The Kitchen at Fox & The Knife is Sharp!!!

Last weekend we went to Fox & The Knife to celebrate my brother's birthday! My parents go there a lot, so I was excited to try it. The restaurant has a lot of energy and they were busy, even though we got there early. There is an open kitchen, which I love because I get to watch the chefs cooking! My parents had already told me that the restaurant owner and head chef is a woman and that there were all women working in the kitchen, which I think is very cool. This time, there was actually a man too, but he was really nice so I guess that's okay!

We sat at a big table in the back because my grandparents and aunt and uncle and cousin, who is very cute, were visiting. We ate family style and shared everything. We started with Harissa Marinated Olives and Fried Chili Chickpeas. Harissa is a North African hot chili pepper paste, but the olives weren't too spicy. I liked the mix of colors and the seasoning.

I thought that serving the olives with picks was very fancy!

The Fried Chili Chickpeas weren't too spicy either. I loved how they were fried and crispy. They were delicious. My little sister couldn't get enough of them. And my parents think that the restaurant should start selling them like Jamie Mammano's tortilla chips!

I think that these chickpeas are better than french fries!

My aunt got a grapefruit mocktail, which is a cocktail with no alcohol, and so I got to try it! It was made with grapefruit, but it wasn't sour or bitter, and I loved it!!!

Isn't this drink a pretty pink color?

We got two salads to share. The salads were my Papa's favorite dishes. My mom and aunt and uncle's favorite salad was the Panzanella di Finochio, which has mint, pomegranate and sumac. My mom gets it every time she eats there. Sumac is the spice that is often used in fattoush (remember my Byblos post?!). My aunt especially liked the pickled onions in this one. Unfortunately, our picture of the Panzanella came out blurry, but if you ever go to Fox & The Knife, you should definitely try it!

The other salad was an Insalata Verde with little gem lettuce, three citrus vinaigrette, and pangrattato. Pangrattato are bread crumbs. This one was my favorite. My dad said that the flavors in the salads were very "bright." I thought he meant bright colors, but really he meant that the food tasted fresh and alive. I think it is because the dressings were very lemony.

I think that this salad is delightful to look at!

Next we had Cavoletti Agrodolce. Cavoletti means brussels sprouts in Italian and agrodolce is a traditional Italian sweet and sour sauce. It is usually made with vinegar and sugar. These also had mint and pickled shallots. I really loved these.

We also had Broccoli Alla Grillia "Caesar". This was grilled broccoli that was chopped up and had the flavors of a caesar salad. I really liked this dish and thought it was even better than the salads. I usually don't like cooked broccoli, but this was perfect and delicious.

Our server found out that my parents had never tried the Patate Fritte and so she sent them over. They were fried potatoes with spicy calabrian chili and saffron aioli. This was one of my favorite dishes. It seems as if basically everything that is fried is good!

I loved how the saffron made the aioli bright yellow and how they drizzled it on top.

Next we had a pasta course. The Tagliatelle Bolognese was my dad and my uncle's favorite. All of the pasta is freshly made. It is chewy and excellent.

I like how they plate the pasta mounded up in a circle.

My brother's favorite pasta was Luna Di Ricotta which was ravioli with sage brown butter and prosciutto. Luna means "moon" in Italian. I liked the ricotta inside.

I think that these ravioli look more like a sun than a moon. Maybe they should call them sole instead of luna!!

My favorite pasta was Mafaldini Alla Funghi. Mafaldini is a ribbon shaped pasta. It was made with toasted farro, and it had mushrooms and truffle butter. I thought that the truffle butter and mushrooms added lots of umami. This pasta was my aunt's favorite too.

I like all the squiggles in this pasta. I think it looks like a piece of art!

After the pasta course, we had entrees. My aunt and uncle liked the Pollo Al Mattone with sumac, escarole, rosemary brown butter. Al Mattone means "with a brick". They use a brick (or at least something really heavy) to press the chicken down while cooking it. I liked how the chicken was very tender and the skin was crispy.

My mom's favorite entree was the Capsanata Picatta, which was diver scallops with meyer lemon and buttered pine nuts. I don't like scallops usually, but I thought that these scallops were great. I liked how they were seared with a crispy crust.

The greens in the lemony sauce were very good.

We also had the Pesce Fritto, which was a whole red snapper with green garlic salmoriglio, and fennel salad. Salmoriglio is an Italian sauce with lemon, olive oil and herbs. This dish was another one of my uncle's favorites. And my mom really liked the fennel salad. I don't know how I feel about seeing the fish's eyeball and open mouth. It made me feel sad, but I guess that's what fish really look like, so maybe it's good to show that.

Do you see what I mean about the mouth and eyeball?

Our last entree was Harissa Braised Agnello, which was lamb, with carrot polenta, mint and gremolata. Gremolata is a chopped herb sauce usually made with parsley, garlic and lemon. My grandparents liked this dish. I liked the texture of the lamb and I really liked the carrot polenta.

I thought that the carrot polenta looked colorful and pretty.

My mom and my sister and I had made a birthday cake for my brother that was waiting at home, so we didn't order dessert. But we got these little meringues with our check that I loved. They were a little bit chewy. Sometimes meringues are only crunchy, but having a chewy center is exactly how I think meringues should be!

I love the swirls on these! I think maybe they were caramel, but I don't know for sure.

Fox & The Knife is one of my favorite restaurants now! I highly recommend it and I really want to go back soon!!!!