Valentine’s Day at Tico

Call me cliché but I will always like going out to dinner on Valentine’s Day. This year Sean and I decided to try a restaurant we hadn’t been to before, Tico. It’s the sister restaurant of Radius, which we’ve been to a few times and really like.

Tico is tapas restaurant with food that is a delicious mixture of America, Spanish and Mexican. Overall the food was really good. I ordered the BBQ shrimp with mango salad and grilled brussel sprouts with bacon, grilled cumquats and pickled onion. Normally I’m not a bacon fan, but with the rest of the dish it was perfect and not overpowering. Sean ordered calamari and chorizo risotto with pasilla chiles, scallion and parmigiano. Delicious all around. I think the most flavorful calamari I’ve ever had. We also shared mini lobster avocado tacos. Also delicious.

Lobster Avocado Tacos

The service overall was good and the waitstaff attentive. I also appreciated that they didn’t jam too many tables into the dining room considering the holiday, like some places do (I don’t name names…).

After dinner we went to my favorite dessert spot: Max Brenner’s, where I promptly ordered a DELICIOUS chocolate martini. So. Good. We also ordered a dessert, which took a really long time to get to the table, but the bartenders were really proactive and apologized and even comped one of our drinks. That’s always helpful, right? For the record, this was our third or fourth trip to Max Brenner’s and this was the first time there was any sort of issue (which wasn’t even a big deal – I was busy enjoying my drink).

Chocolate Martini at Max Brenner's

Overall it was a fun evening – I would recommend both Tico and Max Brenner’s to anyone. Enjoy. : )

Burton’s Grill

Burton‘s describes themselves as “upscale-casual dining.”  I love them for their innovative twists on classic dishes.  I have two favorite dishes at Burton’s: the seared scallop appetizer & the swordfish with risotto entrée.  Delish.  So when Sean & I decided to go to Burton’s today, I of course knew exactly what I was getting.  Couldn’t wait.

When we arrived at the restaurant, I couldn’t help but notice the once folded menu was now a single sheet – I thought the only difference was a smaller font.  I was wrong.

Where is the swordfish on the menu?  & what are all these sandwiches????  Le sigh.  I fear one of our favorite spots is going downhill.

I ended up ordering salmon instead of swordfish.  It was good, but I couldn’t help but notice the plate looked like it was from Friday’s, not a $25 salmon from Burton’s.  The scallops also seemed more standard than exceptional.  The salmon was good, nothing too special, but Burton’s is nice because it’s different.  It’s not your average run of the mill dinner spot.  I liked their unique twists on dishes.  I hope they bring their old dishes back.

Don’t you hate it when restaurants mess with a good thing?

Sorellina Restaurant

The bf and I went to Sorellina in Copley last night to celebrate his birthday. The food was great and the service was impeccable. Definitely a good overall dining experience.

THE SCENE: Our dinner reservations were for 6:30pm. When we arrived, there were a few people at the bar and dozen or so tables in the large restaurant. By 7pm/7:30pm, the restaurant was full. The decor was nice, but a little too much white for my taste: white chairs, white booths, white tablecloths. We had a corner booth, which was nice. There were draperies and interesting murals throughout the dining room. The crowd was a mixture of couples, people holding business meetings and what looked like a more upscale after-work crowd.

Sorellina dining room

Kobe beef meatballs

THE FOOD: For starters, he had the Kobe beef meatballs and I had the beet ravioli – something I’ve never thought of and never tried. Both were really, really good. The sauce for the ravioli was delicious and had a hint of corn flavor to them. I don’t even know that I could pinpoint what beets taste like, exactly – I think it’s only something I’ve had once or twice. If the beet ravioli at Sorellina are anything like beet ravioli elsewhere, I will definitely have it again if I see it on another menu. For our main courses, I had the chicken and he had the fillet mignon. The chicken was delicious – but I don’t know if it was anything too special. In all honesty, it tasted very much like a chicken that my mom makes. Granted, the chicken dish my mom makes is delicious, but when I go out to eat, I want it to be something different, right? The bf’s steak initially came out over cooked – medium well instead of medium rare – but they were extremely apologetic. The server apologized, the manager came over and apologized and the chef came over and apologized. We weren’t even upset about the steak! We’ve never have so many people apologize for an incorrect dish. The bf said it was still good, just overcooked, and at those prices, it should be made correctly. The new steak came out perfectly – and it hardly took any time for them to bring it to us. As for dinner drinks? We (of course) had a bottle of wine with dinner. Our server seemed very knowledgeable about the different types and was able to give us accurate descriptions of both the wine we had for dinner as well as the dessert wine. Both were delicious.

OVERALL: Pasta dishes seem to be their specialty. Great for special occasions. Expensive, but worth it. 🙂