Vitor

Posted at 2012-04-29 04:56:23

Dinner at Mabel's! I wanted to share our excrnieepe at Mabel's this evening. As most of you know, as you enter a place that was under a previous name, it's always a little unusual to go back and re-think your expectations of EVERYTHING. Of course the first thing we noticed was a slight change in decor with color and art. Otherwise it was very familiar. The white table cloths were a wonderful addition and I chose specifically to go ultra casual in a nice pair of sweat pants to see if the white table cloth ambiance would make me feel like I didn't belong. On the contrary! The tables were full of a mix of families with children, and adults enjoying a nice quiet dinner together. We were immediately greeted by Josh who had no trouble telling we were newcomers to his restaurant. The addition of the front desk is a nice improvement as well for greeting guests and grounding the entrance. He chose a table for us close to the kitchen door and verified that we would be happy there before proceeding. As we were getting settled one of the servers passed us by on the way to deliver an entree to another guest and took the time to show us one of the evenings specialties. Upon return to our table she detailed the selection and told us about the other specials for the day. Our server for the evening was Angela. Thank you Angela for such a wonderful first visit! She catered to our teenage daughter and her appetite for bread, she answered any and all questions we had as well as making recommendations. You could tell that she loved many of the items herself by the way that she described some of them, such as the grilled Caesar salad. Whether is was Oscar in his supporting role as bus person or Josh en route to the kitchen, all of the staff made sure as they passed our table to refresh drinks or make sure that we were not waiting for anything.To the food I ordered a salad to start, the house salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Even creative salads can become nothing more than a salad. However, I must compliment the chef on the house salad. It was so well balanced! Mixed greens with green apple, almonds and cranberries. Pretty simple I admit, but they actually SEASONED the salad! I am not a huge fan of salt and generally very pleased that most places leave it off, however, this salad without the well balanced seasoning of salt and pepper would have been something totally different. Well done! I chose the crab cakes for my entree (love crab cakes!) They were very nice. Tall to preserve the moistness of the crab and smaller in diameter. Hand done, and really a wonderful bite. The red pepper aioli with the crab cakes on arugula was the perfect portion and just what I had in mind.My daughter ordered the fish and chips. We sampled each others' food, it's tradition! The fish was fresh in a dark fried breading. I was surprised at how moist it was. Very good and the slaw was not the traditional everyday slaw that people throw together with fish. It was light and crisp with tomatoes and cucumbers.My husband tried the steamer clams, something he had wanted to do, but just hadn't, and was very happy with his selection.I would talk about dessert, but well, it's just embarrassing that all of us had some after such a great meal! All in all a very nice first visit. The restaurant is about a month old now, and you can tell the staff is still trying to find their groove. Not from a competency perspective, but rather a sense of being able to relax into their roles. We had wonderful and genuine conversations with Angela, Josh and Oscar who treated us all as guests and new acquaintances rather than customers.As we loaded into our car we spied Angela coming our way soon we realized that she was tracking us down to deliver our forgotten left-overs, and with a smile!Go there, give it a chance! They are great people trying to do something wonderful and memorable for their friends, neighbors and community. I hope they become the neighborhood restaurant that we will all enjoy for many years.Josh kudos for taking the leap!

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Vitor

Posted at 2012-04-29 04:56:21

Dinner at Mabel's! I wanted to share our excrnieepe at Mabel's this evening. As most of you know, as you enter a place that was under a previous name, it's always a little unusual to go back and re-think your expectations of EVERYTHING. Of course the first thing we noticed was a slight change in decor with color and art. Otherwise it was very familiar. The white table cloths were a wonderful addition and I chose specifically to go ultra casual in a nice pair of sweat pants to see if the white table cloth ambiance would make me feel like I didn't belong. On the contrary! The tables were full of a mix of families with children, and adults enjoying a nice quiet dinner together. We were immediately greeted by Josh who had no trouble telling we were newcomers to his restaurant. The addition of the front desk is a nice improvement as well for greeting guests and grounding the entrance. He chose a table for us close to the kitchen door and verified that we would be happy there before proceeding. As we were getting settled one of the servers passed us by on the way to deliver an entree to another guest and took the time to show us one of the evenings specialties. Upon return to our table she detailed the selection and told us about the other specials for the day. Our server for the evening was Angela. Thank you Angela for such a wonderful first visit! She catered to our teenage daughter and her appetite for bread, she answered any and all questions we had as well as making recommendations. You could tell that she loved many of the items herself by the way that she described some of them, such as the grilled Caesar salad. Whether is was Oscar in his supporting role as bus person or Josh en route to the kitchen, all of the staff made sure as they passed our table to refresh drinks or make sure that we were not waiting for anything.To the food I ordered a salad to start, the house salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Even creative salads can become nothing more than a salad. However, I must compliment the chef on the house salad. It was so well balanced! Mixed greens with green apple, almonds and cranberries. Pretty simple I admit, but they actually SEASONED the salad! I am not a huge fan of salt and generally very pleased that most places leave it off, however, this salad without the well balanced seasoning of salt and pepper would have been something totally different. Well done! I chose the crab cakes for my entree (love crab cakes!) They were very nice. Tall to preserve the moistness of the crab and smaller in diameter. Hand done, and really a wonderful bite. The red pepper aioli with the crab cakes on arugula was the perfect portion and just what I had in mind.My daughter ordered the fish and chips. We sampled each others' food, it's tradition! The fish was fresh in a dark fried breading. I was surprised at how moist it was. Very good and the slaw was not the traditional everyday slaw that people throw together with fish. It was light and crisp with tomatoes and cucumbers.My husband tried the steamer clams, something he had wanted to do, but just hadn't, and was very happy with his selection.I would talk about dessert, but well, it's just embarrassing that all of us had some after such a great meal! All in all a very nice first visit. The restaurant is about a month old now, and you can tell the staff is still trying to find their groove. Not from a competency perspective, but rather a sense of being able to relax into their roles. We had wonderful and genuine conversations with Angela, Josh and Oscar who treated us all as guests and new acquaintances rather than customers.As we loaded into our car we spied Angela coming our way soon we realized that she was tracking us down to deliver our forgotten left-overs, and with a smile!Go there, give it a chance! They are great people trying to do something wonderful and memorable for their friends, neighbors and community. I hope they become the neighborhood restaurant that we will all enjoy for many years.Josh kudos for taking the leap!

Reply to comment