I've got a pretty busy week going here so I don't know how much blogging I will get done but don't fear, because Aliza Travis of the Savoring Saratoga blog is guest posting here with not only her superb writing but her fantastic food photography as well. You won't get pictures like these from my quick Android shots. Thanks Aliza for writing, and be sure to check out her blog at http://www.savoringsaratoga.blogspot.com/
Hello fellow Saratogians!
Before I begin, I just wanted to say how excited I am to be doing a guest post for Fun in Saratoga, this is one of my favorite local blogs!
Today’s review is on Wheatfields lunch. Famous for their homemade pasta, Wheatfields normally draws more of a dinner crowd – but in my opinion that’s all the more reason to go during lunch and then you don’t have to worry about a crowd at all. On a weekend afternoon it’s nice to go to a restaurant for lunch and not have to worry about the wait, don’t you think?
As soon as we were seated all four of us sat staring at the menu, everything looked pretty amazing. We decided on an order of Arancinis for an appetizer to share. Arancinis are balls of mushroom risotto with smoked gouda encrusted in panko. Wheatfields also steps up the presentation and places the arancinis in a thick creamy sauce and then drizzles pesto and parmesan on top. Yes please. My only complaint was how small they were! There were four of us and five crispy arancini, so we really only got about a bite and a half each, oh well.
When our entrees came out our waiter brought half of the plates and another man (maybe the manager?) came out with the rest of the orders. Now I’m mentioning this because the second guy said the strangest thing, something along the lines of “well if you had told me it was for these guys I wouldn’t have helped you bring out the order!” Now I know he was just trying to be funny but it was kind of awkward, it wasn’t like he had come to talk to us before or introduce himself or anything like that…a little thing I know, but still odd.
Back to the food. Two of my friends ordered the Caesar Salad with chicken and the Caprese Salad. I always appreciate it when restaurants give you a healthy serving of whatever you get with your Caesar salad (chicken, shrimp, salmon, etc), I feel like it makes the salad much more of a meal. Wheatfields Caesar salad had plenty of chicken and the dressing was light but still flavorful, not heavy and salty like a lot of other Caesar dressings out there.
The Caprese Salad was just plain beautiful. Nothing says summer to me like a winning combination mozzarella and tomatoes. This dish was drizzled with olive oil and balsamic reduction and though I would have preferred more basil (there were only two leaves!) it was still refreshing and satisfying.
Myself on the other hand, I was a little too hungry for a light lunch and needed some serious pasta. I got the pasta of the day, which was linguine with pesto, pine nuts, shrimp and roasted red peppers. I know I said it before, but I’ll say it again: Wheatfields has the most amazing homemade pasta. The entrees are pretty huge, and the pesto and shrimp was light enough to balance out the amount of pasta I planned on eating, but I still only got through half my dish. Fine by me, leftovers are always welcome.
The last dish ordered was the Ricotta Gnocchi Pomodoro with shrimp. I hope you all have had gnocchi before, if not you should definitely try it soon. It’s sort of like little ricotta (or sometimes potato) dumplings that are just the ultimate comfort food. This dish came with mozzarella, basil and roasted tomatoes with big pieces of shrimp. The sauce was a little on the sweeter side, which was an interesting choice with shrimp. I normally like a sauce that packs more of a punch (like pesto) when I have shrimp, but this dish was able to pull it off.
Everyone was extremely satisfied after our lunch at Wheatfields. Unfortunately we were all way to full to even think about dessert, but maybe next time. The atmosphere was welcoming, the food was reliably delicious, and our waiter was friendly…what more could you want?
Still one of my favorite Saratoga standbys. Nothing flashy, just solid pasta dishes at good prices.
Posted by: Rob | April 06, 2012 at 08:47 AM