Patina Grill

Nick and I met Adam and Rusha out for dinner on Tuesday night at Patina Grill. We went there some time last year with Adam and we weren't sure that we wanted to back since we weren't impressed the first time. Our waiter was very odd and while our appetizer, a beef empanada was delicious, our entrees were both very bland. This visit changed our minds. We started with another emapanada, this time stuffed with chicken, basil and manchego cheese. It was served with a Russian dressing on the side and Sriracha sauce as a garnish and it was delicious. The outside was fried crispy and the inside was soft and full of melted cheese. I couldn't taste any basil, but that could have been all the Sriracha sauce I was smothering my empanada in. For dinner I had the grilled chicken with red beans, arepas, glazed plantain, and roasted jalapeno la crema on the side. It was a very good meal and I convinced myself it was somewhat healthy. The arepa wasn't the kind that I was used to, but I don't know which one is correct. Nick ordered the pepper seared duck breast, shrimp, and crab gumbo over stone ground cheddar grits and he loved it. He said that the duck was juicy and tender and manged to finish all of the meat on his plate. For dessert, Rusha ordered the chocolate-chambord pots de creme with cherry biscotti, which came out with a small cup of coffee to dip the biscotti into and creme fraiche on the chocolate. We told her we wouldn't eat any of it, but couldn't resist after we saw it and could resist even less once we tasted it. It was all I could do not to eat the whole thing. It went well with my chocolate martini. You can't have too much of a good thing. The atmoshpere was nice and quiet. We had a dark booth, that despite the straight back was rather comfortable thanks to some cushions to sit on. Service was good and attentive, although, there was a communication breakdown between Nick and the server. He kept ordering the beer he had gotten at the bar when we arrived and she insisted on calling it by a different name. He still got exactly what he ordered and he did have the name right. The food was as slow as is to be expected at these prices. Dinner and dessert took about 2 and a half hours, but that gave us time to talk and enjoy our company. This visit to Patina Grill has changed our minds about what to expect and we will now consider another visit.