I kicked things off yesterday with a small group lunch at Quivey's Grove Stable Grill. (Someday, I need to have a meal in the Stone House, but not this week.)

The restaurant week lunch offerings had something to please everyone in our group. Sadly, though there were 5 of us, we did not sample every offering. We went 2/3 on the tomato bisque and the breaded mushrooms. The soup tempted me, but I went with the mushrooms and was not disappointed. The pretzel coating was light and crispy, and the portion was just the right size for a first course. Reports from the soup eaters was that it was also delicious. It certainly looked great.

No one got the fish fry, though I was strongly tempted. All but one of us had the Kobe beef cheeseburger. I ate about half of my burger there, and saved the rest to take home. It was a satisfying burger, and actually held up to re-heating, thanks to ciabatta roll on which it was served. The "Pork on Pork on Pork Basket" was a little too much pork for most of us, but the person who did order it enjoyed it, though she did disassemble the sandwich, eating the sausage patty separately from the pulled pork and bacon.

We all enjoyed the thick fries, which also came in reasonable portions. Neither skimpy nor overwhelming. I am often very relieved to receive restaurant meals that don't try to give the illusion of "value" by loading the plate with more food than I will ever eat, and which will only end up in the trash. Give me a reasonable portion that will leave me satisfied, but not gorged.

We did end up with all three dessert options, and each one was quite enjoyable. Three of our party got the brownie sundae (which also came in that reasonable portion). One of my tablemates had the bread puuding, which looked so appealing that if my own slice of Turtle Pie wasn't so light and creamy, I might have regretted my choice. As it was, the crust was flaky, the filling was silky, and the caramel and pecans were chewy and toothsome.

The food was everything we could have wanted. The service was a little bit less than impressive, as we were there for about 40 minutes before our order was taken. Our server took our drink order and said she'd get our food orders when she brought the drinks. Given that we were pretty much ready to order at that time, this was a sad choice. It was a good long wait until our drinks appeared, and then we got an "I'll be back in a minute" followed by another long wait before she returned to take our orders. Once our orders were actually placed, the food came promptly. I think they were understaffed for the day. It wasn't super-crowded, but the staff-to-diner ratio was such that she probably ended up in the weeds for a while when a number of orders came up at the same time. Not entirely her fault, but still unimpressive.

Overall, it was a great start to the week. We are all looking forward to our Wednesday night outing to Sardine. (L'Etoile was our first choice, but unsurprisingly, it was booked up for the whole week.)