A fine Repast

Tonight we went to Repast for dinner for my 30th birthday. I was reservedly excited because reviews have been mixed.

The space is industrialish and the Boy rolled his eyes at how delighted I was by the surprising soundtrack of '80s pop music. What can I say? Who doesn't perk their ears and tap their toes for a Raspberry Beret? Our server, Zach and I were both singing and dancing along. We were tucked into a little corner by the door that was cozy and private, though I imagine if the restaurant was busy (i.e. it wasn't Tuesday) that the place could get loud and echoey.

Everything we had was fantastic. We started off with the bacon-wrapped dates and the salmon and goat cheese pizzette. The dates weren't as transcendent as I'd been led to believe by the reviews I'd read, but then again, my obsession with bacon makes me an uncommon audience already familiar with the divine combination of sticky sweetness and savory saltiness that this dish provides. I am the woman who made candied bacon for a dessert garnish in recent memory, so don't mind me. The dates are solid. The pizzette, again, did not incite angel song, but I found myself closing my eyes to savor the simple and balanced flavors of the salmon, goat cheese, capers and shallots. I can taste it now.

We sampled the Repastini and the Sultan's Breakfast cocktails with these starters, and both drinks were great, but layoff the Repastini if you aren't keen on ginger, and off the Sultan if you don't like strega. In fact, the server exclaimed with glee when I ordered the SB--I was scared that this was a bad sign, but he insisted that he was delighted because it's a great drink, but it is infrequently ordered because of its peculiar ingredients. The Sultan also came with a rim of an unidentifiable not-salty, not-sweet substance which I learned was fennel pollen. The pollen was interesting, but at times was vaguely unpleasant in a sandy way. Once I knew what it was, I felt better about it. I thought both drinks were quite lovely with interesting flavor combinations that worked.

We both had the pekin duck, medium rare, and it was fantastic, if guilt inducing over the fat that we didn't want to cut off. The Boy was a bit concerned about the escargot in the red wine risotto, but he had no need to fear -- the risotto was flavorful, the escargot tender, but not slimy. A really brilliant, non-threatening way to pop his snail-eating cherry. The server helped us select a really nice wine that paired with the duck perfectly.

For dessert, they brought us an acceptable (if a little boring) chocolate concoction for my birthday, and we enjoyed the 3 choice dessert with the bread pudding, chocolate terrine with salt and olive oil (AMAZING!!!) and a couple of cheeses (Manchego and Gorgonzola, I think) which were both fantastic.

All in all, Repast was a really wonderful dining experience and fully deserving of the AJC's 4 stars. It wasn't outraeously expensive, but in the special-occasion-only price range for us. Definitely a place that was wholly satisfying for a mid-week occasion.