• 5
• Mary's 5 Wow Review_Savories/Entrees/Holiday

Mary has really outdone herself this LOVE season. The restaurant is always warm and cozy but was decorated with beautiful red tulips and purple iris, with red balloons to greet you outside. The love was detailed down to the red napkins and even the musical selections were handpicked, by Mary. The menu was visually stunning as were the selections and the back of the menu boasted several quotes about LOVE. Wow. The first wow was the blood orange juice served in champagne glasses. The salad's were amazing...her Olive Tapanade Dressing made me feel like that reviewer in the movie Ratatouille, when he flashed back to his mom cooking for him. I'm Italian and that was the most Italian rich flavor dressing I've had in years, and it was not garlic overdone. ((I'm never moved by chefs that only use garlic as a flavor...--to me it's very boring)) Her raw cheeses from pistachio to macadamia are unbelievable. She has an flavor rich sun dried tomato nut cheese that is used in her raw ravioli's that's bangup, as well as the Eat Me Raw salad dressing, a long time fav of ours. Her pistachio cheese dish "Raw Savory Pistachio Cheese Tart" included Sweet Papaya Chutney (chutney-ish fruit salsa side)...had the flavors of SAMOSAS with the chutneys, especially with the Spicy Mint Leaf pesto.....but very light and LIVE. Very very well done. ((I won't touch a fried samosa with a 10 foot fork....ew....so this was a really nice add)) We went from the Italian salad, to the Indian appetizer, then onto my Gourmet Raw Pizza....wow wow wow wow (the fourth Wow). My entree, the raw pizza that was gone so fast I was almost embarrassed by my quickly empty plate. The quality of her ingredients and flavors really shine through in all of her dishes. Her raw crust was nice and moist, not like those dehydrated sandpapers of flax that most try to pass off as "raw bread". (anyone need some paint removed?) The Risotto, the Menage a Trois... wow again. The portion was huge and it had some amazing string beans and amazing triple mushroom madness. Beautiful sage aroma with sage leaf decoration. Mary's has full spectrum FLAVOR. If you have never been, it's a MUST DO. She's mastered the use of herbs for flavor. Updated from previous review on Friday February 15, 2008