Take Octopus and Housemade Spam ($21) with Brussels Sprout "Kim Chee" and Sugar Snap Peas or Warm Pumpkin Cheesecake--more like warm soft-serve pudding--as examples of many.
WHAT WE LIKE Oysters Madalin, crab cakes and polenta torte; turkey saltimbocca, grilled pork chop, braised lamb shank and pennette pasta; sheep's milk cheese and poached pear tartlet, pumpkin cheesecake, warm date and toffee pudding cake.
Recent winners included banana bread pudding, with a crusty exterior and soft, warm center; the cheesecake, a creamy circle topped with cherries; and the chocolate mousse cake, a more formal offering with a hard chocolate crust.
Oysters, sea scallop tart, pumpkin risotto, seared tuna or lobster Cromesquis, crab cake, carpaccio, cavatelli with shrimp and mascarpone, roasted wild salmon, stuffed skate wing, braised monkfish, seared swordfish, whole stuffed branzino, cheese assortment, sorbet assortment, mascarpone cheesecake, warm chocolate cake.
You can serve this cheesecake warm or chilled.
Among the winners sampled were a creamy yet light cheesecake with warm raspberry sauce, a very rich chocolate truffle cake and a warm, moist, roasted pecan and cranberry bread pudding with a whisky-cranberry-butter sauce.
Kudos, too, to the silken crème brûlée and to the warm upside-down caramel cheesecake.
RECOMMENDED DISHES -- Chopped salad, house salad, garlic soup, baked clams, fried calamari, toasted angel hair, pork tenderloin, veal tenderloin, blackened scallops, cheesecake, sorbets, warm pound cake.
We were very happy with the espresso cheesecake, the warm apple cobbler, the flourless chocolate cake over salted caramel sauce and the chocolate brownie paired with crème de menthe ice cream.
A tall, creamy wedge of cheesecake, a warm apple crumb, a crisplike dessert with raisins and ice cream and whipped cream, and a firm, tangy Key lime pie paired with lemon sorbet were other satisfying finales.
