Margarita and I recently had dinner at Jack Dillon's Farm To Fork Cuisine, the relatively new restaurant on South Boadway where the Big Apple restaurant previously was. The long and short of it is it's worth getting off the beaten path of downtown's Broadway and going to Jack Dillon's.
First of all, let's give former Siro's chef-owner Tom Dillon credit for having the confidence to go out and open a restaurant in a large building on Saratoga's restaurant skid row. In addition to the Big Apple, that location was the site of the brief stay of Morrissey’s and before that, the Joe Collins Restaurant for many years. It says here that Dillon still has what it takes to run a first-rate restaurant and it is so satifsying to patronize an establishment where the owner, and consequently the staff in both the front and back of the house, both have a cool confidence and know what they are doing.
It's great to have restaurants offer locally produced food, and I should note there are many Saratoga area restaurants that have been doing just that quite well for years. Jack Dillon's does it while offering a unique and pleasing overall experience with great service, presentation, and taste. This is a minor point but something I appreciated: even the bread service had a level of proficiency and thought to it.
Margarita ordered the fluke, which was breaded and pan fried with a tropical theme - it was served with a cooked banana still in the skin, and a mango, onion, and parsley salad. I ordered the wood fired salmon, which came with polenta and a remoulade. As you can see from the pictures above and below, they were presented beautifully and tasted as good as they look.
So venture out of downtown every now and again and try a restaurant or two in the outlying stretches. You might just like what you find.
For Steve Barnes' comments about Jack Dillon's on his Table Hopping blog, click here.
Took your advice. Great place, great meal.
Posted by: ljk | September 17, 2013 at 09:20 PM