Bacchus

By last Friday evening, I had hit my threshold with my job (corporate finance) and was more than ready for a stiff drink and a good meal. I also had a bee in my bonnet to try somewhere new, explore uncharted territory, so K and I did a little research and set out. Our initial target was Six Burner, where we had heard good things about the menu, and were interested to try it.

Keep in mind, that one of our primary core values is that any establishment that merits a review on our blog, must permit smoking somewhere on the premises. It's the principle of the thing. Even if we didn't smoke, we don't like people telling us what to do. But that's beside the point- we do smoke, and on Friday night, after a rough week, a cig with my martini is an absolute necessity.

We were a little disappointed to find Six Burner has no accommodation for smokers. Scratch that one off the list. Next we stopped by Cirrus- I'd also heard good things about that place. Also non smoking, which was a no go. I can almost hear the non smokers rolling their eyes right now, but keep in mind that as consumers, it's our right to determine where our dollars go, and if a restaurant has a policy that conflicts with our core values, we choose not to patronize it. Nothing against that particular place, we'd just rather spend out money somewhere else.

After striking out twice, we contemplated just doing the walk of shame down Main Street, poking out heads in each place and asking if we could smoke there, but at that point I wanted that drink really bad, so we opted for Bacchus- one of our stand-bys that we hadn't been to in awhile.

You can smoke at the bar there, so that's where we ate. K and I ordered lemon drop martinis, and K's comment was "too strong." The rim was nicely sugared, but it tasted like just a giant glass of straight citrus vodka. They really should have had a little lemon syrup in there.

I love Bacchus's appetizer selection, and always have a hard time deciding. The salad with the beets and fried goat cheese is one of my favorites, with the crispy outside, soft inside cheese and fresh greens, but we wanted something more substantial and opted for the clams and mussels instead. We had a choice of white or red sauce and went for the white- a garlicky and aromatic broth. it went perfectly with the fresh rolls that came. The rolls at Bacchus remind me a little of the rolls the chef at Mr. Patrick Henry's used to make- very traditional, slightly yeasty tasting.

Normally we order off the regular menu, the Lobster, Fish, Beef and Veal dishes are always well cooked and well seasoned. I think the sauces in general are done with finesse. Every once in awhile there's a miss, but I enjoy the general attention to detail that goes into the sauces at Bacchus. There's a complexity of flavors that you can't miss- that extra layer of sweetness or pungency. Depending on the sauce, the little touches like the addition of capers, spices or liquor essences complement the proteins in a satisfying way.

Tonight we decided to try something different. Bacchus has a comprehensive pasta list, where you can choose spaghetti, rigatoni or penne in any number of sauce options. After much agonizing, I chose the shrimp and scallop scampi with rigatoni, and K went for the gorgonzola penne with chicken.

The pasta portions at Bacchus are enormous. Between two pasta entrees, we had enough to eat our dinners, then what we took home provided another entire meal for both of us and the two kids. I can't imagine being able to finish it all in one setting.

There's also a good choice of by the glass wines on the winelist, and since the martinis were knocking us on our butts, we opted for one glass each instead of a bottle- K had the Dynamite Cabernet Sauvignon, which was a good balance of tannins and berry flavor, and I had a dry citrusy glass of Sauvignon Blanc. We felt they were good values. I hate having to eat a good meal with a crappy glass of some house wine, but you have options here if you don't want a whole bottle.

My pasta - the Scampi, came with a brandy infused garlic and tomato sauce. The shrimp were large and perfectly cooked. Shrimp can be tricky, but these were right on. My only complaint about the dish was that there were only 2-3 fairly small scallops. K decided she liked mine better than hers. Her gorgonzola pasta suffered the inevitable comparison to Mamma Zu's (the holy grail of gorgonzola pasta) and did not quite measure up. While the chicken was tender and well cooked, the sauce was thin and lacked that gorgonzola cheese tang, and creamy texture. it was also a little light on the peas.

All in all, it was a pleasant meal, and the service was good. We're getting a good feel for what to order there, and what the best options are. And we were very impressed by the ventilation system at Bacchus- even though it's smoker-friendly, I never smell smoke when I go in the door. We did have one service complaint though- our bartender/server committed the ultimate sin, of plopping our check down without asking if we wanted anything else- another drink? Probably not. Dessert? Yes. Coffee? Maybe. Ultimately servers cost their restaurants hundreds of dollars a year, by not just asking "can I get you anything else tonight?" Not to mention it is not polite. As it was, we decided to take ourselves down the street and get dessert and drinks at Verbena (review to come :)

Bacchus
2 N. Meadow St
804-355-9919