Try the burger at the Palace Kitchen. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been there, but the burger was very good and the wings were amazing.
Speaking of which, Tom Douglas is another one of those chefs who’s good at reconstructing comfort food. For example, there was this one time where I was eating a dish of celeriac ravioli with duck confit and I kept thinking Y’know, this tastes familiar somehow, if I could only figure out what…ohmigod, it’s chicken noodle soup!
Okay, first of all: Celeriac ravioli with duck confit sounds amazing. BUT, if it tastes like chicken noodle soup that seems kind of lame.
Thanks for the tip. Palace Kitchen is two blocks from the office. They’re not open for lunch though. And 15 clams is a bit much for a burger. I found a photo, and it didn’t look that special. I’d rather go to Two Bells Tavern, pay half as much, and use plenty of napkins.
No, the point is that it’s evocative of chicken noodle soup, not that it tastes just like it. The idea is to have something that tastes good in and of itself, but to also work on a meta level.
ETA:
Wow, I guess it has been a while–the last time I had the burger, it was 10 or 11 bucks. It’s good, but yes I’d be hesitant to pay 15 for it.
I might do once, just to try it.
Only I’d hate to miss the last bus to the Park & Ride.
Good post. I think you’re on the right track with the adjustments you’re considering.
Thanks for the clarification. 
I think this is a good idea. Looking at the menu I was thinking “Well, what if I wanted the chicken but with the yam fries?” Your repeat customers might want to try the entree they liked before with a different side dish, or the side dish they liked before with a different entree. And there will always be people who don’t like this or that, or who need something that better fits their diet.
Since your proposed dessert menu already includes three different types of ice cream as part of other dishes, you may also want to consider listing just ice cream as a dessert option.
I thought that was in Los Angeles?
Although I absolutely adore the classic beef house Prime Rib, Caesar Salad, Baked Potato and Cheesecake dessert. Nice red wine, and coffee with dessert.
It works for me - I tend to eat about 4 oz of the rib, the salad and about half the potato, and nibble on the cheesecake and take the leftovers home and sort it out into 2 more meals =)
We are doing Christmas dinner at the Red Osier in Batavia [might have sound on their website, i tried to get a link without it but am not sure i succeeded]- although given my mom’s alzheimers we may do something silly like order it all to go and having a nice spread of it at home.
Nope, SF. I’ve never been, but it’s on my list if I’m ever in San Fransisco.
I consider myself a foodie, I’m not afraid to eat anything, and I knew what everything on the menu was. As it stands, there’s nothing there that would make me go to the restaurant, even with the last proposed changes. I should add, price has nothing to do with it, those prices seemed OK. Also, I have no problem with fruit + meat, it’s almost *the *defining characteristic of both my native Cape Malay cuisine and the medieval cuisine I cook often.
If I went there in a group on someone else’s decision, I’d have
dumpling soup, roasted chicken and rose mousse (although I think rose calls for more of a panna cotta or bavarian cream than a mousse).
Why I wouldn’t eat there by choice: I’m a Slow Food gourmet, and while some of the ingredients do speak to the Seattle vernacular (plums, apples, salmon, crab) they’re either taken over by IMO wilfully-odd pairings which destroy that vernacular element (crab+cheese=no thanks), don’t guarantee sustainable sourcing (the salmon) or else incorporate exotics when a local variant will do (taro? When you have ozettes?). Also, *way *too much chilli/pepper-as-a-vegetable for my liking. I prefer it as a spice if you’re not doing ethnic, and even then, it really, really doesn’t say “Seattle” to me. And since you’re insisting you’re not doing a themed restaurant, some sort of local grounding should be there to attract me. The only restaurants I give a (grudging) locavore pass to are ethnic ones.
And what the hey do you have against red meat *and *vegans? If not beef, why not at least local venison? Why no vegan options at all?
I’m assuming you’re visiting? Because I live near Batavia and we’re nowhere near eastern Connecticut.
Yes, I agree with this, but the OP asked what I would eat off that menu… I agree I would look at this menu and bypass the restaurant and I think a good 90% of the population might pass as well. I don’t eat desserts and the rest of the menu is muddled and unappetizing, but if I were forced to eat there, I’d maybe try three things off the menu, willingly.
Ooooooooo… I’d like one of everything. NOW! Can you deliver to NJ? 
Ok, leave out the cookies & milk. I freakin’ hate licorice.
Prices? I’m unemployed–for a long long time already. Are you treating? 
My Mom and brother live in Caledonia, we are there about once a month for the weekend. =) We like to hit it for dinner about once a year, my arteries can’t handle more than that!
I did notice they are having a to go special this year, prime rib, bakes, salads to go $20 for 2 people. so that is going to work out perfectly. Mom, aruBro and I like rare to medium rare, and mrAru likes <shudder> well done and it takes about 20 minutes to drive home from there, so if we pop the meat into a cooler to maintain the heat, it should get home just fine. If we get ours at rare, a quick touchup in the oven will bring it to medium rare and you can’t kill well done any worse by nuking it =)
Actually it is amazing how many people dislike licorice/anise flavors. I think it could be as a result of kids who have never had it before, grab a jelly bean or something and as it is a very strong and pronounced flavor, get thoroughly turned off at the strange and unusual taste. Or the way I got my dislike, too many medications when very young that used licorice as a masking flavor for nasty bitter medications.
Any way of getting some other cookies n milk options in different flavors?
I don’t think of milk and cookies as an appropriate moniker for any anise flavored dessert unless I am from “Eastern Europe” (demarcing along the Italian German linie.) or the middle East
I would eat ALL of your firsts, and call it a day.
The rest of your menu is o.k. for the teeming masses, but I can make most of them at home…no offense…