Restaurant Week: Round 2

Have I mentioned how much I love food?! Yet another good experience this week, this time at Georges Brasserie in Southpark's Piedmont Row.  My outstanding coterie and I started off in the lounge while we waited for our table.  Having never been inside this restaurant before, we all immediately approved the visuals and atmosphere. While waiting on our drinks, I noticed the raw bar and headed over to check out their oyster selection. I discovered that on Saturday evenings they offer $1 oysters; James River being the special of the day!  I can guarantee I will be back in the very near future for a dirty and a dozen!

The dining room was bustling once we were sat at our banquette, which I'm always glad to see. We did not have to wait long at all for service, and before long our first orders were promptly taken (with a dozen oysters, of course). With there being four of us dining, we decided to share all four of the first course options. It was a good variation, and between the Beet Salad, Duck Confit, Shrimp Provencal, and Liver Mousse/Country Pate, the latter was my favorite.  This was all accompanied by a glass of the Amity Pinot Noir from Willamette.

Onto the main courses, I was well prepared, having already peeked at the menu earlier that day.  The Linguine Forestiere was exactly what I was in the mood for, and the size of the dish was even more than I could eat! With an ensemble of butter braised leeks, exotic mushrooms, brown butter beurre blanc, butternut squash, and toasted almonds, you can guess correctly that it was superb. The Salmon (Pan seared, with saffron Israeli couscous, sauteed arugula, lobster cream sauce, fresh tarragon) was ordered by two of my dining companions, and I was temped by the presentation.

After filling ourselves appropriately, enjoying some time drinking wine and exchanging conversation, our desserts showed up at the table for our sweet tooth to kick into action.

The Vanilla Creme Brulee won over the table (that's my go-to in almost every case), but I also really appreciated the extra Lemon Creme Puffs with chantilly whipped creme the server brought as well.  When eating French cuisine, a French pastry is a necessity! Or, even when *not* eating French cuisine ;)

Altogether, with the combination of great company, great food, and atmosphere, I'd sum it all up as an upwardly enjoyable evening! Not that I'm looking for one, but you most likely will not find an experience of mine that is less than satisfactory on this site.

Bring on the next! (Who's with me?)