By Bob Datz

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE REVIEWER

 

March 12, 2009 — Our Picasso dining experience was surely enlivened by the Thursday night jazz combo, but this fortunate food encounter played its own masterful riff,  You wouldn’t think you’d need a niche to run a restaurant on the common in sparsely populated Barre, but Picasso’s self described “Mediterranean flair” was a rewarding and possibly surprising find here.  Yet why be surprised at anything while the world’s cultural barriers continue to crumble?

   The building a former post office, is no architectural wonder, but the place is tidy and the menu eclectic and appealing.  Thirteen everyday entrees from $15 to $24 can be had with a side salad for $3.  These range from grilled rack  of lamb “with exotic spices” on the high end of the range to the place’s namesakes: The Picasso ($16), being a layered dish of grilled marinated chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, portabella mushrooms and sautéed spinach, covered creamy porcini mushroom sauce, or  the Veggie Picasso ($15), a version subbing zucchini and feta cheese for the poultry.  There are also pasta-seafood concoctions, but the grill is quite active up and down the menu.

   We took advantage of this, my choice being a rib-eye steak special for $22 that got its bounce  from

from a Spanish sherry wine vinegar red pepper sauce and a nice combination of exterior brazing and  interior tenderness.  Still, a rib-eye was an unspectacular replacement for filet mignon on that night’s menu at nearly the same price, and I can only imagine how good the sauce would be upon a succulent filet.  Seasoning was not overstated in this sauce, nor in the garlic mashed potatoes, which only hinted at their name but were smooth and appealing.

   Veggies come grilled, too.  I chose the zucchini, my “partner in dine,” the asparagus.  Just a hint of black on my zucchini strips went well, and the asparagus spears were only introduced casually to the searing flame.  Both offset their platter companions nicely.

   The fish may have been the only Scandinavian aspect to the Norwegian salmon ordered by my accomplice.  Viking warlords never tasted this citrus-herb pesto topping, nutty and flavorful.  But she commented that there could have been more of it upon the otherwise unenhanced 3/4 inch filet that was cooked to order.  Another hint of citrus was the lemon-parsley rice accompaniment, at least in name.

   We picked up our “Mediterranean flair” earlier by splitting a Mediterranean sampler appetizer and a goat cheese salad (both $9).  In fact, my dining partner crowned the salad as her favorite course, with its tender spinach leaves beneath walnuts

toasted walnuts, cool pear slices, warm goat cheese in a thin crumb crust, roasted beets and grilled red onions, topped with vinaigrette.  All was fresh and right, with the world.  And not far off in our view was the sampler of grilled marinated eggplant, homemade hummus, silky feta cheese, olives and Tuscan toast. 

   At additional cost, you can add meat or seafood to any of the four salad selections and make a meal of it.  Some other appetizers in the $7-$10 range include Moroccan mussels, bruschetta and chicken kebabs.

   Four $7-$8 dessert selections are tiramisu, layered spumoni, and the two we tried: chocolate decadence and crème brulee, both served with a hive of whipped cream on the side.  With delicious Fair Trade coffee, the brulee was a mild rapture, with the thinnest crust topping, and a hint of lemon and vanilla.  The decadence is rich, dark and flourless cake  incorporating a not too sweet raspberry sauce.  Espresso, cappuccino and dessert drinks are also available.  And while we’re on Fair Trade coffee and flourless dessert, add awareness points for non-foam take-home containers.

   Food alone came to $74 for two.  But what buoyed the soul on this cold evening -  besides the jazz - was the spirit and attention of our server, Bridgette Chafee, from bread delivery to dessert.