Palatte revisit

We went to Palatte for lunch today. The owner greeted us and asked if we needed to look at the menu, but since we knew what we wanted, we went right to the counter.After Tara ordered The Egg, we were told that it was sold out. We were there at 2pm and they closed at 3pm, so that was fine. We went back to the menu stand to look for a back. In doing so, we noticed some items we didn't remember. One was the Wild Mushroom Tart, which Tara decided to get with a side of the pear salad. Another was a French Toast with warm apple compote, tart berry syrup, and cream. Since I love French Toast, I decided to get that. Tara added a side of bacon. Mine dish came with choice of the smokehouse selection of meats, so I decided to try the chicken apple sausage. While we were debating, a table cleared, so we snagged that after ordering.

After a short wait, our meal arrived. Tara's came in one of their usual square tart crusts with a fairly sizable portion of the Pear Salad. She really enjoyed it, although she didn't think the mushrooms were wild mushroom, but regular button mushrooms. Still, it was very good when I tried it.

My French Toast was two long slices of challah bread with a very generous amount of finely cubed apple compote, drizzles of the tart berry sauce, and a large dollop of cream on top. Several pieces of the sausage were beside it. It was very good. The apple compote wasn't too sweet and almost like a dessert, with the occasional tastes the tart berries adding a nice contrast. The chicken apple sausage also had a nice flavor. Overall, it was a definite success.

About halfway through the meal, the owner came over to ask how we liked our meal, since we picked two of the new menu items. We assure him that we really like them and they were definitely a worthy addition to the menu. He said he's changing the menu to reflect seasonal offerings and to keep things fresh. We talked to him a few minutes about the horrible traffic flow, and he acknowledged that it's not great, but since he was reluctant to tear out a load-bearing wall or two (perfectly understandable), he did the best he could with what he had. Apparently we went at a good time today, as in the morning, the restaurant and all the outside tables were full, with more people waiting for seating. They've added misters that help, but still, we were very glad to beat the rush and eat inside. He also said there was a 1hr 15min backup for food this morning as a chef called in sick. We're REALLY glad we slept in. :)