Mr. Hawthorne and Rosie Do Lunch.

Months ago, Mr. Hawthorne and I went to the second in a series of cooking classes at the North Carolina Aquarium.
Chef John Romm, from the Manteo restaurant 1587 performed the demonstration.
He told us back then that he was leaving 1587 to open up his own restaurant.

Well, it's open now.
Renditions, in Kitty Hawk, NC.

Mr. Hawthorne and I were out and about today, saw a totally deserted parking lot, and decided to stop and try it out.

First off, I am impressed.

Mr. H. and I try out so many restaurants and I always have asked him,
"Why don't they put salt and pepper grinders on the table?"
Well, here are my first grinders.
I am a happy woman.

Mr. H. and I decided to split a Caesar Salad for starters.
We tend to judge a restaurant by its Caesar Salad, comparing theirs to ours.
Few come close, but this was very good.
Just don't skimp on the croutons, please.
Quite good flavor.
Still not ours.

Next, I ordered the French Onion Soup.
Now, we're tasting this soup and we discerned an elusive flavor.
We kept on tasting and tasting, and finally concluded the flavor was tarragon.
We asked our waiter, Chris, to ask the chef what the flavor was.
Yes, indeedy, it was tarragon.

And don't skimp on the toast and cheese.

Otherwise, good soup.


Now, for my entree, I had ordered an appetizer - the seared tuna on noodles.
I asked for the tuna medium rare.
Something extraordinary happened.
Chris came out of the kitchen with a single slice of rare tuna on a piece of lettuce.
"This is how the tuna is served.
Please try and see if you like it."
I looked at the slice and it looked RAW.
I touched it and it was COLD.
"Oh, no," I said, "I don't think so."
Mr. Hawthorne urged me, "Well, for God's sake, since you've already poked it with your finger, taste the damn tuna."
I cut off a small bite, didn't like it at all, thanked Chris for actually bringing this to me, then changed my order.

Instead of raw tuna, I ordered grilled scallops.

For once, I didn't have entree envy.
Four lovely grilled scallops, delicious cole slaw, and French fries, which, by the way, I should have asked for extra crispy. Still good, but not crispy, like I like 'em.
The cole slaw was quite good. Which is funny since when this restaurant used to be something else, I believe maybe Keeper's Galley, Mr. H. and I came here for the fried oysters, I tasted one forkful of cole slaw and SPIT IT OUT IMMEDIATELY.
I'm talking about food being expelled forcefully from my mouth.
It was that bad.
Mr. H. still laughs about it.

How the hell can you screw up cole slaw that much?

Here's Mr. Hawthorne's entree.
Fried tile fish with a mango salsa, sauteed veggies
(tomato, onion, red pepper, squash, zucchini, corn),
and a fabulous pasta dish with pesto aioli.


We liked everything.
The presentation was lovely.
The flavors were wonderful.
The service was excellent.

Chris came back several times with extra drinks, ice, and, of course, lemon for me.

Didn't like the price.
Sorry.
Lunch was $41 without the tip.

OK, we were here for the first time and had one salad, one soup, and two entrees, just to get a tasting of a lot of what they had to offer.
Still $41 for lunch was a bit high.
Should have been $23 - $28 to get a local attraction, year round.
Anyways, we'll come back for seconds, perhaps trying whatever specials of the day they may have, to keep our costs down.

Everything delivered on service, presentation, and taste.
Price??
Too much for lunch.