Ranking: 💋 💋 💋 😘 🥰
(in MK language that means 3.75 - a new one!)
Helloooo again! So this is a little dated. I went out to dinner with my parents at the end of January, had a great meal, and was like "this calls for a blog!" And then February and March were absolutely nuts. So here we are in April, enjoying the thaw, and I'm dredging up a dinner from a chilly winter's night at the beach! Put on your mittens and let's head to Grana in Cape May.
We had a very small wait before being seated at a round table in the back of the room. The hostess wore the cutest outfit, and the place was popping in the off season, so I took that to be a very good sign. Grana is quite fancy and offers a prixe fixe menu for those who are interested, but not everyone at the table has to participate. This is great news because usually if one person goes prix-fixe, the entire table has to follow suit. My mom was interested in the tasting menu, and of course I wanted her to enjoy the meal as she wished, but I did not want that for myself. Prixe fixe menus stress me out a little bit. I will go à la carte, thank you very much! We also had a wonderful waitress who was super knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor, so all off to a good start.
While my mom had a delicious bisque from the tasting menu (she was very pleased), my dad and I split two appetizers. We opted for the tuna tartare and creamy mushroom fusilli. I appreciated how different they were - fresh and tangy versus creamy and deep, cool versus warm. It was delicious. I might have only slightly preferred the tartare, but both were excellent, they were just different moods. Different, yet somehow not too contrary to be enjoyed together.
I also learned how to pronounce fusilli - you are never too old kids! Fu-SIL-lee, not Fooh-silee. Whoops. I have done worse. In my defense, I read books and sometimes ya think ya know how to pronounce a word on the page, but you are mistaken. I see nothing wrong with being well-read, if incapable of pronouncing everything correctly all the time. 😬
During the main course, my mom offered me a bite of her pork and it was mouthwatering. Her dish also included scallops, which I think is an interesting pairing, but apparently it really worked. Every dish was seasonal and artfully crafted. My dad and I both ordered the salmon as our entrée and it was really delicious. It sat on a nice creamy bed of risotto and perfectly tangy asparagus, and stayed fresh and clean without getting to heavy. My only disappointment with the meal: a bit of my salmon skin was just a small moment too burnt. If it had been taken off the heat only a few short moments earlier, it would have been fine. Unfortunately, those moments make a difference and I really look forward the skin usually, so the bitter burnt taste was a bummer.
Try saying that five times fast.
There were absolutely no misses with the dessert. Heavennnn is a perfectly fresh vanilla-y crème brûlée, and it has been a long time since my tastebuds caught a glimpse of one of those. I will dream of you, little pot of scorched cream and fresh berries. The sticky sweet prixe fixe dessert - a little toffee pudding with nutty caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream - was delectable. My mom gave me a bite and it was so scrumptious I could've eaten the whole thing. To pick a favorite between the crème and the toffee is too impossible a task, so do not make me try.
Back then, we were still hopeful the Eagles would win the NFC Championship game the next day and Philly would go to the Super Bowl. I had determined that, if we did make it, I would come home to watch. It is important to enjoy Philly success in Philly territory. Plus, I don't have a television in New York sooo... I mean there are always sports bars but, why would I watch my beautiful Eagles in the biggest game, surrounded by New York fans who hate us, in a random sports bar? If you have the option instead to watch the game with those who bleed green as you do, how could you not take that option? Exactly. We discussed where we might go to dinner that weekend, if it should happen. Grana had been so wonderful, returning in 2 weeks was a serious consideration.
It is so odd writing about this dinner three months later because, in that relatively short period of time, so much in my life has changed that looking at where I was then feels like a wildly different life. I guess I am in a tunnel phase, with lots of changes happening in very small windows of time, requiring quick adaptation and very flexible thinking. It has been challenging, 2023, but I feel like I am on the right track.
Also, if any of you happen to have Amazon Prime, as an industry insider I highly recommend you check out Season 5 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It is THE show to watch, and I have it on personal intel that episode 4 is especially exciting! In fact, it is so good, it might be worth getting the free trial just to watch it. That's what I might do. Just saying. Just throwing it out there. No big deal or anything.
I hope you are all well!!
XX,
MK