Last evening Marge and I had dinner with our friends Naomi and Ophard Willis at Caffe Phoenix on 9 S. Front Street in Downtown Wilmington, NC. Three of us had the only announced special for the night, Seared Scallops on Polenta (the description was actually a lot longer than that but who can remember all the add-ons and sauces and herbs waitstaff recite in most any restaurant where you aren't urged to super-size or add more sticky sauce on top?).
When the entrees were served our table quieted right down for a while as we got to work. I'm not a foodie nor a food critic, but fer shure, Mr. Flay, you could serve this dish as prepared and presented at Bolo in Manhattan and feel right proud.
I had my camera but didn't think to photograph the dish before eating but wish I did (the photo above is a non-attributed royalty-free stock photo). From now on I'll try to remember to shoot before I eat. The scallops were prepared just as most of us like them, not rubbery or hard, but nice and chewy with just the right searing. What had us all talking, however, was the polenta. Wow. The polenta had a tad-thicker-than-thin crust and a great texture. Excellent excellent excellent.
We had a great time talking and laughing and waving to the people riding the horse-drawn trolley down the street (another photo missed), but the scallops, and especially the polenta were fabulous.
