Gemini Bistro was another excellent choice for one of our periodic theater/dinner date nights. All aspects of the experience were top-notch and effortless to enjoy. Truly, this was a minor point or two short of perfect, but I'm rounding up for intangibles.
It all began with the service: through OpenTable, I asked for a quiet table in the back; we arrived slightly early and got the quietest, furthest-back table in the restaurant. That was a very promising start. Also, throughout the evening, our server Jennifer struck the perfect note of warmth and readiness to assist, while the bus staff kept our waters filled and table cleared with alacrity.
The fare, as it should be, was the strongest suit. The cocktail list seems tailored to summer, but that didn't stop me from ordering the Cucumber Northside--Hendricks gin, cucumber, lemon, mint, and soda. It's a great pre-dinner cocktail because the flavors complement each other, but there is no dominating taste that lingers to compete with the gustatory pleasures to come.
I started with the baby beet salad, with lamb's lettuce, goat cheese, and white truffle vinaigrette. It was a very handsome presentation, with the green, white, and maroon ingredients segregated into individual piles and formed into a sort of tri-color triangle. The beet portion was generous, which made me very happy, as those little devils were almost indescribably delicious. This is my favorite beet salad of recent memory.
In between courses I nibbled on selections of bread presented in a metal cone. The buttery white kind was fine, but the wheaty, seeded variety was very, very good.
My girlfriend and I shared the mushroom risotto with our entrees; while enjoyable, this was the only subpar item of the meal, especially as compared to the rest of the outstanding dishes. I chose the swordfish provençal, featuring roma tomatoes, kalamata olives, capers, and sweet basil. I was thrilled that the tomato and basil flavors dominated, with the capers and olives providing supporting notes. Excellent, excellent entree--one of my favorite fish dishes in recent memory. The server recommended it out of the three choices with which I was wrestling, and she was dead right.
Of course we had to sample a couple of desserts, namely the carrot cake (with raisin-walnut chutney and brandy anglaise) and the skillet sundae. Both were delicious, if perhaps less creatively conceived than the rest of the menu. But we couldn't have asked for better at that point; we were swimming half-deliriously in the lambent magic of the evening and soaking up every drop.
Perhaps we brought it with us and this was all in my mind, but I believe that the space itself contributed handsomely to the romantic tenor of the evening. Dim lighting and urbane decor predominate, but the personality of the restaurant runs through it all like a subtle electric current. The isolated position of our table left us undistracted by other diners. With candied gazes, boisterous laughter, and sparkling conversation, my inestimable companion and I created a bubble of enamored gaiety around our table. Was there an invisible Cupid flitting above our heads, sprinkling bewitchment over our evening? Or perhaps we didn't need his help, just an assist from an all-around wonderful meal by Gemini Bistro. read more