[Rusty van Reddick]

Dinner at River Cafe last night was one of the finest dining experiences of my life... and it's amazing with all the reputable high-end places that have opened recently, the RC still manages to pack the house. They have these new "one bite" appies that are bigger than amuses bouches but smaller than average appies and they're only 2 or 3 bucks each- these were outrageously delicious, one was a poached shrimp on a dollop of carrot mousse, and the other was a sort of mushroom-potato cannoli but with more carrot as the "dough." Both were spectacular. We had salads (they have separate "one bite," "appetizer," "salad" and "share" offerings, so there are many ways to configure a meal); mine was a green salad with radish, soft-boiled egg, house-cured bacon and barley; partner had local beets- now I know neither of these sounds that interesting, but both were mouth-filling and gorgeous. Mains: I had the tenderloin with a slew of sides- pureed sweet potato, kale (which I cannot stand but they did an okay job with), roasted blue potatoes, and a yorkie stuffed with bison shortrib (!); partner had one of the specials, a risotto topped with brined, pan roasted pheasant. Both were out of this world, but I wish I'd gone with my first choice which was the risotto. It had wild pine mushrooms, and the flavours were just explosive. Dessert: strawberry pavlova (meh, not that much you can do with meringue, not bad but not special) and an amazing pumpkin spice cake with house-made... ice cream, but not sure what kind, it had bits of toffee brittle in it. Oh, and the cake came with two largeish chunks of poached quince, which I'd never had before. Finally they gave us a couple of truffles gratis.

This was a feast to remember. Four "one bites," two salads, two mains, two desserts and four glasses lf wine were $202 not including tip, and it was well worth it. One complaint I've had about River in the past was how tiny they portion sizes were. No complaints here AT ALL.