Pure Food and Wine review!

Last Friday DanT and I had dinner at Pure Food and Wine as I had a Groupon. I had never been and had heard mixed things. Now, let me preface this by saying I don't eat a whole lot of raw food. In the summer when my CSA is in full swing I enjoy many a salad, but I never have fancy raw food. You see, I do not own a dehydrator or any fancy gadgets (besides my Vitamix!). Pesto is pretty much as raw as I go. So take my review with a grain of salt.

Also, sorry for the crappy pictures. There was "mood lighting", i.e. no lighting or in laymens terms: candles. So these are crappy iPhone pictures taken in candle light. Sorry if you cannot distinguish anything from anything else. It was the best I could do at the time.

King Oyster Mushroom Scallops in a Lemongrass Coconut Broth

This was eh. I have never had scallops in real life, as I grew up kosher, but these "scallops" tasted like mushrooms... Which they were. The broth was too broth-y to get scooped up by anything, which was sad as it was kinda good. This sucker costs $14... And for that kind of money I expect a lot more. I'm just saying...

Porcini Ravioli with Truffle Cream Sauce, Baby White Asparagus

This was my entree. It was delicious, as anything covered in truffle cream sauce is, however I had a problem with this. There were 5 raviolis on this plate. For $26! that is over $5 a ravioli! I know it is organic and raw, but seriously?!? Way to make this food seem unaccessible!

Three Pizzettes in the Style of Southern Italy with Almond and Rosemary Crust

The one on the right is the same as the one on the left in the picture above. I just couldn't fit it all in one shot.

DanT's Pizzettes. Yummy but not amazing. Also $26. Perhaps I am expecting too much, but for $26 I expect to be wowed. I was not. Also, after our shared first course and separate second courses we were still so hungry that DanT could not shut up about going to Chipotle afterward. That's right, we were at a fancy, expensive dinner and my domestic partner could not shut up about an $8 veggie burrito. Not rousing praise if you ask me...

But there is still dessert! Dessert to save the day, right?

Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart

DanT's salted chocolate caramel tart. I liked it. The mousse on the side was way yum. But all DanT could do was complain about the big granules of salt on the top of the teeny tart. He even tried to scrape them off. The thing was a bit salty, but mostly it was dense. Too chocolatey for me, but DanT usually goes right for that stuff. Not his cup of tea in raw form, I guess. (and an FYI, this sucker was $15)

Pumpkin Cheesecake Parfait

Mostly eaten...

So... It tasted good. And super sweet. Almost too sweet, which I rarely say. Actually, I guess it was too sweet as I couldn't finish it. Pumpkin-y and yummy, but too much. It isn't on the menu anymore, so I can't tell you how much it was, but it was also around $15. I think my biggest problem with our dinner at Pure Food and Wine is that without dessert we would have left hungry. Raw food is supposed to be healthy, and make my skin glow, and all that crap. And it took the cheapest item I ate that night, and the least healthy, to make me feel full. Doesn't that seem stupid to you? Personally, I think Pure Food and Wine got lost somewhere along the way. I am not against raw food, I am against a meal that gives me the wrong impression about raw food. I left there thinking that raw food is way too expensive for a regular old person like me to eat, unless all I'm going to get is dessert.