Dinner at Vetri

     Arriving just 5 minutes before my 6pm reservation I was the first patron to enter the Vetri's dining room and was offered my choice of seats.  Remembering the wisdom of my Uncle Morris I chose a table in a corner with my back against the wall facing the front door.  And from there I also was able to look across the room at a full length mirror on the far wall that reflected into the kitchen.  From that vantage point I could view all the comings and goings of guests and staff alike.

     The host greeted me warmly saying that he had been expecting me and in a few minutes another staff member offered me a selection of stuzzichini, an assortment of delicious hors d'oeuvres.  On the plate were a quartet of  tasty morsels that primed my palate for what was to arrive at my table in the next 3 hours.  Crudites also graced the table, dipping into an amazing jam of balsamic vinegar reduced to a thickened pool of intense flavor.  Whole wheat and Italian white bread, freshly baked were also present eager to sop up some extra virgin olive oil.

     The menu I was given was just to inform me of the possibilities.  As I looked over the columns of antipasti, pasta, secondi and dolce the question was posed as to any preferences I might have and also what would be best to omit from my dining experience.  I mentioned my penchant for fish and seafood to my server and he promptly recommended several options, in addition to other culinary delights from the chef's repertoire.



     Another server brought to my table a sweet onion crepe with truffle fondue and explained that the onions had spent the day being gently caramelized before finding their way into a delicately rolled crepe.  It was so delicious that I purposely attempted to make it last by taking increasingly smaller bites.  But soon it was gone and promptly replaced by a squab salad, thin slices of fowl on a bed of organic Lancaster County lettuce drizzled with a cherry glaze sauce.  It was so tender I didn't need my knife.  And the final antipasti plate fulfilled my wish for shellfish.  It was an elegantly positioned soft shell crab half held in place by a tempura coating that had been ever so lightly fried and placed on a pool of agrodolce, a sweet and sour concoction created from green tomatoes.



     Next came two pasta tastings.  The first was a demure handmade series of ravioli stuffed with corn puree.  Using silver tongs I picked each up and gave it a dredging through freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese before it danced across my taste buds.  The second pasta again kept to the seafood theme as my server described the saffron fusilli that accompanied bits of lobster and Pernod.  It was a masterful blending of flavors, each highlighting the other.

     The secondi tastings were a riff on surf and turf as the first plate arrived presenting roasted turbot, a fish prized for its delicate flavor,  encircled by a thin potato pancake.  That was followed by capretto rising out of a pillow of soft polenta.  The rib meat was tender and sweet, a mild surprise as I learned it was from a young goat.



     There was barely any room left for the dolci but I was not about to miss the final encore of a truly amazing meal.  The pistachio flan was rich and creamy.  And if that weren't sufficient, it was accompanied on the dessert plate by a dollop of homemade milk chocolate gelato.  But the chef wasn't finished.  Last but not least a single scoop of strawberry sorbet cleansed my palate before I took aim on a plateful of petit-fours.



     The food was rich and diverse with stunning and intense flavors, each of the courses selected and prepared just for me.  And as much as I enjoyed the meal, even moreso did I relish the conversation with the staff as they explained both the food and the process.  It was a unique dining experience that will be the standard by which I now measure every other meal I attend.