Diane Can Cook

Dine O' Round continues this week (ending the 27th) and so we thought we'd give lunch specials one more go.
This was my first time at Faustina and I was more than happy to share this moment with the my new lunch bunch(we're still toying with a proper name...feel free to give me suggestions): Michelle Allred, Laura Cañate, Theresa Foxley, and Quin Stephens. I name them because they were a great addition to my dining experience as they made sure to comment on food, service, and atmosphere.
Faustina promotes itself as a stylish lounge (they even have a lounge menu!) perfect for a power lunch. As a group of young professionals, I think we could all agree this description really fits. The dining room features contemporary clean lines with a mix of natural light from the large windows on the north and east sides of the building and tasteful track lighting and lamps. Tables had nice space in between them and we felt like we had our own carved out spot in the restaurant.

What'd we eat? Here it goes.
Faustina's Dine O' Round special consisted of two courses:

Course One
Bison Burger with chipotle aioli, Provolone cheese, tomato, and onion served with your choices of House Salad or Sweet Potato chips
Course Two
Strawberries and Strawberry Scented Sabayon
Quin and I* had the Dine O'Round Special. You might notice a similarity between this and the eats over at the Metropolitan. They both served bison burgers and sweat potato chips...that's where the similarities end. Faustina served a grilled beautifully cooked handmade burger topped with gently melted provolone. The chipotle aioli added a bit heat and, while the onions added the depth you search for in a burger. The sweet potato chips  were twisted and seasoned such that the salty flavor compounded with each bite. 

The Strawberries with Strawberry Scented Saboyon was more than satisfying for lunch. It was the perfect light and sweet end to our meal.  I have never attended culinary school and am a carefully traversing the culinary world, so when I saw sabonyon, I was really excited. I've heard this word a few times, usually associated with liquor. My excitement didn't stem from the thought of kicking back a few at lunch, but rather to finally discover what a sabonyon was. So scroll back up to the photo above and read below:

"The sauce you need is based on a foamy mixture called a sabayon (a cousin of the light, egg-based Italian dessert zabaglione). A sabayon is made by beating egg yolks with a liquid over simmering water until thickened and increased in volume. ( the liquid can be water, but champagne or wine is often used for a savoury sabayon.) The sabayon must not get too hot during cooking or it will become grainy: if it begins to feel warmer than body temperature, remove the pan briefly from the heat, beating continuously, until the mixture cools. Then return the pan to the heat and continue cooking. Sabayon may be served warm or cold; a cold sabayon is beaten off the heat until cooled.

Sabayons may be sweet or savoury. They may be served simply as a sauce, often flavoured with an alcohol, or they may form the base of some mousse mixtures. They may also be used for sweet or savoury gratins. Cornflour is sometimes added for stability."

(Taken from Le Cordon Bleu Paris found here.) 

 

Now that we've worked the dine o' round special and learned some new vocab, what did everyone else eat?

Laura had crab cake sandwich with chili aioli, avocado cream, lettuce, tomato, and onion. The crab cake had great texture without being dry or soggy, it held together until she took her last bite. It was accompanied with the house salad, which were house salad consisting of butter lettuce, and mixed greens with beautiful red and yellow beet ribbons crisped, topped with a roasted onion Sherry vinaigrette. This simply flavored salad was fresh and had a nice crunch. 

Next, taking on Faustina's soup Michelle had Candied Pecan Butternut soup served with freshly made house salad. The server placed a bowl with candied pecans and other delicious fixings in front of Michelle, and came behind her with a gravy boat of sorts holding the soup was poured over. It was a surprising and appreciated service at lunch, which was only matched by the soups full and hearty fall flavors. A great pick for any power luncher. 

Finally, Theresa had the Chicken Cordon Bleu Panini with roasted chicken breast, proscuitto ham, tomato, swiss cheese, and bechamel cream sauce. The bread was crisp and chicken was juicy and delicious. First, this is a lunch adaptation of the classic Chicken Cordon Bleu by creating a panini and you'll here no complaints from us. Definitely  a way to enjoy Chicken Cordon Bleu without the heaviness, although I don't think we saved on calories in the panini form. 

Faustina was a place quick enough for the business lunch crowd, without sacrificing flavor, service, or your wallet. All of us got out under $14 each, including soft drink, tax, and tip. 

* I know I "claimed" to be vegetarian and I'm really trying, but I'm maintain some integrity to the blog, so that I can give you, the readers, a fair representation of every eatery.