Two Meals: Onotria and Crow Bar

Thursday night, we grabbed the kids for an early dinner at Onotria, one of our favorite local restaurants. We had a 6 p.m. reservation, on the early side because we had the kids with us. It’s a very wine-focused place, not a place with crayons and kid menus. So when we bring them along, we go on weeknights, and early.

Last night, we had another great meal, which we have come to expect from chef/owner Massimo Navarretta.

No fried squash blossoms, alas, but we had a place of cheeses and salamis and mortadella along with olives and warm bread. The kids had plain pasta with a little butter and parm, but they shared the other things.

We ordered a risotto with an apple-cured duck, a rabbit stew, white beans and a cauliflower gratin.

To drink, Massimo hooked us up with a half bottle of a 2005 Condrieu and a full bottle of 2004 Terlan Porphyr.

A very satisfying winter meal. Although, we honestly can’t wait for spring, when they put fava beans back on the menu.

Today, we were meeting friends for an early lunch before they cruised out of town for their daughter’s gymnastics meet.

We considered going to Panini, which has great sandwiches and hummus. But we’d had a business meeting there earlier this week, so we suggested a new place with a lot of buzz, right next door: Crow Bar.

Crow Bar has a slick look, black tables and lots of banquettes, a bar that apparently really hops with 30-somethings at night, a (faux we think) tin ceiling and daily specials written on a mirror along one wall. Each table is pre-set with a large white charger printed with a stark image of a black crow, and black napkins.

Cool enough. Our waiter had huge diamond earrings and was super attentive. The Crow Bar describes itself as a place with upscale pub grub, and the menu had lots of basics with twists: grilled cheese with blue cheese and bacon, a lot of flatbread (pizza) options, fries cooked in duck fat, buttermilk battered onion rings, burgers served on ketchup-infused buns, salads.

We shared the rings, our friends had a salad, three of us had burgers and one had the grilled cheese. The food came quickly, sandwiches on rectangle plates with heaps of those rich, greasy fries. The bun had been slashed and burned and looked too big for the sandwich, but one bite proved that notion incorrect. It was really tasty and good.

I think Panini is less expensive and for us, more relaxed and comfortable. But it’s really hard to say anything bad about Crow Bar.