Small Bites

I was not really sure if I could have done this one. My partner in crime (my husband) cancelled on me on Wednesday and I ended up getting there really late on Friday for lunch. Well, I am really glad, I did! This place was definitely worth trying with or without restaurant week. Also, I ended up walking a couple of blocks between parking and the place and ended up spying at least two other restaurants that I would love to try in Mount Kisco.

Well, we ended up reaching Cafe of Love around 2:40pm and I was quite surprised to see how crowed the place was. They mentioned to me that they had been really busy with restaurant week. It took them a little time to locate a spot but they did this pretty quickly. The decor and set up of the place is really interesting, in that it is a very interesting blend of country style trimmings in a very ornate room. There are very bold gold trimmed mirrors and nicely aged heavy wood tables with little pots of herbs and lavender set on these. While, it is an interesting juxtaposition something in the atmosphere actually brings all of this together.

As, mentioned they were very busy, so it took a little time before the staff could actually get to doing the order leaving Jean and me to chat, reflect on the sunny but chilly day and of course help ourselves to the bread and pickles. I was already envious of my friend since true to her diet resolution she ate only a lovely filling bowl of soup.

Actually these pickles were very interesting, lightly tangy and full of rich oil, just perfect to soak the crusty bread into. In fact, some other time you could almost make a meal of just these and the soup. Given that the restaurant initially served only soup I can imagine that the bread and pickle station would make a perfect complement to the hearty soups that were on the menu.

Well, as time went by, our orders of the most incredible rich, piping hot and satisfying potato and herb soup came by. The soup came with goat cheese croutons, which were essentially nicely crisped crusty bit of french bread dredged with a nice hunk of fresh goat cheese. The restaurant actually supports local producers and tries to promote seasonal eating. In fact, they actually had a blackboard that listed among other things seasonal selections both for the menu and of course for regular eating.

The soup was just perfect, rich without a heavy taste. The only complaint if there might be one was that the staff seemed to set the food on the table would more force than might be desired.

Anyhow, following the soup I ordered the fish stew which was so generous in proportion I was actually glad that we had not ordered two of the three courses. It really was quite enough for 2 people. The stew was warm with lovely mussels and codfish cooked to flaky perfection. The broth was a gently seasoned flavorful combination of wine and fragrant herbs. To soak up the lovely sauce that the fish was cooked in was a nice piece of bread.

This bread was more than just an accessory . It was laced with a nice generous creamy topping of mustard. sort of like a really creamy dijonaise. There was a generous sprinkling of paprika that added a nice red color to the whole presentation. The last item that I tried was the coffee panacotta. When they brought in the dessert, the pannacotta looked very light so I was a little skeptical of the flavor, but the dessert did have a nice rich coffee taste to it. The dessert was dressed on the side with a french toast crouton and some caramel  sauce.

For my personal taste, these accompaniments did not do all that much for the dessert, the caramel was a little too sweet and grainy in contrast to the very perfect and smooth rich dessert. I would highly recommend this place to anyone.

To end this lovely celebration of food, I plan on going with my husband and brood to Caravela tomorrow. I shall share my experiences on Cooking with Westchester. I really think we should have this celebration at least twice a year!

Photo Caption: accent