|
|
Inviting atmosphere, creative cooking at Just a Taste
Waiter Michael Thaller, who's been working there over six years, says they have regular customers who stick to such mainstream dishes as the Caesar salad, sliced chicken breast with Madeira, and the popular russet potato wedges with chipotle aioli. We figured out pretty quickly, though, that the most creative-sounding dishes on the menu were the clear winners. Visitors to Just a Taste will have the most interesting meal if, as Michael puts it, they're the adventurous sort who "see something funky [on the menu] and jump all over it." My dinner companion is a vegetarian, while I'm an omnivore, and the crew at Just a Taste did a wonderful job of suggesting several tapas we could share from the menu, which changes nightly. "We decided that we would be bored if we didn't change the menu frequently," says Jennifer Irwin, who runs the show with Stanley Walton. The clientele is an interesting mix of downtown business owners, families, students, and staff from the nearby college campuses. "You kind of have to be interested in food," Jen said of their customers, who tend to be "food people and wine people." The pair have owned the restaurant for about six and a half years of its ten-year history, and plan to open a new restaurant in Ithaca's west end this spring, called "Q," with a southern focus. We started our meal with the two most interesting-sounding tapas on the menu (a tapa is a small portion; many of the items on the menu are also available as a racion, a larger portion for those not interested in sampling or sharing). The asparagus sautéed in brown butter with garlic, pecans, and romano cheese was every bit as wonderful as it sounds; the pecans added a welcome nutty touch to what would otherwise have been a good, but unexceptional, vegetable dish. The onion and green olive tart, with mixed greens, was a surprising combination of tangy, salty, and sweet flavors, with the onions perfectly caramelized. The garlic braised greens with breadcrumbs, feta, white beans, tomato, and sherry vinegar had a very strong flavor which might be too much for tender palates. The fresh kale and escarole were cooked just right, and stood up well to the vinegar. The spicy ginger roast tofu sautéed in peppers, choy, and peanuts on fried wonton strips would nicely round out a vegetarian dinner. It's rare that I enjoy tofu, which can so easily turn into tasteless mush, but this dish featured firm, flavorful strips of tofu. The simplest pleasure of the evening was the housemade focaccia, served in generous chunks with roasted heads of garlic and olive oil for dipping. Carnivores will appreciate the grilled flank steak and pepper jack tostada with chipotle-tomato and avocado sauces. This remarkable confluence of flavors offers a Mexican flair, showing off the cooking staff's breadth of creativity. The thin slices of tender beef were piled with the two sauces, one deliciously spicy and the other creamy and soothing, atop a crispy tostada that itself had spicy cheese melted on top. Diners who prefer a milder spice level should try the grilled shark with Thai peanut sauce and grilled pineapple. I found the sauce mildly spicy, and a surprisingly suitable accompaniment for the shark. The shark was underdone for my taste, but then I'm one of those odd folks who prefers his fish (and his beef) either cooked all the way, or raw. The experience at Just a Taste isn't complete unless you avail yourself of the opportunity to sample a staggering variety of excellent wines, all available by the glass. My friend had the flight of local wines, five small glasses that included the exceptional McGregor Johannesburg Riesling. (Just a Taste features produce from local farms as well as a number of great local wines.) I enjoyed a glass of the Covey Run fumé blanc from Washington State, an inexpensive white wine that stood up well to most of the evening's flavors without itself being overpowering. I was also pleasantly surprised by Just a Taste's own sangria, a delicious fruity wine concoction that handily beats most sangrias I've tried. It's smooth and sweet, made with Spanish red wine. Also important to a proper meal is dessert, and Jen is deservedly proud of their perfect chocolate soufflé, served warm with ganache, whipped cream, and white chocolate shavings. We also tried the pistachio-stuffed baked pears with vanilla crème Anglaise and whipped cream; both of us enjoyed that even more than the soufflé. In addition to the flights of wines, one of Jen and Stanley's relatively recent additions to Just a Taste is the weekend brunch, for which the menu changes monthly. I was intrigued by the menu, so returned on the weekend with other friends to give it a try. Odd-sounding combinations had worked well at dinner-time, so I ordered the omelette with avocado, chorizo sausage, and jack cheese, served with thickly sliced fried potatoes. I wasn't in the least surprised to find it a delicious mix of flavors, and the full-bodied coffee was welcome on Saturday morning. The eggs Benedict, which Jen had told us was a popular item, featured strips of toasted focaccia laid across the other ingredients, instead of the other way around, another example of the attractive presentation at this fine eatery. Just a Taste serves lunch Tuesday through Friday from 11:30-3:30, brunch 11-3 on weekends, and dinner from 5:30-10 on Sunday through Thursday, and 5:30-11 on Friday and Saturday nights. Planning on 2-4 tapas per person shared around the table, plus a glass of wine or two, should put most dinners in the moderate $15-25 per person range. This review first appeared in the Ithaca Times. It was written by, and is copyright © 2001, Mark H. Anbinder. |
|||||||||||||||||||