The Big 30

We took our daughter out to dinner last night to celebrate her 30^th birthday.  Since it was a special occasion, we decided to go to a special restaurant.  Foti’s in Culpeper is regularly rated in the top 25 restaurants in Northern Virginia and happens to be about halfway between our house and our daughter’s.  We had been to this restaurant once before and thought it was excellent so we elected to return.

            We each got an appetizer for our first course.  I had baked brie, wrapped in philo dough with an olive tampanade, Sally had a Vanilla Roasted Maine Lobster
with Jonny cakes and a Chardonnay Butter Sauce, and Jenn had Fried Egg Sandwich on Garlic Toasted Ciabatta with Baby Arugula, Virginia Country Ham and Parmesan Cheese garnished with a Mixed Baby Green Salad. 

            For dinner I had Grilled Pork Loin with a shredded pork stuffed empanada over roasted carrots, Jenn had a Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Garlic Roasted Mash Potatoes with zucchini and Sally had Pan Seared Sea Scallops on Crushed Carrots with a Rock Shrimp Sauté, Roasted Potatoes and finished with a Tarragon Beurre Blanc.

            This was all paired with a Clos Des Menuts 2004, Ac Saint Emilion Grand Cru Bordeaux.  This elegant and well balanced wine was  deeply colored with aromas of cassis, vanilla, smoke and cherry and paired very well with the dinners (although somewhat less successfully with the scallops and lobster).

            We were satisfied with the dinner but it did not live up to our expectations from our last visit.  The service was somewhat slow and inattentive (probably due to a large party in the main dining room) and the food was only ok.  Jenn’s steak was overcooked (she likes it med rare) and my pork was somewhat tough. 

            We finished the meal off with chocolate ice cream which was served on a plate and in our haste to eat it before it completely melted; we forgot to take any pictures.  O-well you are not really missing anything since except for the Happy Birthday message on Jenn’s plate, the presentation was nothing special. 
            All in all ... great time with our daughter but not sure Foti's was worth a return trip.