Shortly after Anne & I first started dating, we had a nice romantic dinner at The Refectory. At the time, we weren’t too accustomed to eating French cuisine and I think some of the flavors were a bit surprising to us at first. I do remember the ambiance being wonderful, and the service top-notch. So nearly six years later we made a return visit for our second wedding anniversary this year with our expectations set even higher now that our palates had matured a bit.
We decided to order a bottle of Champagne to celebrate. We don’t drink a whole lot of it, so we decided to order the ol’ standby that we knew we’d like… Martini & Rossi Asti. They were actually out of it that evening, but our sommelier suggested a similarly sweet option (Rosa Regale) that he thought we’d enjoy, and he was spot on. We’ve actually picked up a bottle at the store since then, we liked it so much.
I decided to start with the Mussel Soup, a hearty bisque with white wine, shallots, and a saffron cream. The mussels were delicious. Anne had a Ceaser Salad. We also ordered the Seafood and Lobster Coulibiac, which was delicious. I can’t say I’ve had anything like it before, and it was one of the first items I had to run home and google to learn more about. I’m not even sure what to compare it to. I guess you’ll just have to go try it for yourself.
For our main dishes Anne went with the Pan Seared Sea Scallops which were served with a linguini and mustard sauce. She’s never met a scallop she didn’t like, and these were no exception. I ordered the “Poisson Du Jour” which I believe was Halibut (I should have been taking notes, but that wouldn’t have been very romantic of me) served crusted with Crabmeat and Artichokes and a lobster sauce. I had seafood for every course and was pretty much in heaven the entire time.
For dessert, we were accosted with multiple offerings to help celebrate our special occasion. I didn’t get a chance to memorize the actual names of the items as they were brought out as a surprise, but we enjoyed a Creme Brule, some sort of Banana Chocolate Cake, several Petit Fours, and some Pâtes de fruits. The Creme Brule was excellent, but I wasn’t a big fan of the cake (I’m not a big chocolate eater). Anne loved the Petit Fours, but the Pâte was the real winner for both of us. We get them fairly regularly at Pistacia Vera, and while those are very good, the ones at the Refectory were on a whole different level. Highly recommended if you want a small dessert after a filling multi-course meal.
All in all, we came away very satisfied with our anniversary dinner. Beautiful setting, excellent service, and masterfully executed food. We may have found our new favorite go-to spot for special occasions. They do offer a more inexpensive Bistro menu as well, which we will definitely be back to try soon as well. I’ve only heard good things about it.