It isn’t very often that I go out for French food in college. It’s a little too pricey for my college budget. So, when invited by my friend to accompany her and her parents to Gaslight 560, I was over the moon with excitement.
The food was great, but the atmosphere of the restaurant was what I loved most about the dinner. Long and rustic wooden tables lined the restaurant. A few parties of people sat at each table, separated by tall white candles. This made the whole dining experience feel very communal, which I love. The high ceilings and brass columns scattered about transformed the restaurant into a ballroom, while the bottle-lined walls and dim lighting transported me to Paris in the 1920’s.
I have only one complaint about the restaurant’s ambiance. Although the dim lighting was both enchanting and homely when we first arrived, by the end of the night the restaurant was almost completely dark. As the night grew darker outside and the lights kept turning down, I could barely see the facial expressions of the person across from me, and found myself squinting at my food.
For appetizers, we all shared the artisanal cheese plate, which was absolutely delicious. It was well-paired with the honeycomb, toasted almonds, and quine paste that was served alongside.
We also shared the shaved beet salad. I love the sweetness of beets when they are paired with something tangy, like an arugula salad, but something about the texture of shaved beets did not hit a sweet spot with me.
I went into the night thinking, “I haven’t had a steak in so long. I’m going to order a steak tonight.” However, after scarfing down almost half a loaf of bread and a few too many slices of cheese, I changed my mind on the steak and ordered the sweet potato ravioli.
I loved it! Each ravioli was pretty small, with only a dime-sized scoop of sweet potato filling in each. They were tossed in an apricot mostarda with balsamic browned butter that was absolutely delicious. I savored every bite. My only problem with the dish was that there were only 10 or so small pieces of ravioli. I wanted more!
For dessert, I ordered the chocolate molten cake. Although only the size of a cupcake, it was incredibly rich and filling. It was the perfect ending to the perfect meal!