Wildfox

Cocktails and appetizers started us off, and we decided to go for Munther’s ahi tuna roll, a specialty of the house. The large roll was cut into four sections, with a light tempura batter on its exterior and the tender ahi inside along with red peppers, onions, basil and carrots, with a wasabi cream sauce that has a kick (but not too hard) and a sesame noodle salad. Honestly, it was big enough that someone with a smaller appetite could have it as a main course.

On special was a sweet and fresh heirloom tomato salad, which had large slices piled high with layers of fresh mozzarella, then sprinkled with fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Each month, the restaurant features a particular winery, and when we were there it was Frank Family Vineyards—so how could I resist a glass of the jammy, peppery Zinfandel to go along with the next course? That’s right, I couldn’t. And it went extremely well with another house specialty: sticky maple bourbon barbecue baby back ribs. Seriously I could smell the maple when they arrived at the table. Of course, that might be because I subbed out one of its standard side dishes with the maple glazed butternut squash. So there I was in maple city. The meat was extremely tender and fell right off the bone, while the sauce was simultaneously smoky and sweet. The buttery squash was on the sweet side as well, so it was nice to have the contrast of an earthy, crispy blue cheese cole slaw and a bit of creamy mashed potatoes on the plate too. (See I told you it was comfort food!)

Another special was pork loin with pomegranate reduction sauce. Also very tender, the pork flavor was the star of the dish, as the mild sauce was a perfect accent. It was served with creamy garlic mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.

Coenen’s specialty is desserts (she makes wedding cakes, too). The crème brulée preparation changes regularly, and when we visited, it was a light, creamy and well caramelized butterscotch served with two sea salt-topped chocolate cookies. We also tried the warm caramel bundt cake with house made butter pecan ice cream (lots of pecans). It was a large slice but not too dense, surrounded by the rich caramel. And boy, did that taste good with some Graham’s 20-year tawny port.