Dining Out: You'll feel special, at 'home' at Wild Orchid
the Capital [01.2007]
By TERRA WALTERS
"Do you think they're real?" we whispered, then touched the exquisite white rose buds in a vase on the table. They were. Just one of the many indicators that your hosts want you to feel special at Wild Orchid Café.
Still decorated for the holiday season, the restaurant shimmered with warmth and welcome as we approached for our first night out of 2007.
Someone had spent a great deal of time choosing the selections for the Wild Orchid wine list, so it seemed only fitting to spend a bit of time deciding what to drink. Finally, a 2004 Cesari Duetorri Pinot Grigio ($24) beat out the serious competition and we drank a toast to having made it through the seasonal madness. (Consider the 2003 Diablo de Uco Malbec for $28 if you're looking for an interesting red.)
A parenthetical word about winespeak: Sometimes, as we all know, the descriptors for wine can go a bit over the edge. Having said that, the word that came quickest to mind in describing this vintage was "happy." This was a happy little wine and most appropriate for welcoming the new year. Before we leave the topic of celebratory libation, we should point out that only wine and beer are available at the Wild Orchid, so diners who wish to enjoy a preprandial cocktail should do so before arriving.
Even though there are always innovative and delectable meals to be had at Wild Orchid, our party was fortunate enough to be able to choose from the Holiday Dinner menu. Eight entrée choices (try making THAT decision!) were available for an a la carte price of $32 (salad and bread are included with the a la carte items), but the real bargain was the $40 prix fixe menu, which included an Amuse Bouche (a mouth-watering sweet red pepper mousse in a delicate pastry crust was the offering on the night we were there), the restaurant's fabulous signature cream of butternut squash soup with Maryland lump crab, a salad, an entrée and a dessert.
The bread basket arrived promptly and we were able to nibble on a piping hot loaf of fresh home-baked bread. We could have slathered the yummy bread with a fascinating spread of spinach, mushrooms and leeks, but the bread was so good unadorned that we ate it plain and split the spread to eat by itself as well.
I think it's safe to say that the arrival of salad at a table usually goes unheralded, but these salads merited an "Ahhhh" uttered in unison by all three diners. A mixture of fresh and flavorful winter greens had been tossed with a subtle raspberry vinaigrette and complemented with slices of poached pear, crumbles of gorgonzola, slivers of toasted almond and dried cranberries. Perhaps one should be embarrassed to leave such perfectly cleaned salad plates, but we were shameless in our efforts to get every tasty morsel.
The entrées, when they arrived, also brought appreciation for the beautiful presentation. The kitchen at Wild Orchid Café clearly understands that appearance, though not as important as taste, is still an integral part of a memorable restaurant meal.
Getting our vote for prettiest plate was the one that was a symphony of simplicity: It held the special of the evening, a beautiful piece of grilled salmon napped with a piquant Hollandaise and adorned with spears of grilled asparagus. The salmon, very fresh and firm, delivered on the promise that had been made by the presentation and the diner who ordered it, the bona fide salmon aficionado in our group, was delighted with her choice.
The maple-infused sweet potato puree was studded with toasted pecan bits and proved once more what previous visits had taught, that this kitchen takes side dishes and accompaniments quite seriously.
In our fair city (and throughout the area), a restaurant's preparation of crab cakes can make them or break them, and Wild Orchid Café's version demonstrates that they understand the importance of excellent crab cakes and can rise to the occasion. These cakes, described on the menu as Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes, might well have been called JUMBO Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes for they were as generous a portion as we had seen anywhere. The diner who ordered them not only had one cake to take home but struggled to finish the first one.
Accompanying the crab cakes were roasted red potatoes that had been tossed with rosemary and sea salt as well as some of the grilled asparagus. A mustard cream sauce, quite delicious in its own right, was relegated to the role of dipping sauce for the asparagus because the crab cakes didn't need anything extra.
The third member of our party ordered the rib eye of Angus beef and enjoyed it even though the cut was a bit fatty. The meat was flavorful and had been cooked to the exact degree of doneness requested. The dollop of Cranberry-Gorgonzola Compound Butter that topped the rib eye was delectable on its own but just a shade overpowering for the meat. The grilled asparagus made an appearance, as promised on the menu, but the other accompaniment was nothing like the Yorkshire pudding that had been mentioned. Don't consider that a complaint, however, for the creation that DID accompany the rib eye was inspired and remarkably good. Perhaps the best way to describe it would be to say that it resembled a rich and savory mushroom bread pudding. Yummy!
Wild Orchid Café is one of those places where dessert is almost mandatory. For one thing, you're enjoying such a wonderful evening of good food and good service that you don't want it to end. For another thing, you've had their crème brulée before and you want to try it again. We shared an order of the vanilla crème brulée ($6 a la carte, for we had decided initially that the prix fixe menu would have been too much food) and savored every last bit of it. They have mocha crème brulée as well, but the vanilla is too good to pass up.
Because the Wild Orchid Café is housed in a converted Eastport bungalow, diners feel almost as though they're visiting someone's home (one member of our party had actually lived in this house many years ago and regaled us with stories of her 2-year-old son slipping out and wandering up the middle of Bay Ridge Avenue). Owner-chef Wilder has been "inviting" us to his beautiful "home" for about 11 years now and that is one invitation local diners should always be ready to accept.