Dish of the Week
Mio Restaurant – Butterscotch pot de creme with toast foam
Most restaurants can’t afford a pastry chef – a 1 percent profit on desserts is considered successful. So many restaurants outsource the making of their desserts. Luckily Mio bucks the trend with its own pastry chef, churning out a varying collection of desserts, from crazily deconstructed items to multiple-sauced creations, each more adventurous than the typical cake or pie.

The butterscotch pot de creme with toast foam is one of those desserts. At first the toast foam sounds like one of those molecular gastronomic inventions – more air than substance. In this dessert, the foam is a salty-sweet mousse that counterpoints the buttery, dense and creamy sweetness of the pot de creme. If you love the combination of salty and sweet, you will adore this dessert.

The pot de creme is one of the desserts available on Mio’s three-course prix fixe lunch menu for $22.50. This may be one of the best deals in town, featuring a house-smoked salmon on endive appetizer and several hearty entrees like a pollo con arroz and a duo of the biggest sliders that I’ve ever seen.

With the addition of former Maestro sous chef Stefano Frigerio, Mio has added a “chef’s table” with two seats at the counter of the open kitchen. The menu for the chef’s table is $100/person and consists of seven-courses. According to Frigerio, you will get a bird’s eye view of the kitchen and every thing that comes out it. If any dish catches your eye, just let them know.