I’m a total whore when it comes to BYOB dinners – I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a lush – but so are my friends, so I blend right in!!  The Grocery Bistro is the perfect way to spend a Saturday evening where the focus of the meal is from “farm to table”.  Delicious food and an ‘energetic’ environment (aka LOUD); I enjoyed the upbeat atmosphere, dim lights and of course, their BYOB policy.

My friend Nick suggested to try this restaurant nearby, half way between our place and theirs.  TGB recently introduced a new executive chef and it seemed fairly busy each time they passed by it. We all know it’s not difficult to convince me to try a new place (twist my arm!) and even better, it’s BYOB. Like anytime I try a new restaurant, I did a little bit of research on it, reviewing the menu and seeing what the restaurant has to offer – given the excellent reviews, my expectations were extremely high.

We walked into the restaurant right on time for our 8pm reservation and every table was full.  But no fear, we grabbed a seat at the bar and the lovely lady behind the “fake bar” opened up our first bottle of wine that we brought. (It’s a fake bar because they don’t serve alcohol there).  In about ten minutes, we were lead to the large communal table that sits 18 and we sat up on the tall stood and began to peruse the menu.  Moments later, our server brought us a chilling bucket to keep our bottle icy cold – nice touch.   I loved the rustic look of the tablet on the wall with the menu – it reminded me of my meals in Paris where the daily specials are posted.

In true food whore fashion, Nick and Caroline agreed to share everything.  There was just too much that looked delicious!

James will order tartare of any kind,  any chance he gets – lucky for him, one of the small plates was a DUO of both tuna and steak tartare!  The tartars were fresh and tasty with each having different contrasting flavors. The tuna had great flavors of Chili Oil, Lemon Zest, Toasted Sesame, Fine Herbs, Sesame Aioli; while the steak had Lemon Zest, Fine Herbs, Quail egg, Yuzu-soy Vinaigrette.  ($9 was a great bargain for this dish!)

Next, we shared a rather small serving of PEI mussels which steamed with Applewood Smoked Bacon, Oven Dried Tomato, Garlic, White Wine, Butter.  The flavors in this dish was absolutely outstanding.  We had used up every speck of bread on the table to mop up the juices and had to stop ourselves from picking up the bowl and drinking the rest of the sauce. ($12)

Pan Seared Diver Scallop- Braised Short Ribs, Parsnip & Apple Puree, Black Kale, Veal Reduction ($26)

The braised short ribs were tender and juicy while the scallops were sweet.  Oh, and they stood very tall at about 1.5 inches in height and 1 inch in diameter!  Milky white on the inside and pan seared to perfection on the outside.  The kale was sweet and plenty.  If you like textured food, this will be a winner.  Crispy yet soft & sweet from the scallops;  savory and rich from the braised short ribs and veal reduction; fibrous and sweet from the apples and kale.  Maybe, this could be one of my last meals on earth.

Oven Roasted Rabbit- Prosciutto Wrapped Saddle, Parsnip Puree, Cippolini Onions, Curried Carrot Crepe,  Jus ($23)

If I could put Autumn on a dish, this would be it.  The earthy flavors of parsnips, onions and carrots made this truly a unique dish.  I love rabbit but I’ve only had it well done.  I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t know that I could eat rabbit medium / medium rare.  But now I know how tender it is when prepared this way.  Just like bacon, prosciutto wrapped ANYTHING is awesome.  Maybe it’s time to start a prosciutto fan club on facebook.

Braised Pork Cheeks- Creamy Pumpkin Polenta, Swiss Chard, Roasted Granny Smith Apples, Pork Reduction  ($24)

Fish cheeks, veal cheeks, now pork cheeks.  What are we gonna think of next?  Chicken cheeks?  Whatever becomes the next big thing, I hope it’s as yummy as this dish.  The polenta was SOOO creamy.

Wild Mushroom Risotto- Seasonal Mushrooms, Thyme, Parmesan, Truffle Whip Cream ($18)

Earthy, earthy, earthy.  Compliments to the chef for making this dish worthwhile to the non-vegetarian.  I almost never order anything vegetarian but since we were all sharing and wanted to try out everything, we ordered this.  Often times, if a risotto isn’t served right, then the starch becomes an wallpaper paste texture.  While this dish was creamy, it still had bite – and even better – you could tell that it was risotto because the shape of this rice was still defined.  How’d they do that??? I’ve been trying and trying to perfect my risotto and it never comes out this way!

Dessert – not know what to order, we ordered tried to order all four items on the menu.  Unfortunately, they were out of one item:  The Cookie Plate.  Oh well, I’m not completely heartbroken and we were really getting FULL!

While I’m not a dessert person (Michelle is), I still enjoyed these desserts but can’t say that I craved them when I left.  But they were good.

Overall, excellent meal – considering we enjoyed 9 courses to share and the total bill was about $95 per couple inclusive of all taxes and tips.

Wanna know the BETTER news?  Monday thru Thursday, enjoy a prix-fix 3-course meal for just $34pp.  Now that is one Food Whore dining deal!

Warm Chocolate Cake- Blood Orange sauce, Tuille

Spiced Donuts- Pear Compote

Apple Huckleberry Crisp- Caramel Whipped Cream