reads great, eats not so well

Last night Grandpa and Grandma came over to watch the kids, so the Chef and I could go out on a real "date."  It was so totally strange going out as a couple on Friday night.  It felt like a Sunday night!  Anyway, we intended to go see a movie (Juno) and eat dinner at a place in Claremont that we had heard was really great.

The place was cute and located in a great part of town with lots of shops and a bunch of nicely constructed condos next door.  Talk about a built in market!  The menu read exceptionally well.  There were so many things I wanted to order.  I limited myself, however, to just two appetizers.  Leone had 2 appetizers and a main course.  Plus dessert, of course.

All were profoundly disappointing.  Some were downright bad.  One example:  a desert called "apples," which had some sort of apple custard under a caramelized sheet of sugar with a mini candied apple on the side.  The apple custard was okay, but the caramalized sheet of sugar tasted burnt and the candied apple was nearly impossible to eat.  The Chef tried, and nearly hurt himself.  If you have to work really hard to eat something, and it's mostly for looks rather than for nourishment, then what is it doing on the plate?  Other dishes were just okay or simply uninspiring.  The blood orange special desert was nothing special at all, and frankly, I think I could've made something better at home.  And this is saying something, since I am totally a beginner baker!

Although the food was disappointing at best, the conversation was nice, since I really hadn't talked to the chef since, oh, November.  We had a lot to catch up on.  so much to talk about (and eat) that we totally missed our movie.  Oh well, hopefully we'll be able to make one today.

So don't let a well written menu deceive you; a menu can read great, but eat well?  not so much.