palate pleasers....

An amuse-bouche [aˌmyzˈbuʃ] is variously defined as a "little bite of delight before the meal begins". From wiki - Amuse-bouches are different from appetizers in that they are not ordered from a menu by patrons, but, when served, are done so for free and according to the chef's selection alone. These [..]...are served both to prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef's approach to cooking.

Seemingly de rigueur at many restaurants, seeing an amuse bouche in RVA restaurants is still somewhat of a rarity and comes as a pleasant surprise ...Wish more RVA places had them...

Recent outings to two newer entrants to the museum district - the Belmont Food Shop and Deco were very pleasant. Rather small (cozy?) (the former more so) with some very interesting menu options and good execution on the cooking, BFS and Deco both harken back to a simpler (and welcome) dining approach in different ways. No prizes for guessing that at least one of these scored nicely in our minds with a terrific mouth tickler!

Edit: The BFS has quickly (and deservedly) shot to fame in the RVA food scene. Its become so much harder to score a table, but all of this of course bodes well. Res secundae!