Walking down Randolph on a Friday night in April was ridiculously cold, but the warmth from the wood siding looked inviting.. Entering Avec proved to be more difficult than one would assume as we failed to figure out how the door worked. The second time we tried to enter we hit the jackpot. Not surprisingly showing up at 830 on a Friday night required an hour wait. Off to Blackbird it was for a drink at the bar. The bartender made a nice recommendation of bourbon, and we watched the dishes come out of the Blackbird kitchen. It was tempting to stay there, but that will have to come at a later date. Less than 45 minutes later we walked back over to Avec and somehow managed to get the seat right in front of the sauté station at the bar. One can assume that everyone would not enjoy a seat here, but this is what I was hoping for. After being seated we discussed the menu with Chef David. My date and I had some ideas on what we would like to try and we also asked the chef to cook us his favorites on the menu. We had. roasted beet bruschetta with a hazelnut pesto, goat cheese and fresh herbs roasted red pepper and tomato braised haddock with caperberries, bacon and spicy mustard greens chorizo-stuffed madjool dates with smoked bacon and piquillo pepper-tomato sauce marinated hangar steak with asparagus, grilled bread, tarragon and salsa verde rustic whipped brandade deluxe" focaccia with taleggio cheese, truffle oil and fresh herbs While ordering I was obviously too interested with the entire menu and not thinking ahead. Putting down the two richest menu items, at the same time, is not the smartest thing to do, but we made a valiant effort. I might add that they were both very good. My only complaint was that only two crostini were served with the brandade, however that was easily remedied by the chef. The only dish that I did not enjoy was the hangar steak. It was cooked perfectly, but I found it to have no flavor. My favorite dish of the night was the dates. I have had dates wrapped in bacon before but never stuffed with chorizo. You are served 4 per order, and I could have eaten 8 alone. I also greatly enjoyed the braised haddock. I thought all the accompaniments worked well with the haddock. The bruschetta was fine. Roasted beets were a nice topping, but to me, the dish was not memorable. We ended the meal with tangerine sorbet. I make my own sorbets and ice creams and thought this was comparable to my tangerine sorbet. Whether that is a good thing I do not know. Overall this was one of the most enjoyable meals I have had in the last year… For the value and the food. I plan on going back very soon to sample the other half of the menu and some more of those dates.
