Swig, Again

Our latest venture to Swig was a hit. Again. Swig, you MUST ask your chef to give a cooking class or two to the chef at your owner’s other restaurant, Water Buffalo. It has a smashing location, but the food is not up to Swig!

We have taken to going to theater early on Saturdays if possible, leaving us enough time to really hang out with friends and enjoy some of the terrific food this city offers. So last Saturday found us at Swig after a performance of “The Sum of Us” at the Studio Theater. Both the theater and the restaurant are located about a block apart on Broadway.

Though the play didn’t deserve raves, the food did. First the play: the acting was magnificent. It is worth going to see Brian Mani anytime he is performing anywhere in the area. He is a regular at the American Players’ Theater in Spring Green. But the writing left much to be desired, in my opinion. Full of the lowest form of humor, very crude sexual jokes, it doesn’t redeem itself with brilliant dialogue. Ah, well. It was an excuse to see friends and support local theater...

On to Swig, the highlight of the evening. We were once again with Doc and his wife, Kay. You may remember that at Swig you can order “small plates” and try many items. Three of us ordered cups of the evening’s special soup, Crawfish Chowder, which was excellent, with nice chunks of crawfish and a tasty stock. Of course My Man Who Eats Nothing That Does Water Aerobics did not try this, but had a cup of the house Tomato Basil Soup (also delicious). We all shared one order of Swig’s yummy Tempura Snap Peas ($6.75) and one 4-piece order of Classic Bruscetta ($6.50), a lovely, not at all oily, combination of chopped fresh tomatoes and tasty basil on crostini.

Kay and My Man shared the Sesame Beef Tenderloin Skewers - 3 of them for $27.50, and SO worth it, while Doc ordered an entre of Braised Pork Tenderloin ($14) that came with sauted apples and was fork-tender, and I ordered the special entre of the night, the three-cheese ravioli with sauted shrimp. It was delicious. We had coupons for a glass of wine each, which, with 4 more glasses of wine, plus a couple of Pepsi’s and a couple of coffees resulted in a total bill of $155, including the tip. We think that’s a deal!

Sure beats cooking on Donmar.

Stirring the Pot