Crop Redux

Crop Bistro is one of our favorite restaurants, and we hadn’t been there for a while. So we decided to go and bring Jonathan along with us.

I started with the hibiscus margarita ($10). While we’re big fans of Momocho, Crop’s hibiscus margarita might even be better than theirs. It’s not very sweet, but very floral.

Our bread plate had corn-shaped cornbread with herb butter. The cornbread was moist and sweet, and this was one of Jonathan’s favorite parts of the meal.

For an appetizer we ordered the Cherry Bomb ($8), a Roma tomato stuffed with chorizo and jack cheese, deep fried in a wonton wrapper, and placed on a bed of creamed corn. While the concept is excellent, the slightly mealy November tomato tarnished the dish slightly. The bed of creamed corn (and I’m not typically a fan) was the highlight flavor-wise.

Next we had the beet salad ($9) with McKenzie Creamery goat cheese and an orange-balsamic dressing. It was very good—the sweetness of the beets contrasted perfectly with the sourness of the goat cheese and the acidity of the dressing.

For an entrée I had the Shrimp Cacciatore Tarte Tartin ($22); Sarah and Jonathan had the Crop Pile of Pasta ($26).

My dish consisted of shrimp on a savory bed of tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms layered on a buttery browned pastry. It was very flavorful, but my pairing it with the hibiscus margarita didn’t work well. I very much enjoyed the leftovers the next day with a pale ale, though. I had considered the fried chicken and waffles, which I’ll definitely try next time.

Sarah’s pasta was outstanding. The daily special was pappardelle in a miso broth with shrimp, apples, wild mushrooms and leeks. It was earthy, sweet, and sharply flavored all at once. The Chef, Steve Schimoler, very accurately mentioned how strongly it tasted of fall (which you wouldn’t typically associate with pasta or Asian flavors). He was very friendly and visited our table a few times.

After our meal we were given complimentary “cropsicles,” frozen apple juice infused with rosemary (among other flavors) in shot glasses with sticks. Jonathan couldn’t quite take the flavor intensity, but I was happy to eat what he had left. I’m thinking of trying to make these at home.

We couldn’t leave without ordering dessert, and, after some going back and forth, decided on the ice cream and waffles ($8) with “seasonal fruit” (in this case apples and cranberries). The waffles were especially good with a strong floral vanilla essence that paired well with the ice cream (and would have gone nicely with chicken as well).

We very much enjoyed our visit and look forward to returning. We’re not sure about bringing kids, though, unless they have pretty refined palates. The staff was very accomodating, and Jonathan really liked the corn bread, pasta and dessert (all of which were good for us too); however, he generally had some difficulty with the complexity of flavors.