The Butcher Shop

[glauer]

Last night a later dinner at The Butcher Shop. I had not been in a while and was a little worried as online and elsewhere I continued to hear comments about this place "not being what it was" and being a hype with expensive mediocre food.

I am glad to report that neither is true. They still serve simple, but excellent food made from top notch ingredients. We started with liver crostini with prunes. They were just that but that is a compliment. Right size, right amount of topping, right texture, right taste.

Then the steak tartare and gnocchi with sausage. Both excellent. The tartare is always very nicely spiced, complex and flavorful, but everything in balance. I would prefer it maybe a bit finer chopped and would rather have their excellent normal bread with it instead of the buttery brioche, but that is personal preference. The gnocchi were perfectly textured, the sauce was as intense and flavorful as I am used from my friend's mother in Bologna, and applied in the perfect (modest) quantity. Note to all Italian restaurants in town: This is how pasta sauce is done. Lots of taste, little volume, not the other way around.

After we started with some wines by the glass we had a bottle of Morgon with the food (32$). It was nice to see the waitress get excited about their Beaujolais selection as theirs are of great quality, work excellent with the food of the place and are modestly priced.

Atmosphere was lively and enjoyable. But people need to remind that it is a small and not too comfortable space that is always packed.

Overall this place is just as good as ever. I have no clue why some people do not like it (well, actually I do......I think it is the same crowd that always tells you that they found this and that at some trashy neighborhood shop and that it is sooooo much better than the famous pricey soandso). I also do not find the prices extremely high. Cheap it is not, but quality should not be.

[Timh]

I'm a huge fan of the Butcher Shop also, a place I always recommend to anyone asking "where to eat". the concept is right on.