Dining with large groups ultimately has its issues. Dining out
Saturday night ultimately has some issues, and dining out with your
family can often be a disaster.
Last night TEN of us headed about 10 minutes away from my mother's to
MERITAGE at 1505 Weaver St in Scarsdale, NY
(www.meritagerestaurant.net). It is a nice, if too dimly lit, spot in
a mini-strip mall that makes you feel away from the crowds, although
Scarsdale hardly has crowds! The decor is nothing special, and the
service leaves a bit to be desired, but the food is quite good and
reasonable as well.
Since my sister only likes Chardonnay for white, we chose the Vincent
JJ Bourgogne Blanc 2008, which was declared too fruity by some though
most of us liked it as an aperitif while we ordered and said hellos.
We switched to a big okay Sonoma Chard "Overlook" from Landmark that
was instantly declared as corked. So I suggested we move to a light
red. Nobody at the table, other than us, had ever heard of the
DOLCETTO d'ALBA and the sommelieuse, who seemed pretty knowledgeable
said it was quite intense for a Dolcetto. The ROAGNA 2008 was more
than medium bodied and it satisfied all perfectly; we even had a 2nd
bottle!
Samuel was super pleased with is TAGLIATELLE alla BOLOGNESE which was
a monster portion, so we asked for a doggie bag which they lost. At
the end of the meal they simply sent out a fresh 1/2 order to take
home at no cost, which was a good move.
The starters were all quite yummy from the pates to the Marinated
Artichokes, and my divine STEAMED MANILA CLAMS and MUSSELS in a
Garlic, Tomato sauce with ARUGULA Crouton, which turned out to be a
large slab of bread soaking in the sauce and dusted with pieces of the
greens for flavor.
The pasta category on the menu had "All fresh pasta is homemade" under
it, which gave me a giggle. Pasta dishes were indeed all fresh and
good including Will's LINGUINE with Cauliflower, Garlic, Olive Oil,
Chive & Bread Crumbs.
For the main course several ordered yummy chicken specials, fluke and
two of us had the Sauteed HUDSON VALLEY DUCK BREAST with Cauliflower
Puree, Apples and Dates. The preparation was perfect, but after asked
for mine rare to medium rare it came out RAW. They fixed it quickly as
our very giddy (her laugh was more bothersome than infectious) server
Callie giggled as she tried to apologize.
We were all tired and the dessert menu offered little more than
sorbet, ice cream, cookies, bread pudding, cheesecake and some
chocolate dish, which none of us felt like...so we headed home, happy
for the most part, but realizing that large family dinner, especially
on Saturday can get dangerous.
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