Bluestone Steak House and Seafood is one of my new if not, THE new favorite restaurant and for so many reasons. The owners, Bill and Sharon Tackett, are friendly and passionate about the food and wine. They have dedicated the quality of food by specializing in "scratch cooking" with all food, including sauces, prepared on-site from fresh ingredients.
Little side note, they actually provide reading glasses...no other restaurant does that. Ah, it's the little things that mean so much and adds the right touch...yes that rhymes, they don't call me the queen of cheese for nothing.
I wasn't able to meet Bill's other half, Sharon, but was fortunate enough to get some time to chat with Bill. Friendly as he is passionate about the food, wine and success of his restaurant, he indulged us with his knowledge and future plans. His description of the selection of ingredients was so enticing, and even though the beautiful, aromatic plates of food were arriving at our table, I found myself engaged in our conversation about all of the above.
One of Bill's extensive experiences in the restaurant industiry is with beef. He has many years with one of America's largest food service providers, where he introduced Certified Angus Beef to restaurants in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri and parts of Arkansas...GANGSTER BEEFOLOGY! This in and of itself is THE reason one knows, when ordering steak at Bluestone, rest assured, it WILL BE THE FINEST anywhere within hundreds of miles.
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another reason of many, for dubbing this my new favorite, is Tackett's passion
and knowledge of wine. Me loveth the wineth and if you're a wine lover,
you'll definitely appreciate the Bluestone’s dedication to the best wine
drinking experience. Wine is decanted in lead-free crystal imported from Reidel
, a 300-year old Austrian crystal maker. “The serious wine person ,” says
Tackett, “can taste the difference between wine served in glass and wine served
in crystal. It tastes different. It tastes better. I ripped this off their
"about" section from their website, but he also verbally reiterated
it to me. My response was, "I knew it! I've told people I can tell
the difference of how the wine tastes based off what it's served in!"
Crystal is my choice for taste...he proved I wasn't crazy, well when it comes
to wine that is. :-)
In my usual routine of first time visits, I wholly trust and leave it up to the owner or chef to suggest their absolute favorites or customer favs. Prepared by chef Jose Garcia, owner Bill Tackett suggest we start out with the Roasted Tenderloin with Remoulade Sauce, served with crostini. Yes, we totally sopped up that plate of remoulade
creamy-ness with that bread/crostini. The delicious memory of rich goodness continues to haunt me...I'm sure it'll stop haunting me as soon as I go back for seconds!
Next, Bill suggested we try the Artichoke Chicken...it's a large organic chicken breast, lightly floured and baked in the oven with artichoke hearts and mushrooms, sauteed in a lemon butter creamy sauce, served with the absolute BEST garlic mashed potatoes you'll ever have and grilled asparagus.
Next, our gracious host and owner asked us what we wanted for our entree...we were getting to the "stuffed" point so we opted for a salad so we ordered the Spinach Salad...but of course, we just had to add the "Certified Angus Beef Steak". Wow...baby spinach, tossed in warm mustard pancetta dressing, and topped with fried onions, flash-fried crimini mushrooms and diced tomatoes. (Fyi...the crimini mushrooms are hand picked and sorted, so you're getting THE top picks, literally.)
In between our meals, Bill wanted us to try one of their many refreshing cocktails offered in their restaurant and mixed up at their HUGE bar...
Ah...oh so delish on a hot day...OJ with Disaronno. Cheers!
And alas, the desert. What to choose, what to choose?!! Since Bill had mentioned to us earlier that they use vanilla beans imported from Madagascar, then ground to a fine paste, we said yes to the Vanilla Creme Brulee. I don't even know where to start in my attempt to do this heavenly, creamy and decadent dessert justice. Perfectly "set", creamy and with a nice, thick torched sugar crust...wow. WOW...Wow!! Uh, yeah, so I definitely had to refrain myself from re-creating that Meg Ryan/Billy Crystal cafe seen in 'When Harry Met Sally'...it would've just been weird with Ashlei sitting across from me :-(
Equipped with a huge bar with an amazing wine selection, it makes for a perfect location for wine seminar/tastings and wine dinners, which Bluestone is planning to place on their calendar of events in the near future. Bluestone Steak House and Seafood serves up an amazing Sunday Brunch with a buffet that includes un-cured, nitrate-free honey ham. They're also enhancing their lunch menu, adding more organic selections. Visit their website for more info.
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