Stephanie's Birthday at Drake One Fifty

I shouldn't have used auto-enhance. :P

Stephanie reached the quarter-of-a-century milestone last month. We therefore celebrated her birthday with dinner and dessert at Drake One Fifty (150 York St). She had chosen the kitschy new restaurant based on friend, foodie, and fellow blogger Karen's advice. None of us had been there before so we were eager to see what Drake One Fifty had in store. We walked from our accommodations to the restaurant using the PATH and, before we knew it, we were already inside the lobby of 150 York St.

As true foodies, Karen and Holly already had their dinners and desserts picked out before dinner while the rest of the group and I, the slack foodie, left our dining selections until after we were handed the menus. I initially had a difficult time deciding between the catch of the day and the roast lamb (Greek yogurt, roasted baby eggplant, haricot vert, citrus new potatoes, and chili puree). However, being the carnivore (and the price-sensitive diner) that I was and continue to be, I chose the lamb in the end. Meanwhile, the rest of the party ordered a few starters to share as well as a variety of mains, which ranged from the lamb to pizza and pasta.

The first dishes to arrive at our table were the Drake & Bake (bread, hummus, butter, and extra virgin olive oil) and the Scallop Crudo (preserved lemon, kohlrabi, black olive reduction, and puffed rice). I am usually not a fan of olives but the reduction worked well with the rest of the appetizer's components. In fact, they all complimented each other well and I credit Holly and Karen for ordering such a unique and tasty dish.

While we were devouring the scallops, we were surprised by two plates of Nonna's meatballs (pork, veal, tomato sauce, n'duja, and smoked ricotta) courtesy of Stella's brother, who works at the appetizer station. Thank you for the appetizers! They were delicious. :)

Thanks to the meatballs, our meal had a good pace to it. Moreover, we did not find that we had to wait long between each dish: after the meatballs, the entrees quickly began to arrive in front of each of us. Below is a picture of Cassandra and Karen's pizza on the left and the birthday girl's and my roast lamb (my favourite meal of late) on the right.

Unfortunately, there was a mix-up with Holly's order of rabbit confit torchetti (not featured) and she was instead served the roast lamb. In any case, the server quickly remedied the situation by setting things right and bringing Holly the pasta. In addition, she got to keep the complimentary lamb. :)

In spite of being stuffed silly with mains, each member of our party ordered a dessert to share or to keep for him/herself. I was part of the latter group and ordered the daily pie a la mode, which just so happened to be apple pie. Stephanie ordered the same thing while Holly ordered the olive oil cake and Karen, Cassandra, and her boyfriend ordered the pot de creme.

The apple pie was to die for. It was on the sweet side, to be sure, but it was what I would say a well-prepared, quality, and dare I say perfect dessert. I am not a pie person myself but I really enjoyed Drake's warm apple pie. I especially like the scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on the crunchy crumble crust. However, you have to eat it as quickly as you can. Otherwise, it tends to melt over the pie if you are not looking (as it had done on mine). ;)

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So, what's your verdict? 

I really like Drake One Fifty. In fact, I like everything about this restaurant: from the artsy fartsy decor, the red leather booths, the service, the food, to the dj spinning at the corner that Friday night. It is undeniably one of the more expensive restaurants in the city. However, Drake One Fifty offers a new and artful experience to dining for the young professional crowd. I will give it a "two thumbs up!" :)