I think one of the reasons I love food so much is because when I was growing up, there was always so much of it. The question "will I sit down with my family for dinner tonight?" never crossed my mind as a kid. Every night, my mother would have some kind of huge meal prepared for us. She's a really good cook who made even brussels sprouts appealing at one point in my childhood. She would even cook us breakfast before school and read off the calendar of school cafeteria lunch offerings the night before. She was also really strict and a bit overbearing at times, but that's besides the point here.
Point is, my family can really appreciate a good meal. That's why my father insisted on taking all of us to Max's Oyster Bar for mother's day dinner. Located in the downtown area of West Hartford, Max's is known for its awesome seafood dishes and raw bar, so, naturally, I ordered the steak (c'mon people, you know how it is...it was calling my name), but not before my dad put in an order for a clam pizza appetizer.
My 14 year old sister, who doesn't like clams, was all about this pizza. It was so delicious. The crust was the perfect consistency-not too fluffy, not too firm. It was topped with delicious cheese, tomatoes, herbs and of course chopped up clams. A classier version of Red Lobster's seafood pizza.
I also ordered a bowl of lobster bisque (I had the choice of soup or salad with my steak). This bisque was alright. It tasted a little burnt-nothing like the rich, creamy bisque served at the Chatham Squire up on the Cape (I'm sure there will be a post about that to follow), but still pretty good.
My steak came, and although I was already getting full thanks to all the appetizers, I plowed through it so quickly I didn't even take a picture of it. The presentation wasn't too pretty anyway, but the steak was phenomenal. Whenever we go out to a fancy dinner, I just have this need to order a steak. It's like I become some kind of ravenous velociraptor whose irrational desires can only be fulfilled through a piece of big, juicy steak. The only better steak I've had in my life is the steak at CQ's restaurant (also a seafood place, ironically) in Hilton Head, South Carolina. THAT steak cut like butter and melted in my mouth like an ice cube of deliciousness. The day I find a better steak than that one, I may go to church.
Anyway, more on Max's. No Finaldi holiday dinner would be complete without dessert, so we each ordered our own. My brother, who himself is a huge food snob, usually orders creme brulee, but this time he went for a rich chocolate cake that tasted and looked heavenly:
We did a swap, you see, because usually I'm the one who orders chocolate and he orders something fancy. But I ordered the creme brulee. Creme brulee is both delicious and fun to eat. The layer on top is so fragile and crystal-like-I almost don't want to break it. Plus, it looks like art. And the creme itself is always so buttery and yummy. This particular dish included two pretzels that had just been half-dipped in chocolate.
Isn't it beautiful? I had to savor every single little morsel of that mouth-watering dish. Of course, savoring can't last forever...
......my work here is done.
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