Wolfgang Puck American Grille

As most of my readers know by now, Ms. O is about to be a Mrs.   To celebrate her upcoming nuptials, we had a wonderful weekend that included excellent meals.  The first night was spectacular and while the second night’s meal was delicious, the service was less than stellar (more on that later).

We went to Wolfgang Puck American Grille for dinner on Friday.  In the age of the celebrity chef, I must say I was quite excited to try this restaurant to see if it is worth all the hype.  Décor wise, it was definitely impressive.  Semi-open kitchen and the front seating area has a tiled floor.  We sat in the middle seating area but close enough to the front that we were very much in the action.  There were also a few semi-private alcove seating areas with very cool lighting.  And now onto the food…

The menu wasn’t too cumbersome, but it had enough options that we all got something different.  Mrs. A started off with the Beet Salad.  Sounds boring right? So wrong.  It was actually Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Napoleon.

Looks like red velvet cake right?  Pretty cool stuff.  Mrs. A was looovin the salad.  The salad was dressed with toasted hazelnuts, citrus vinaigrette and old balsamic vinegar.

Ms. O went with the Heirloom Tomato salad with prosciutto de parma, baratta mozzarella cherry tomatoes sea salt and mint.

The heirloom salad looked great! Were it not for the prosciutto, I would have been all over it.

Instead, I was all over my Sautéed Maryland Crab Cakes.  

I’ve never had such good-looking crab cakes in my life.  The basil pesto aioli, tomato relish, micro basil added a great kick to the crab cakes.  I ate all 4 pieces and couldn’t wait for my entrée!

Our main courses soon arrived.  The elder Ms. O ordered the double thick pork chop.  It was quite thick and I'm not sure the photo actually does it any justice.

She noted that it was delicious and Ms. O confirmed as much.  Unfortunately, Ms. O wasn't thrilled with her entrée (which was listed as a first course).

She ordered the Hand Cut Spaghettini pasta with wild field mushrooms, reggiano parmesan and Italian parsley.

It looked good, but apparently it was over salted.  tsk tsk. Oversalting is a big no no.  Shame on the line cook who couldn’t get it right.

Mrs. A was delighted with her shrimp and crab risotto.

I must say it’s the first time I have ever been tempted to eat risotto.  She commented several times that she made the right choice.  I also enjoyed my fabulous entree.

Seafood makes me so happy.  The Atlantic Swordfish was perfect! Crispy skin added a nice contrasting texture.  The shrimp, clams and Maryland crab tasted amazing in the “aqua pazza” spicy shellfish broth.  I asked for more bread so I could dip it in the broth.

After such success with our appetizers and entrees, we figured we should also try the dessert.  Although my eye was already leaning towards it, when our waiter suggested that we order the Chocolate Brownie Melting Tart, we agreed.  It was filled with Jivara Milk Chocolate and served with Raspberry Preserves, Vanilla Ice Cream

I truly wish I had taken another picture so you could see for yourself the delicious melting chocolate.  It was phenomenal.  The ice cream and raspberry preserves were the perfect compliments to this chocolate masterpiece.  My taste buds have not been that alive in a long time.  We were so thrilled with the dessert that we asked to meet the pastry chef.  When we learned that he was no longer available, we figured we might as well try to get the man in charge of our meal.

Chef Aram Mardigian stopped by our table to say hello.

He was very personable and chatted with us for a few minutes.  Perhaps he'll accept my interview request and I can provide you with more details about the man behind this fantastic dining experience.  Along with our check, they served us some chocolate pieces with banana flavor.

Mrs. A was the only one who sampled it.  How did it taste? Smooth, apparently.

Wolfgang Puck's American Grille is the place to be.  The service was impeccable, the food was delightful and the chef was awesome! This was definitely one of the best dining experiences I've had in a very long time.

Hungry yet?