A Need to Create

My brother-in-law Doug loves to have fun and he loves a good meal. Therefore, he always treats us to a great meal somewhere every time he visits. This time was no exception. In fact, I think I might even have a new favorite restuarant - Vesta Dipping Grill.

We were going to go to a wonderful gumbo joint, but found that it had closed - what a bummer! A friend of mine had raved about Vesta, so we decided to give it a go.

It is a very hip place. The bathrooms were even cool. The table was a giant slap of round concrete. The lighting was funky and the feel was a bit classy industrial.

We started out with appetizers such as golden ponzu shrimp(soy butter, jalapeno ponzu*, sambal) and chinese bbq pork belly (yuzu mayonnaise, orange, shiso). Along with those small plate items came nearly enless, lovely country bread with a crunch crust and chewy center paired with roasted garlic cloves and nice olive oil. We could have stopped there and I would have been happy.

Next up - dinner. You pick an entree and three dips to go along with it. They offer pairing suggestions, but I wanted to pick my own. Here's what we ordered:

boneless berkshire pork chop
adobada, pulled pork chilaquiles, jalapeno cabbage slaw
SUGGESTED SAUCES: salsa verde**, mango poblano salsa, roasted corn

jalapeno grilled tofu
sweet chili carrot puree, white soy kimchi
SUGGESTED SAUCES: korean garlic bbq, tamarind chipotle**, green chili gastrique

sofrito braised short rib
manchego polenta, garlic rainbow chard, smoked paprika jus
SUGGESTED SAUCES: green chili gastrique*, bacon aioli, steuben's chimichurri

They were all wonderful! And can you believe that we ordered dessert, too?!

Yuzu French Toast (made from Brioche bread, served warm)
cinnamon ice cream, vanilla whipped cream, caramel sauce

Sticky Toffee Pudding
with vanilla whipped cream and tuile cookies
dipping sauces:
hot fudge, creme anglaise, strawberry cointreau

Matty's Wacky Apple Pie
caramel dipped apple rolled in sweet crunch served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup
dipping sauces:
hot fudge, creme anglaise, strawberry cointreau

Speaking of wacky, we asked them a bunch of wacky questions which they were happy to answer. I asked every person who came to the table what their current favorite from the menu was. Larr and Ethan wanted to know how much the tabled weighted. We tried to guess at what the building had been used for in the past. We asked about things hanging int he kitchen and about their other restuarant, Stubens. It was a whole lot of fun - you should try it out! Yeah!