Friday, February 17, 2012

Green Bay Progressive Dinner

All images were taken with an Iphone only show




Friday's Green Bay Progressive Dinner

How we enjoy a progressive dinner is we normally start at a restaurant and have an appetizer and a drink. Then moving on to another restaurant and sampling another appetizer. Sometimes we eat a cheese platter and then an appetizer, it just depends on the restaurants that we find for the night. We have found it is best to share so that you don't get too full before the entree restaurant. We even found that sharing an entree works out the best. And finally moving on to another restaurant to enjoy dessert. Depending on how much you share throughout the night, you might not make it to this point. And dessert is always the best part of the meal.

Before heading out I check the local restaurant's websites to see what places sound good for either appetizers, desserts or entrees. I usually have a list of extra restaurants to fall back on. For this trip I had two nights worth of restaurants and a few extras to pick from.

The plan was to start with Caffe Expresso for a pick me up and a stop at the Tapas Room for a cheese sampler plate and wine. Then heading to the Black and Tan restaurant for pumpkin soup and a drink. Next stop Fusion Lounge for appetizers and another drink. Then stopping at the Republic Chophouse for the entree, making sure to check out the desserts along the way for a return trip.

So we started our plan with a stop at Caffe Espresso, but we added a small dessert to our coffee round. We had three cups of Pretty Boy, which we were told tasted like pumpkin. A Pretty Boy was Chai latte with Irish cream, white creme de cacao, espresso and cinnamon. We shared the Cranberry Orange Biscotti which was not too dry like so many biscotti before have been. A great treat to start the adventure out right.

On our drive to Caffe Espresso we saw that the Tapas Room was closed. I had noticed a posting on the web stating it was closed, but we just had to find out for ourselves This restaurant was excellent for small plates to share and we were sad to hear about the closing. So after having coffee we walked down the block and crossed the street to the Black and Tan Restaurant. Each time we have eaten there we just sit in the bar. On the website they listed a Pumpkin Bisque on the menu, but that ended just two weeks before we got there. But they did have a Creamy Acorn Squash with Bacon soup. We ordered the soup and also an order of Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Bruschetta, which is the best Bruschetta I've ever had. The drinks there are also very good.
After finishing we drove a couple of blocks to Chefusion and headed upstairs to the Fusion Lounge for sweet potato fries with Bleu Cheese dipping sauce. The lounge menu has a lot of small plates to choose from. And the drink menu is so wonderful, they make a number of special drinks. We had thought of maybe having a second appetizer and then moving on to the Republic Chophouse, but after hearing the dinner specials I knew we weren't leaving this restaurant at all.

The Arctic Char over a bed of pasta and the Halibut over rice were unbelievable. I should have written down word by word how it was described by the waitress. You could tell just by how our waitress read the specials that it was going to be amazing and it was... The Halibut, rice and sauce was more of a sweet sauce and the bed of pasta a little on the good salty side. So different in taste but so complementary to the fish in it's dish. After having such great dishes we decided to stay there for dessert too. We ordered the Lemon Butter Cake and the Mascarpone Cheesecake. The lemon cake came with homemade ice cream. The lemon cake was the best dessert I have ever had. It just melted in your mouth.

Next time in Green Bay I am stopping and staying for the whole meal at Che Fusion. It is my favorite Green Bay Restaurant.