The Library at Chalkboard

Saturday night my husband and I snuck away for a much needed date night. Our intention was to go to Chalkboard, but when we arrived we learned that The Library had availability. We decided to really treat ourselves and headed into the beautiful, intimate space. Our waitress, I think her name was Jolene, and our sommelier Vito were both excellent and set the tone for a memorable meal. Now on to the main event, the food and drink! We chose to do the beverage pairing with our meal and it was well worth it. Note– it’s a beverage pairing, not a wine pairing, and it is not only well paired, but fun. We ordered the full tasting menu with no substitutions and each course was spot on. If I had to pick stand outs for the evening, they would be the bacon consommé with pork belly, a quail egg, maple and nasturtium, the gnocchi with spicy sausage, white asparugus and black truffle fonduta, pancetta wrapped duck breast with swiss chard, duck liver mousse, sour cherry and I think some black olive, ribeye with creamed nettle and bordelaise and finally, and a most wonderful strawberry soufflé. The consommé is creatively paired and something I will crave on a regular basis. For the record, I am not often impressed by a soufflé, too often they are good, but not great, and their flavor can be rather pedestrian. This was anything but! Not only was the texture perfect, but the flavor was intense and fresh. My hats off to Chef Shane McAnelly and his team, this is a special place.