Nazareth: Bean Bath Cafe (June 2012)

My spouse and I dined here with another couple in June of 2012. The café serves breakfast and lunch daily, but on Saturday and Sunday evenings, it offers a 4-course $40 prix-fixe menu. Although I've never visited for breakfast or lunch, I thought they did a nice job of transforming a coffee bar into a more classy-looking dinner atmosphere, complete with tablecloths, candles, and wine glasses. The restaurant is BYOB. There are four offerings for each course -appetizer, soup & salad, entrée, and dessert. On the night that we visited, the appetizer choices included coconut shrimp, mushroom fricasee, and cheese fondue. The salad choices included spinach and strawberry with a yogurt dressing, tomato and mozzarella with a balsamic dressing, and mandarin orange with crispy fennel and a vinaigrette dressing (although the fennel was described as crispy, it was merely sautéed, and there was a lot of it, but somehow it worked together). The salads were served at the same time as the soup in a combination plate/bowl made for that purpose (I can see lunch soup and half-a-sandwich or oatmeal and a bagel being served on these plates during the day.) The soup choices included vichyssoise (which was much too thick) and a similarly colored root vegetable puree soup. Entrée choices included filet wrapped with bacon, apple-smoked duck breast (which developed the consistency and look of ham after cooking), and a vegetarian option (which was very tasty and unusual). Two types of rolls accompanied by butter were also offered. Dessert choices included lemon panna cotta (which didn't taste lemony except for the candied lemon garnish), fondue, and chocolate mousse cake. Surprisingly, when our companions ordered decaf coffee to accompany their desserts, they were told that they didn't sell decaf (really? It's a coffee bar!) Credit cards are accepted, as are reservations. While we appreciate the goal of this restaurant and chef in presenting dinner on certain nights, we feel that the Filipino chef would be better served to feature her native cuisine to distinguish herself from her competition.