On June 24th friends invited Peg and me to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary at 1011 Bistro. I ate there several years ago, when it was under different ownership; the food was excellent then, so I was excited about trying it once again.
We ordered the Mozzarella Burrata for an appetizer. Peg and one of our friends ordered the rack of lamb, his wife the red snapper; I chose the sea bass.
The burrata was excellent and came with grape tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, basil salt and crostini. The dish was well-balanced and the crostini were properly prepared--just crispy enough around the crust with the interior remaining a bit soft.
The racks of lamb were four-bone, served with mint-yogurt sauce (nice departure from the usual mint jelly), parmesan risotto cakes, and roasted tomatoes. I tried to sneak a bite from Peg's plate but she threatened me with a fork, so I thought better of it. I did give her my best Sad Puppy Dog Eyes (Pat. Pend.) and she gifted me a morsel of the risotto cake. Crunchy exterior, creamy interior--quite nice.
Our friend's red snapper was blackened & grilled and accompanied by lemon butter and edamame-corn succotash. I didn't get a taste but from her yummy sounds and eyes rolling heavenward, I knew she was enjoying it. She had never had soy beans and was somewhat hesitant to try them; but after a bite she gobbled them up.
My sea bass was crusted with an almond-panko mixture, topped with orange butter and sat atop a bed of Chinese black rice with roasted carrots on the side. If you've never had it, black rice often stands in for wild rice as it looks similar (albeit shorter grained), is less expensive and has the same mouth feel; the flavor is different but pleasant. Unfortunately, the carrots had seen much better days; they were shriveled, hard and only lukewarm. The sea bass, however, was perfectly cooked, moist and flavorful--everything it should be.
And now I'll answer the question you're begging to ask: if the food, with the exception of the carrots, was excellent, why only three stars?
Gentle Reader, if there is one thing that "gets my goat," as we say in the Glorious South, it's the old Bait and Switch. I automatically deduct two stars as it is a form of dishonesty that, having owned two restaurants in Europe in my younger years, I detest. Yes, I expect it in fast food places but not in a high-end establishment such as 1011 Bistro. Look at the sea bass photo posted by the business on this Yelp page, then look at my photo of the same dish. A bit of a difference, yes? The dishes Peg and my friends had were accurately represented by the business's photos. For $32 dollars, it was a rip-off, pure and simple. As much as I enjoyed the food, their dishonesty prevents me from returning. read more