Date Night at Brenner Pass

I’ll say it up front, this has been our number one choice for a consistently surprising and delicious food experiences since just before COVID got going at full steam. We’ve eaten here at least a dozen times since February 2020, plus a handful of visits to the chef-owner’s other two local restaurants. Never mind that said-chef happens to be a veteran of Top Chef, and the only person to beat all three Titans on Bobby Flay’s Triple Threat (receiving the first perfect score all season).

Carrie and really, really, really enjoy Brittanny Anderson’s food and last night’s visit did little to change that.

We shared a half dozen PEI oysters. A little brinier than we like, but that’s our own bias… The oysters were top quality and clean even if a little salty.

We thought about a salad, but our server was on point and gave us the desert menu so we could decide early if we’d try and save room. She started selling us the chocolate tort. We made a tentative plan for dessert.

I say that I don’t like ordering pasta out, but three of my last four meals at Brenner have been pasta. Last night was the Lamb Gnocchi… It was perfect. The gnocchi we’re the lightest little pillows I’d ever tasted. I’m not sure how they even stayed together in the sauce. The ragu was perfectly seasoned… Reminiscent of long-cooked pot roast, but with a depth of flavor your mom couldn’t make. I finished two-thirds of it before pushing it away (and destroyed the leftovers later last night).

Carrie had the pork chop… It was spiced we’ll and had a nice smoke, but the pepper was a surprise. We need to start mentioning our pepper sensitivity when ordering to let the server offer some help in advance.

Speaking of servers, we met Selena for the first time. She was delightful and very friendly; attentive, but not obtrusive.

For dessert we ordered the chevre cheesecake and an americano. They paired wonderfully and put a nice bow on the night.