To say that it was "good" is like saying Megan Fox is "pretty."
Everything was phenomenal - the atmosphere, the food, and the service.
We got there around 9, just as it was getting dark, and the front was all lit up. The restaurant is in an old house, The Lucas House (from what the sign said), and it has been renovated beautifully. We were seated shortly after arriving, and our server (I think his name was Chase - he didn't introduce himself to us but I overheard him tell another table) came over to greet us and fill our water glasses, for which we were extremely grateful - we had walked around the nearby park while waiting, and it was still very humid out. He asked if we had visited The Fig Tree before and when we told him we had not, he welcomed us warmly and told us to take the meal at our own pace, and he was there to answer any questions we might have.
The menu was one of the most amazing I've seen in awhile. The dinner menus were copper plated on the front (giving them a nice heft) and beautifully laid out. The wine/cocktail menu was also very extensive, and, although we don't imbibe often, it was a date, so after much consideration, I chose the Sparkling Pear Martini and Chris ordered a Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout. While we were enjoying those, we ordered the Foie Gras appetizer (pictured below).
I know a lot of people don't eat foie gras because they think it's cruel, but let me tell you, it is delicious. The menu described this particular version as "Pan Seared Foie Gras over Cornbread Bread Pudding with Bacon Praline and Blackberry Gastrique" - c'mon, tell me that doesn't sound amazing! The sear on the top was superb - it added just a little crunch to the texture but the inside was still rare enough so that it melted in your mouth. I think I ate every bite with my eyes closed. The sweetness of the cornbread served as the perfect foil to the tartness of the gastrique and the saltiness of the bacon. I have only had foie gras a handful of other times, but this one is definitely at the top of my list! I literally could have eaten that as my meal and been 100% satisfied. The martini I had chosen was crisp and refreshing, and the Absolut Pear brightened up the flavors in the appetizer even more. Definitely a promising start...
As I've mentioned previously, my go-to entree is always duck, no matter how it's served. This was described as a "Harmony Ridge Farmed Duck Breast over Almond and Date Risotto with Apricot Herb Pan Jus." I ordered mine medium (warmed in the middle with a hot pink center) and it was prepared to perfection, with a nice sear on the skin. The apricot in the jus was both sweet and tangy, and provided a nice contrast to the gaminess of the duck. The real star of this dish was the risotto. I never would have thought to put almonds and dates in risotto (and Chris, my expert chef, said the same thing), although they are both Italian staples, and worked incredibly well. Speaking from experience, risotto is tricky to cook. This one was perfectly al dente, and whatever sauce they used was full of creamy, savory goodness. I think Chris liked it even more than I did, which was fair, because I liked his side dish more than he did...
Sea scallops are some of my favorite things in the world if they're prepared correctly.The key is to cook them enough so they're warm all the way throughout, but so that the inside is still on the rare side (meaning that, like the foie gras, they should melt in your mouth). These were like butter. According to the menu, they were "Sautéed Sea Scallops over Prosciutto, Leek, Shishito Pepper and Golden Raisin Couscous with Lemon-Oregano Beurre Blanc." I'll start with the couscous. I'm not a HUGE fan of it (my fiancé likes it more than I do), but this version had lager grains, and I preferred these much more than the smaller ones. I think it's because they actually had some texture - it was more like eating tiny pasta pearls. The leeks, peppers and raisins actually worked wonderfully together, and the beurre blanc, while needing just a touch of salt, was exactly the right complement to the scallops. (I will say that we took our leftovers home and, when we re-heated the scallops the next day, the flavors had mixed together overnight and I no longer felt that the sauce was missing anything at all.)
I want to take a moment to mention the outstanding service we received. Both Chris and I are restaurant veterans; between the two of us, we have close to 20 years of experience working in every aspect of the restaurant industry (kitchen, bar, host stand, catering, serving - you name it, we've done it), so we definitely appreciate quality service. The first thing we noticed is how well everyone worked together as a team - we always had someone (whether it was Chase or one of his co-workers) to fill our water glasses, remove our plates and flatware, or bring us our salads or entrees. Working in the restaurant industry for so long has taught us both the importance of being a team player, and, nowadays, not many people are like that, so it definitely stood out to us. Also, even though we stayed well past closing (about 30 minutes or so), we didn't feel rushed at all. From the moment Chase came to greet us, he expressed that we could take it as fast or slow as we wanted, and yet we still felt like he valued and attended to us as much as he did his other customers.
There are just a few other things on which I wish to comment, even though I won't go into great detail. Before the appetizer came out, the servers brought some slices of homemade Focaccia (still warm), which was served with roasted, pureed garlic. Neither Chris nor I had ever seen that done at a restaurant before, so needless to say, we were impressed! Roasted garlic has a sweetness and richness you don't get from raw garlic, and it paired extremely well with the density and chewiness of the Focaccia.
Each entree comes with a house salad with vinaigrette dressing, which is pretty standard. I will say that these house salads were anything BUT standard - they came with cherry tomatoes, sliced radishes, cucumbers, a carrot "wave" (for lack of a better term), and some amazing house-made croutons. The vinaigrette was light and sweet, and the croutons were crunchy and well-seasoned. Also, we were offered both freshly ground pepper and grated Parmesan cheese, both of which were welcomed additions.
Lastly, we ordered dessert (to go - we were way too full to eat it there). Everything on the dessert menu looked equally appetizing, but we went with a variation on a theme - the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake, "topped with Passion Fruit Gelée, Plum Preserves, Chili Flake Pickled Ginger, and Dark Chocolate-roasted Macadamia Nut Bark." (Everything else had some sort of ice cream with it, and I worried it would melt by the time we got home.) I wish I had taken a picture of the presentation, because, even though we did take it home, they had separated nearly every component - the Gelée, the preserves, and the ginger were all in their own separate containers. When combined, the end result was surprisingly delectable. The passion fruit and plum flavors were tangy and bright, and the pickled ginger was not as overpowering as I'd feared. While I didn't get as much of the actual cheesecake flavor as I'd liked, the overall flavors were outstanding.
I want to thank everyone at The Fig Tree for making our "date night" spectacular in so many ways. We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the meal and will definitely be back!
The quote I'll leave y'all with today is from Virginia Woolf - "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."
Have a great week!
