Review of Proof Restaurant
(I recommend reading the magazine article attached to a prior post.)
We had 7:30PM reservations. A few of the tables remained empty (go now before you have to wait), but the bar area was overflowing. Nice modern décor, great mood music. We were given a booth for 4, but we were only two; that is always a treat.
They serve wine in 3 sized pours – 2 oz taste, 6 oz (normal size) and 8 oz. There are about 12 red and 12 white wines available by the glass, plus a huge vintage by the bottle book (which we didn’t touch).
We had a great time doing 2 oz tastes and 6 oz glasses. We must have tried about 10 different wines. All were very decent. The sommelier (Sebastian formerly of Rasika) is always friendly and knowledgeable. But our waitress <Sarah B> was also very good about recommendations.
Proof offers crackers served with an eggplant puree drizzled with olive oil to start. This was really good.
We started with 2 glasses and 2 tastes, plus the cheese plate. The cheese plate has great accompaniments – figs, peaches hazelnut honey, raisin bread toast crackers. We ordered 3 cheese ($12) and were all decent. The winner was the Chavelle.
We then spoke with Sebastian (who totes around a Champagne trolly) who suggested a few more wines. Good for us – we ordered 4 more tastes.
Our two favorite wines were the Burgundy (Frederic Magnien Borgogne) – very earthy and unique nose and the Shiraz Mollydooker – nice full body, but round finish.
Proof has a charcutrie selection available, plus appetizers, and only six or seven entrée selections, plus side dishes and the cheeses.
After the cheese plate – whose presentation we thought was the best we’ve had in awhile – I went with the chicken and my dining partner just had the side of green beans.
I really liked the chicken. It is a breast served sliced with baked on breadcrumbs. I loved the salsa and green sauce served with it. Not a huge serving though.
We thought the entrée selections were a bit small, although they covered a good variety – steak, two fish dishes, a chicken dish. The appetizers included two salads, but then some unconventional appetizers – fois gras, sweet breads, duck – I suppose very high brow, but nothing really popped out at me.
The bathrooms are cool too. Men’s was all black (floor, walls, ceiling, sinks, stalls, urinals) with tasteful pictures of nude women above the urinals. Also modern, automatic, sinks. The women’s room (so I hear) is all grey and hot pink with steel wash bins.
For Dessert we had the muscato (very tasty) and the toffee pudding cake with vanilla ice cream. Pretty good, but a small portion. Nothing that special, but decent. Coffee was very strong and thick - French-pressed. Seems like they used a too fine setting for the grinds. Courser grinds should be used for pressed coffee.
All in all we will be back many times. It was such a pleasure to order 10 – 12 tastes and find wine that we really liked (we are going to order bottles of the two identified above on the Internet). I look forward to more fun tasting sessions at this restaurant and will be back just for the fantastic cheese plate.
We chatted with the owner (see the article) after and he was very friendly and enthusiastic about Proof. He showed us the wine cellar and explained how he got the art from the portrait gallery to be displayed on his flat screen TV’s over the bar.
Look forward to hearing other diner’s thoughts about the appetizers and entrees we didn’t try.