know, I'm really still just learning about sauces.
For dessert, we had an incredibly rich chocolate mousse and decaf cappuccinos. Overall, it was a decent meal, but I don't expect to be back.
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