Girls Night Out!

Last night, I met my bestie (Lizzy) for a much needed girl's night out.  We had been trying to set one up for weeks, but people's schedules were so full, so it ended up being just the two of us.

We went to Bistro 310 here in Columbus. Both of us have been there many times in the past.  When I first moved to Columbus, Bistro had a monthly changing menu.  Now it seems that the menu has gone to seasonal.  I was a little disappointed to see that they had not changed over to the Fall Menu yet, because they make some pork shanks that are out of this world.

We started our evening with a bottle of Andeluna Torrontes and the restaurant's Grilled Artichoke appetizer. It was not nearly as good as I had hoped for.  In fact it tasted like egg salad.  It was described on the menu as Grilled artichoke, 310 artichoke-parmesan dip, chives, toast points.  The toast was large slices of charged bread, the artichoke-parmesan dip tasted like egg salad (except for the long pieces of tough artichoke leaf that had made it in to the dip), and the grilled artichoke left you scratching your head wondering what exactly you were supposed to do with it.  We were hungry though, so we did make a good dent in it.

We were served salads after this.  Lizzy had the house salad and I had the Caesar.  No complaints about either!

For our main course, Lizzy chose the Baked Polenta Lasagna, which is described in the menu as Layers of Baked Polenta, Fresh Herbs, Grilled Vegetables, Fresh Mozzarella, Goat Cheese, Roasted Vegetable Coulis.  It was delicious.  Everything just worked really well together.  A bite with polenta, goat cheese, and grilled zucchini that was dipped in the coulis (it was a tomato-y and red bell pepper-y tasting sauce) was D-I-V-I-N-E!

I had the Roast Chicken which was described as Roasted chicken, White Cheddar Chorizo Grits, Sautéed Swiss Chard, natural jus.  The Grits were pretty darn good, though I did not get any hint of chorizo in the them.  The chicken was a simple, yet well done roast chicken.  The Swiss chard was my favorite part of the dish though.  I love greens, and these were done just right.  I would have been happy to have a little less of the natural jus on the plate, because it thinned the grits and made them harder to eat, but all in all it was a good meal.

For dessert we ordered the The Flourless Chocolate Cake which was described as rich Valrhona chocolate cake, chocolate covered vanilla bean “lollypop”.  Unfortunately we were so excited to taste it when it arrived, that I forgot to take a picture.  The cake was hot and gooey, and truly dark chocolate deliciousness.  The "lollypop" was vanilla bean ice cream dipped in dark chocolate.  The dark chocolate on it was at least one quarter of an inch thick.  It too was delicious, though not very easy to share! ;)

All in all, I would say the food was good.  Not the best I have had at Bistro 310, but really I am not complaining.  The conversation was excellent!  It was just what I needed to help me de-stress a bit.  It was probably the first time Lizzy and I have ever gone out and I did more of the talking than she did.  Thank you Lizzy for a great night!

***Side note on the 2010 Andeluna Torrontes wine.  It was really good!  Lizzy and I both drink more red wine than we do white, but this white was so good that the bottle was gone before we ever got our main course, and we were wishing we would have had just one more glass to drink with the meal.  It is a very fruity white wine, but not a sweet wine.  In fact the finish was very dry.  I am a fan of Argentinian wines, and Andeluna is always a good bet for my money.***