rue dumaine – visited again

Actually, this time, I was trying to set up a blogger event for last week. What started as about 10 bloggers from Dayton and Cincinnati started dwindling until it was supposed to be four of us, then 2 of the four (a couple) had car trouble. That left two. But we were not deterred! We both had been to Rue Dumaine, and we were really looking forward to it.

We had reservations for 7:30 last Thursday, and we picked Thursday because it’s the least busy day for the restaurant, so we’d be less disruptive to other people, hopefully. I got there just a bit early, and Mike seated me. Mike also told me that activedayton.com has a poll going on that asked which splurge dining option is the Best of Dayton. Rue Dumaine won the poll by a mile (41% compared to 2nd place at 8%). Anne told me that she really didn’t like the poll, as she doesn’t consider Rue Dumaine as a splurge. I agree; while you can go all out and splurge, you can also easily split 3 starters between a couple and get a great meal for less than $20 each.

My fellow-blogger Mike from Another Pint Please showed up soon after. Mike and I had emailed and twittered before, but we hadn’t met in person. We got along great, and actually had to stop talking to get our order together.

Anne Kearney, the chef at Rue Dumaine, had set up a table right next to us with a white tablecloth on it to help with photos, which helped a bunch. Sure enough, though, during the meal, I managed to get something on it! Instead of getting samples of lots of things, we just ordered off the menu and shared what we got. James, our waiter, was great, as all the wait staff has been there.

Our apps were an incredible scallop sausage with beets, which I talked about before. It was actually the charcuterie for the next day, but Anne knew I liked it and made it available. It was as good as I had remembered it. We also got duck rillette crepes with red onion marmalade and Pinot Noir gastrique. The crepes were so good. The night’s charcuterie special was a pork terrine, and Anne sent out samples of of it for us to try. Very good stuff! I find myself usually not trying most of the appetizers because I want to try the charcuterie (which changes all the time).

Mike from Another Pint Please is a home brewer, but likes wine, so we asked Mike (the RD wine guy) about which wine to get. He did a great job picking out a Schild Estate Shiraz from Australia that went well with everything. It also turned out that RD’s Mike is also a master brewer, so I’ll be surprised of the two Mikes don’t talk some more in the future.

For main courses, we went with meat. Mike and I are both outdoor cooks, so we went the meat route. Actually, I think both dishes we got really showed off Anne’s cooking. We got grilled pork tender, cornmeal cakes, haricot vert and a classic demi-glace sauce of walnuts, capers, sultanas and cornichons for one main, and Cabernet braised beef short ribs with rémoulade slaw for the other. James brought us extra plates so we could easily split up the dishes.

The first time I had the short ribs, the rémoulade slaw was too salty, but I was very glad to see that it wasn’t this time. The slaw is a nice counter to the richness of the ribs and Cabernet sauce. The short ribs were almost sinful, and didn’t even need a knife to cut. The pork was a good medium doneness, and may be the best thing on the menu, though it’s tough to say. Both of these dishes are just classic, more comfort food than splurge food, I think, though done at a higher level than one might do making comfort food at home!

For dessert, we decided on the cheese plate. Cheese is probably my favorite last course. The cheese plate had several artisan American cheeses on it, with Mt Tam from Cowgirl Creamery, Pond Hopper from Tumalo Farms, Pepato from Bellwether Farms and Point Reyes Blue from Point Reyes Farm. They were all very good cheeses, and a nice way to end a thoroughly enjoyable meal.

I wish more people had been able to make the dinner, but it turned out great for Mike and me. Going in Thursday meant that we could take photos without feeling bad about it. I think next time, we may just do an apps only get-together, maybe at the bar. If you’re a local blogger and interested in something like that, let me know.