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STONEFACE DOLLY’S
On Preston
Yet again we both had been through a busy couple of days and we just barely had the energy to decide on an area of town to eat in.
We chose to play restaurant roulette and headed off to Preston Street.
The logic was simple. Find a place to park and then walk the street reading the posted menus until we found something that inspired us.
I was hankering for a simple veal scaloppini, Lynn was up for whatever.
We walked and we walked. Most menus offered us the same choices as the last.
We approached a new looking place and searched for its outside menu which was not to be found.
Tired, I suggested that we just go in and take our chances, take the bullet as it were.
We entered a terrific room, part bistro, part trattoria, part martini bar, all smoothly blended into a comfortable space – STONEFACE DOLLY’S On Preston.
In the front end of the room Dolly’s has a terrific bar that seats maybe 8, along with 3 high top tables over looking the street.
The bar curves and extends down the inside wall of the room transitioning into a dessert display and then into a serving area for the open kitchen.
The dining area is roomy but subtly divided into smaller intimate spaces. Standing you can view the whole room, seated your space becomes more private.
We were seated and left with our menus and then just as I was thinking about it, our water glasses arrived and our server explained what they had to offer as the evenings specials.
Then just as we had decided which way we want to go with our order our server was back with a basket of bread and a dip.
This is the often unnoticed art of service. If you are lucky to get a server that tunes into your cadence you will have someone who can guide you through your whole dining experience, someone who will ensure that you get exactly what you want.
The very best servers are stealthy, always there just as you need them, always ready with a suggestion or a question, always ready for anything that you might need.
Dolly’s bills itself as offering homestyle gourmet cookery with an international twist – and they deliver.
Owner Bob Russell was born in South Africa and his birth ground seeps into the menu as does influences from Thailand, Mexico, Europe and other spots where spice is an everyday habit.
Neither of us was that hungry and decided that we might skip the preliminaries and head straight for the entrees.
But…the table beside us was a group of six and two were having the mussel appetizer, one with a Red Thai sauce, the other in a white wine cream sauce. I am a sucker for mussels and I was almost tempted.
Lynn ordered The African Chicken Bobotie which was baked chicken chunks with a light spicing of curry, almonds and raisins served with coconut basmati rice, a yogurt raita and small salad. (16)
I chose Veal “Birds,” a concoction of ground veal wrapped in prosciutto served with a Portobello Mushroom cream sauce and vegetables. (18)
Our orders arrived, nicely presented, freshly hot and wafting with a gentle wisp of spices.
Lynn’s Bobotie turned out to be an open faced thickly crusted pie a swim with pieces of chicken interspersed with almonds and raisins all bound together in an aromatic broth. It smelled and tasted wonderful. The coconut rice was soft and rich, the salad just lightly dressed in earthy vinaigrette.
My “Birds” were lightly grilled to give the prosciutto a soft shell effect for the ground veal it was wrapped around. There was a surprise hidden amoung my vegetables, a dollop of turnips doctored with a little maple syrup and perhaps a hint of Roma cheese or sour cream.
There were a lot of choices that we could have tried. How does an Almond encrusted Chicken breast with caramelized pear and a brie cream sauce sound? (18)
Or perhaps the Jambalya - Chicken, shrimp, sausage and mussels in a mildly spiced Creole tomato sauce. Served with sautéed red and green peppers, carrots, and red onion on a bed of basmati rice, also $18.
Tempted?
Eating at Dolly’s was the tonic we needed for a night when we felt a tad unwilling to make our own decisions.
The room is not small, seating perhaps up to 60 people, but the entire production was handled by two servers, two cooks and a kitchen helper.
Not one of them missed a beat.
STONEFACE DOLLY’S
On Preston
416 Preston Street,
613-564-2222
www.stonefacedollys.com
On Preston
Yet again we both had been through a busy couple of days and we just barely had the energy to decide on an area of town to eat in.
We chose to play restaurant roulette and headed off to Preston Street.
The logic was simple. Find a place to park and then walk the street reading the posted menus until we found something that inspired us.
I was hankering for a simple veal scaloppini, Lynn was up for whatever.
We walked and we walked. Most menus offered us the same choices as the last.
We approached a new looking place and searched for its outside menu which was not to be found.
Tired, I suggested that we just go in and take our chances, take the bullet as it were.
We entered a terrific room, part bistro, part trattoria, part martini bar, all smoothly blended into a comfortable space – STONEFACE DOLLY’S On Preston.
In the front end of the room Dolly’s has a terrific bar that seats maybe 8, along with 3 high top tables over looking the street.
The bar curves and extends down the inside wall of the room transitioning into a dessert display and then into a serving area for the open kitchen.
The dining area is roomy but subtly divided into smaller intimate spaces. Standing you can view the whole room, seated your space becomes more private.
We were seated and left with our menus and then just as I was thinking about it, our water glasses arrived and our server explained what they had to offer as the evenings specials.
Then just as we had decided which way we want to go with our order our server was back with a basket of bread and a dip.
This is the often unnoticed art of service. If you are lucky to get a server that tunes into your cadence you will have someone who can guide you through your whole dining experience, someone who will ensure that you get exactly what you want.
The very best servers are stealthy, always there just as you need them, always ready with a suggestion or a question, always ready for anything that you might need.
Dolly’s bills itself as offering homestyle gourmet cookery with an international twist – and they deliver.
Owner Bob Russell was born in South Africa and his birth ground seeps into the menu as does influences from Thailand, Mexico, Europe and other spots where spice is an everyday habit.
Neither of us was that hungry and decided that we might skip the preliminaries and head straight for the entrees.
But…the table beside us was a group of six and two were having the mussel appetizer, one with a Red Thai sauce, the other in a white wine cream sauce. I am a sucker for mussels and I was almost tempted.
Lynn ordered The African Chicken Bobotie which was baked chicken chunks with a light spicing of curry, almonds and raisins served with coconut basmati rice, a yogurt raita and small salad. (16)
I chose Veal “Birds,” a concoction of ground veal wrapped in prosciutto served with a Portobello Mushroom cream sauce and vegetables. (18)
Our orders arrived, nicely presented, freshly hot and wafting with a gentle wisp of spices.
Lynn’s Bobotie turned out to be an open faced thickly crusted pie a swim with pieces of chicken interspersed with almonds and raisins all bound together in an aromatic broth. It smelled and tasted wonderful. The coconut rice was soft and rich, the salad just lightly dressed in earthy vinaigrette.
My “Birds” were lightly grilled to give the prosciutto a soft shell effect for the ground veal it was wrapped around. There was a surprise hidden amoung my vegetables, a dollop of turnips doctored with a little maple syrup and perhaps a hint of Roma cheese or sour cream.
There were a lot of choices that we could have tried. How does an Almond encrusted Chicken breast with caramelized pear and a brie cream sauce sound? (18)
Or perhaps the Jambalya - Chicken, shrimp, sausage and mussels in a mildly spiced Creole tomato sauce. Served with sautéed red and green peppers, carrots, and red onion on a bed of basmati rice, also $18.
Tempted?
Eating at Dolly’s was the tonic we needed for a night when we felt a tad unwilling to make our own decisions.
The room is not small, seating perhaps up to 60 people, but the entire production was handled by two servers, two cooks and a kitchen helper.
Not one of them missed a beat.
STONEFACE DOLLY’S
On Preston
416 Preston Street,
613-564-2222
www.stonefacedollys.com
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