Fredericksburg? A Locavore? But He Seems So Nice....

I'm a frequent reader of fredericksburg.com and all of it's blogs. A food related one caught my eye (surprise!) called Fredericksburg a “locavore destination?”. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I looked it up and it means someone who likes to eat locally grown food. I guess I should have been able to figure that one out. According to the blog, Fredericksburg has been mentioned in Flavor Magazine a lot lately. Maybe I'll use it to find some new tips on where to go!

They mentioned Foode, which I've been meaning to try out since I heard about it. It opened earlier this month. When I go, you know you will hear about it here!

It also mentioned Poppy Hill Tuscan Kitchen which I have been to and really enjoyed. I'll write a full review about my experience there next time that I go.

La Petite Auberge

I walked into La Petite Auberge for Fredericksburg restaurant week not knowing what to expect. We always go out to eat with our baby and sometimes places take themselves too seriously and act snooty when a baby is involved. I was happy to see that they didn't seem to mind at all. When we got there, three people told us that someone would be with us in a moment. I'm not sure what the hold up was because we eat very early because of the baby and the restaurant was pretty empty. Still, it wasn't that long before we were seated. They didn't have a high chair for the baby, but they do have a booster seat, so we put the baby in their and put our chairs right against her on either side so she wouldn't try to fly out of the side.

Service is friendly but slow. We got our bread after the people sitting near us even though they arrived quite a while after us. It would have been helpful to get the bread earlier! I brought snacks for the baby but she loved the bread once it came and ate small pieces of it for a long time. The bread was very good. Fresh baked French rolls. Mmmmm. 

The restaurant week menu was really limited. We don't eat pork and 2 out of the 3 choices had pork in them. My husband got the trout, which was the only thing we could have. He chose the split pea soup (it was either soup or salad) and the chocolate mousse off of the restaurant week menu. He isn't a big chocolate person, but he said that I could have it. 

I ended up getting orange glazed crispy duckling, which wasn't on the restaurant week menu, but it sounded good and was one of the less expensive items. 

My husband really enjoyed the split pea soup. I tried some, too. It was really good. As for dinner, my husband was less than impressed. The trout was... trout. I think it was lightly fried and it had a sauce on it. It came with scalloped potatoes and I think eggplant. It was okay. It wasn't great. 

I've seen this with restaurant weeks in other places. They don't put their best stuff on the restaurant week menu. I think this is a huge mistake. People come into restaurants they normally wouldn't when it is restaurant week. You would think that the restaurants want to hook people so that they come in again. If my husband and I had both gotten the restaurant week menu, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't return. However... I ordered the duck. 

Mmmm. The duck. I'm definitely going to go back just so I can order it again. It came with this buttery flavored rice that was sooo good. The duck itself had just a little crisp to the skin, but it was so moist and yummy. I just had it today and I already want more. 

Both dishes came with steamed carrots, which my baby really enjoyed after we broke it into little pieces. She entertained herself for a long time, but by the time we had finished our entrées, she was ready to go. I think she would have made it all the way through if the service was a little faster. Still, I think the service was really friendly, especially since we had a baby with us. Everyone smiled and got us what we needed. They did forget to offer fresh pepper to my husband for his soup (I noticed because they offered the neighboring table), but all in all I liked the atmosphere. 

I took the chocolate mousse to go. My dessert was... not good. It tasted like Hershey's syrup mousse. And it literally had Hershey's syrup on top. I'm a big chocolate fan but even I can't stand plain Hershey's syrup. 

All in all, I'll probably go back. I'll probably get the duck again. Maybe my husband will find something he likes off of the regular menu. I'll definitely get something other than the chocolate mousse. Blech. 

As for price, there are some reasonably priced items, like the duck. Some of the other dishes start to get pricey though and I'm not entirely convinced yet that they are worth it. 

Fredericksburg Restaurant Week 2011

I've been meaning to start this blog for a while. I thought today would be a good day because I found out that Fredericksburg has a restaurant week. Who would have thought? Here's a link:

Restaurant Week - Restaurants and some Sample Menus

I have been to Bistro Bethem, Poppy Hill, and Eileen’s Bakery and Café. I'll review them another time.

We decided to try out La Petite Auberge tonight... review to come.