8 Months at Fiola

Before I get into tonight’s blog post, I want to give a big shout out to Matt on his first grad school acceptance today!  He was one of their top choices, and I’m so proud of how hard he has worked on getting into school.  There are several more programs to hear from, but to have a great offer from the first school he’s heard from is definitely a great start !

PT Update

Yesterday morning I had a PT appointment, and I braced myself for bad news.  My knee has been really sore since the race and I was worried I’d been dumb (despite listening to my body the entire time).  However, I actually received a pat on the back from my PT for being so smart!  She was impressed that my body seems to be in pretty good condition and there was no observable damage from racing!  My knee still stiffens up after long periods of sitting but overall it’s feeling better every day.  I’ve been given permission to ride a stationary bike and swim, but I’m going to take the remainder of the week off for recovery (since I didn’t after Philly) and then get back into cardio next week.  That likely means the later half of next week, though, with the inauguration having a big effect on open buildings and work schedules.  The good news is I didn’t regress backwards from racing, and I’m on the path of recovery!

8 Months at Fiola

After canceling our first reservation at Fiola due to a crazy work schedule and Matt being sick, we made it in on Thursday night before taking off for Florida.  We’d been walking past it every time we went to the courthouse when working on our marriage license, and both of us have been dying to give it a try.  Needless to say, both of us were excited to spend our 8 month dinner enjoying the tasting menu at Fiola.

After finally settling on a bottle of wine and placing our order, the most amazing rolls were brought to our table!  These things were basically croissants in roll form.  They were buttery and flaky and warm and heavenly.  I could have easily had more than the two I devoured almost immediately.

Shortly after, our first course arrived: the tuna carpaccio served with tomatoes, preserved lemon, seaweed, and a citrus crema.  I loved the flavor combination of this dish – Matt said it reminded him of some of the flavors in some of the first dishes at Komi – and thought it was the perfect way to start the meal.  Very light but bold in flavor.

Our appetizer was followed by the pasta course: smoked potato agnolotti with octopus, calamari, clams, and scallops.

The dish was served in a wonderful tomato broth, and the smokiness of the potato paired wonderfully with the seafood.  We both really enjoyed the flavors in the dish, and I also thought the presentation was really well done.

Pasta was followed by seafood, which was the arctic char.

The arctic char was also served with octopus and clams on a bed of beans.  It all had a briny flavor, which I thought worked really well.  However, I didn’t care much for the texture of the beans with the rest of the dish.  To me they tasted dry, which is not a taste I want with seafood.

The arctic char was supposed to be followed by a venison, but the chef was unhappy with the meat and we ended up getting to pick our meat course.  I went with the veal chop and Matt picked the beef tenderloin.

The veal was wrapped in prosciutto, served in an osso bucco sauce (think wonderful mushrooms), and covered in pistachios with a hazelnut tuile.  It was incredible, and that’s saying a lot because I’m not usually much of a meat person!  The sauce was delicious (on the heavy side so I couldn’t finish it) but really made the dish.  The meat was wonderfully juicy and tender, and the flavors all came together incredibly well.  Matt’s beef tenderloin was served on mashed potatoes and accompanied by seared foie gras on top and a parmesan tuile.  It was also wonderful, and it disappeared from Matt’s plate VERY quickly!

The savory dishes were followed by a wonderful dessert of La Zuppa Inglese, which is mascarpone with a small layer of pound cake topped with raspberries and a champagne and lemoncello granita on top.   Dessert was served with house-made blood orange gelees.

The granita was definitely strong!  But the flavors were perfect together.  I loved the creaminess mixed with the tart berries and the bubbly granita.  I was too stuffed to get all the way through the dish, but seriously loved it.  It was definitely my style of dessert.  I also found the gelee to be pretty good in flavor, but the texture was just slightly off for me…a little on the grainy side.

Following dessert, we ended up getting into conversation with the couple at the table next to us (and a big congrats to them as they were out celebrating their engagement!).  As conversation continued, our server ended up bringing out a round of lemoncello…and it was strong!  Very good but very strong.  It took me a while to sip my way through the glass, and by the time I had, the sommelier came around with a bottle of one of his guilty pleasures – a fruity blush wine that he described as “boating wine.”  I would definitely agree with that assessment, but I would also agree that it was nice and light, wonderful after a heavy meal.

We had A LOT of fun at dinner, between wonderful food and fun conversation, and it was the perfect build up to a much anticipated vacation!  After 8 months of marriage, I’m looking forward to at least another 800 more!

Your Turn:  What’s one of your food/drink guilty pleasures?  Where is the best dinner roll you’ve had?  Have you ever been to Fiola?