Of the many annual enticements offered to locals in the dog days of summer, the most popular and the best is the "3 Apps and A Glass of Wine” promotion at Ralph’s On The Park. When an old friend from college called to meet me for dinner, I threw out this option immediately. She had an ulterior motive, mentioning she wanted me to meet a sorority sister of hers who is also widowed as a potential travel partner for me.
I arrived first to a packed house, ordering Champagne (Prosecco) as my glass of wine to entertain myself while I waited. The waiter couldn’t have been more gracious. I love places where the waiters all make enough money to stay. I remember all of them here.
All of us at the table travel a lot, and we started talking about trips. My new acquaintance is heading out soon on a private yacht tour. I knew immediately that this widow was out of my league, though as we talked, I realized she may be the one person crazy enough to talk into Byblos. (The real place in Lebanon, not the restaurant.) She’s already slept with the Bedouins in the Sahara in my Morocco fantasy, and advised me against it.
When we ordered, I realized further our differences. She ordered Steak Tartare, prompting my college buddy to urge her to tell me about the time she ate something still wiggling. This woman was definitely out of my league financially, in travel adventurism, and she could maybe even best Tom in the dining realm.) I should have asked her if she’d had eel. I’m pretty certain that would be a yes. And then she would try to sell me on it like she did the Steak Tartare. (Without success, of course, but you already know that.)
She was the only one who ordered the Steak Tartare, but the scallop was popular with the other two, as was the Shrimp Skully. There was Gazpacho at the table, and three crab pastas. I wish I had paid more attention to the other orders because I would have chosen entirely differently, but I was dining this evening socially, the way one is supposed to.
I had already decided on my order. It would be a mini crab feast. All three of my apps were crab: crab claws, a softshell crab, and the crab pasta. With so much redundancy, of a possible choice of twelve different apps, we only had six. Too bad.
The first round was the Steak Tartare, which came with a large slice of toasted sourdough. My new friend was impressed with this, though I thought it lacked the visual appeal I usually see with this fancy dish. She thought it was among the best she had had, so I guess the focus was on that in the kitchen.
My first course was the crab claws in the escargot butter. This was an odd dish. The look was tropical, with a citrus perkiness added by shards of orange and lemon peel. But the core butter was an otherworldly green, with murky undertones. Kinda spooky for a culinary wimp like me. The smallish crab claws were lined up against the wall of the ramekin. I liked this well enough, because I’ve rarely met a crab claw I didn’t like, but I wouldn’t get this again, and I was sorry I even paid a +3 upcharge for it.
My college friend had the Gazpacho with a small cluster of crabmeat in the center. She was underwhelmed, but she is the one person in the world I have found who did not love Mr. B’s. I thought it was fine, though a bit meager in portion size, even with the dollop of crabmeat.
The house fave Shrimp Skully seemed definitely different from how I remember. There is a new chef at Ralph’s, so these were Tempura-battered. I never did understand the cult following for Shrimp Skully, which is why I didn’t choose it this evening. And when I saw this preparation, I was glad I had passed. Smoked almonds were part of the mix, and a soy-ginger cream shared billing with the traditional Crystal Hot Sauce and pepper-jelly sauce. It was a hit here, though, at this table. My friend got Shrimp Skully as her second course, and loved it as well.
Her husband and sorority sister got the scallop as their second course. This was a lovely presentation featuring a gigantic Diver scallop, a distinction very important to my new acquaintance. (As it should be to anyone- the others are nasty.) This scallop was beautifully seared and seasoned, and perched atop a luscious cream sauce with a base of Carolina Gold rice, some foam, and a Benne seed tuile molded into a shell shape.. More pea shoots.
My second course was the softshell crab, which was half a softshell fried in a pecan crusted Tempura batter, topped with pea shoots, sitting in a yellow pepper Romesco Sauce with smoked paprika oil. This was crispy and surprisingly fat. I thought this was a great value. And I loved the presentation, standing up.
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For the last course, my college friend had the Shrimp Skully, and the remaining three of us all had the crab pasta. This was made with Radiatori pasta, which is clever but never a favorite of mine. There was a delicious cream sauce with enough crabmeat throughout, some bacon bits, and lots of peas. The adventurer among us proceeded to meticulously pick out every single pea from the mix. The woman who eats things still wiggling in every corner of the world was undone by boring peas??? Such rich irony was not lost on me.
The only conversation at this table that wasn’t about traveling or food was about the value here. My dinner companions were collectively wowed.