best day ever. let me tell you about our experience at iris, yesterday march 23rd.
my boyfriend had just proposed to me that morning, and we were out celebrating. he had made it sound like we had made reservations elsewhere, but he wanted to try restaurant iris to see if they by chance had a cancellation. once we go in, we are seated in their sitting room to order some of theiramazingcocktails, waiting to see if we could be squeezed in. i had the french 75, and daniel, my fiancé, had the romanov something. both were exquisite and "lovely" as the bartender would say. the seating hostess came back and said that there was a recent cancellation, and we could be seated now. as we sit down at the table, there is a bottle of perrier jouet, a french champagne that was described as "heaven in a glass," on the table recommended by jeff (the sommelier/waiter/manager/person of awesomeness). at this point, i was completely confused since i thought we were just squeezed into a table. turns out that daniel had made the reservations in advanced, and the wait staff were all playing along with it.
jeff, our waiter, had given us the specials, and i saw that the salmon, grilled brie on brioche (which was offered last time we went and amazing) was not on the appetizer menu. i wasn't as excited about the other appetizers, so i was going to skip that course completely. then out of nowhere, jeff brings out the salmon appetizer since apparently daniel had requested it a week earlier. (such a happy surprise!) daniel had the new orleans bbq shrimp, which was also requested. he didn't really share that one, so i assume it was amazing. my salmon and brie was fantastic and just as i remember it.
for the main course, i had the scallops, which were four large, succulent scallops pan seared over caramelized corn and fennel purée. the sweetness of the corn and the bitterness of the fennel perfectly balanced the composition to complement the scallops and elevate the taste. this of course all paired with the perrier jouet, a fruit forward champagne, made for a perfect combination. daniel's main course was the teres major, which was a lean piece of meat with indian like spices over a cauliflower combination and topped with a mint chutney. his dish was served medium rare and perfectly cooked, each bite allowing for a different experience from the last.
the last course, anamazingending to a perfect meal was the coffee cake with a scoop of ice cream on top (i think butterscotch, but i'm not sure) along with a dessert wine. jeff gave me a sample of the ville something (ask him, and he'll tell you which one it was. so amazing). but i must say that i really liked the wine that dan got, which was a sauterne. it went so well with the coffee cake, like they were honestly meant to be together. dan got the assortment of cheeses with the sauterne. his dessert was a perfect dish (if you're into cheese for dessert) with his desert wine and the cheese accompaniments also complementing the taste and complexity of each of the four cheeses.
obviously, you can see that the food at iris was amazing. i could gush about it all day. at iris, not only is the food exquisite, but also the entire staff (esp. jeff) was spot on for the course timing, recommendations and attention to detail. at the end of our meal, the chef/owner even came over to congratulate us. what i'm trying to say is that when you have an important day or event, like an engagement, don't leave your fine dining experience up to an amateur. iris is more than equipped to handle your request and make it the best day ever, like it was for me.