By Ilona Kinnear
Photo by Martin Musialczyk
Deliriously hungry once again, four Ebbtiders remained after Monday’s meeting, braving the storm to go out to eat good food. Feeling a craving seafood, they decided that this week’s adventure would be at Saltoro.
It was a stormy day for sailing. Great floods of water crashed into their vessel as the group ventured to their destination. Soon they saw a faint light in the distance. It was a sign.
“Saltoro: Seafood * Landfood,” it read. Aye, it was a sign, indeed, that they had reached their docking port. They set their anchor and ventured inside.
The Ebbtiders were welcomed by a warmly lit interior, decked with bottles of wine. They benched their booties down at a booth and eagerly eyed the entries for something appetizing. Then they placed their orders and waited.
The salty seadogs eyed treasure off the port bow. They were delivered a plate of pure gold(en) truffle fries ($9). A mountain of the crispiest fries topped with truffle salt, herbs, and grated parmesan was too good of a deal to pass up. Indeed, the Ebbtiders conquered that mountain.
Next came the charred broccolini and Saltoro salad. The Ebbtiders got to experience a unique chewy, charred broccolini dish ($5) seasoned with lemon juice and parmesan shavings.
The Saltoro salad ($8) was a pretty standard spring salad with blue cheese. Good, but in the end, nothing to write home about.
After passing the next few minutes by singing shanties and telling each other tales, the Ebbtiders were greeted by the arrival of the main dishes: jagerschnitzel, butternut squash ravioli, and pappardelle with veal bolognese.
The jagerschnitzel ($20) was quite the dish. It was a huge platter of grilled pork covered in a gravy sauce, red cabbage, and spaetzle — a pasta with a texture like gnocchi. The pork and sweet and tangy cabbage paired well together, and the spaetzle had a mild flavor that complemented the two, so eating all three together was the best course of action.
The butternut squash ravioli ($15) could have easily been on the dessert menu. A creamy dish topped with crunchy clusters of brown sugar, and mushrooms, the butternut squash ravioli was loved by the vegetarian of the group.
Lastly, the pappardelle ($16) could easily be described as a deconstructed lasagna. It was a thumbs-up.
Of course, our sailors couldn’t venture home without exploring the treasure trove that is the dessert menu, though mostly full stomachs left them choosing only two items, the flan and the triple berry crumble.
The flan ($7) was a creamy, gelatinous caramel dessert, and the triple berry crumble ($8) was a not quite crisp, chewy berry crumble, with perhaps too many blueberries and vanilla ice cream on the side.
After having their fill, the Ebbtiders left the restaurant and ventured back into the cold storm outside, filled with the warmth of the great meal they had at Saltoro’s.