Grapevine

Written by Mr. Salem on November 24th, 2008 No Comments

Grapevine
26 Congress Street
(978) 745-9335

When people discuss restaurants in Salem Massachusetts a few rise above the rest as true standouts of fine dining, the Grapevine is one such restaurant.

A few steps away from the main drag of Derby Street and Hawthorne Blvd. in Salem sits the diminutive Grapevine restaurant.  A small “L” shaped bar greets you and a hostess will seat you either in their richly colored old world styled dining room or if the weather is cooperative, outside in the Tuscan inspired 8 table garden. The Grapevine has long been a favorite spot to celebrate special occasions or impress your date.

My dinner date and I were seated promptly and attended to by Oscar, a polite and knowledgeable server.  We started off with cocktails ($10).  My date opted for the X-Rated martini  featured as the days special martini and I went with the tried and true extra dry Sapphire martini.

For an appetizer we chose the grilled calamari ($12).  Unlike typical fried calamari, grilled calamari is unbreaded and usually of higher quality. This did not disappoint.  The large calamari was grilled to perfection with not a chewy piece to be found. Served on a bed of greens with a light lemon dressing and two large blue cheese topped croutons this is a perfect starter.

Dinner choices were difficult as so many items looked great. As a general rule I try to go for a daily special and a featured item from the menu.  Unfortunately the my first choice of a special was sold out so on the recommendation of our server I went with the dry rubbed baby back ribs, finished on the grill with a chipotle BBQ sauce, served with a side of mac ‘n cheese  ($22).  From the specials menu my date ordered the pan seared swordfish  with veggies and roasted potato’s ($23).  Knowing the grapevine has a celebrated wine list we each ordered a glass of Argentinian Syrah.

The swordfish was cooked to perfection although the flavor was somewhat bland.

The ribs were quite meaty and the dry rub made them easy to eat with utensils or by hand without too much mess.  I was pleasantly surprised to find large rigatoni with a rich blue cheese sauce as a fun twist on the traditional mac n’ cheese.

Although we were both stuffed the dessert looked too good to pass up.  We tried the chocolate mousse and fall favorite, bread pudding ($8).  Both were delicious and hit the spot topping off our meal without putting us in a diabetic coma.

You probably won’t get out of the Grapevine for under $100, add a few cocktails and a good tip and you are well over $100 however you do get what you pay for, and in our opinion it’s money well spent.

Price: $$$
Atmosphere: B
Drinks & wine selection: A
Food: A
Service: B+
Overall: A

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