after dinner sneeze

t says: I’m not a huge pro-Parc type of person.  I think it has excellent location and a buzz-ful atmosphere, which is fun.  The food is … ok – but that’s not my big hangup with Parc.  It’s just that sometimes I feel weird going there because I just don’t know how to dress.  On one hand, it is clear that some clientele feel that this place is worthy of a nicer shirt (maybe a collared shirt or a button-down shirt without a tie), but I have a problem with that, because to me, Parc is not quite that up-scale – I just don’t think it’s “fine dining”.  Maybe it’s because I’m local and see it all the time – I don’t know.  Maybe I’m the patron that no waiter wants to get because I look all cheap-o.  Whatever.

In any case, g and I were hungry and had not a single food item in the house (I think we just came back from SF).  We resolved that we would simply walk outside and keep walking until something intrigued us.  Well, we apparently don’t take many turns at all when we walk, so a straight shot led us right to Parc.  I was hesitant.  g was hopeful.  We went for it.

September 2010, 8pm, Party of 2. I don’t remember the exact date/time/etc … but I do remember that we sat next to a couple that had some bizarre conversation topics (it was their first date) – everything from “What is birthright?” to “So, is every minister of Russia a bad person?”.  Hi-lar-i-ous.  These were almost as good as one time when we were at Melograno when an adjacent couple (it was their first date, too) were talking about how he had dated her friend for quite some time, prompting her to ask, point blank, “So, what ended it?” … which was then followed by an extensive dating history of all the people they dated on JDate and how they didn’t work.  Dude – these two were not messing around – there was some serious dating going on (i.e. “playing for keeps” as I like to say).

The food?  g had the warm shrimp salad.  She loved it.  It is her new favorite salad.  The four shrimp were sizable, and the greens were tossed in this creamy lightly-tinged-with-truffle-oil buerre blanc.  She totally pwned it (that is not a typo – look it up). We’ve gone back once since then and she just had to get it again rather than try something new … that means it’s reached wild boar bolognese at Melograno status … that’s a pretty high standard to reach!

Me?  I had the burger and pomme puree.  Why mashed potatoes?  It’s because it was featured on “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” – the dude from Dinner Impossible (the super-jacked guy – Robert Irvine) said that Parc’s mashed potatoes were the best he has ever had.  I had them.  They were good.  They were super-smooth and creamy.  But I have to confess … they really didn’t come across as mashed potatoes – they came across as some sort of potato creme.  It kind of reminded me of when I was little and we used to go to my grandma’s house for Thanksgiving, and she’d serve instant mashed potatoes, and I’d be in charge of mixing them until they were smooth as silk (I hated lumps of dehydrated potato powder – gross!).  Of course, we don’t use instant ‘tatoes anymore, but those were fond memories …

The burger?  It was ok.  Cooked fine with great bread and nice veggies.  But to be honest, the meat tasted like ground beef – surprise!  I don’t know – I guess I expect beef to sing beefiness, not just say “i’m beef”.  But I’m not exactly sure how that can be done – so it’s not like I could even attempt a suggestion.  I still say that the Supper Burger reigns supreme – but there are still tons of burgers I have yet to try (Rouge, 500 degrees, Grace Tavern, Smokin’ Betty’s, Butcher & Singer), so don’t let that endorsement mean anything … yet.

Conclusion:  Parc is a big restaurant with lots of space (seriously, the indoor seating just keeps going and going!), dressed up people going on first dates, and a fantastic warm shrimp salad.