LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Eating Out: Confettis Brings Great Food to Wilmington Ave. |
by Barry Becker |
Confettis Restaurant, formerly atop the Henlopen Hotel at the north end of the Boardwalk, recently completed its move to Wilmington Avenue (in space formerly occupied by Mano's), so we thought it an ideal time to check it out in its new home. Color is the key at the restaurant, with yellow walls, deep blue ceiling with yellow starbursts, lime trim and ceiling fans, and whimsical bright prints on the wall. Of course, there's still that wonderful huge window overlooking Wilmington Avenue so you can watch the world go by while you dine. We started our evening with shrimp bisque, sinfully rich and velvety with a touch of sherry, with asparagus spears on top. There are big tender bits of shrimp in the bisque, which was a great start to the meal, with warm bread on the side. Next we sampled the unique Mayan Salad, which is segments of red grapefruit on leaves of romaine on top of slices of mild chihuahua cheese, with tomatoes and an incredible caper dressing, complete with big capers on the plate. The flavors and textures worked great together; this is a wonderful spring and summer salad. Other appetizers include the Papaya Shrimp, horseradish stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon and served on a bed of papaya salad, Crab Stuffed Portabello with lemon buerre-blanc, and Smoked Salmon salad (they smoke their own salmon). The entrees all sounded great, but we had two of the day's specials, halibut with salsa and grilled blackened shrimp stuffed with crab imperial. The salsa was a light but zingy blend of finely diced pineapple, red pepper, celery, scallions and more atop a perfect piece of halibut. The shrimp was huge, topped with a luscious, rich crab imperial that was divine. (Later, friends of ours who were also dining there, came over to report that they had the Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes, which were to die for, and the Pan Seared Filet Mignon which is served with caramelized onions, which was so tender they could cut it with a fork and it melted in their mouths). Of course, dinner is always just a road to the dessert cart where I'm concerned, and the tray of dessert was really hard to choose from. We tried the Grand Marnier Napoleon, a chewy coconut wafer with a pile of luscious and light Grand Marnier mousse on top, and the lemon mousse cake, a dense white layer cake with paper-thin slices of lemons all over the icing, drizzled with raspberry and apricot sauce. Yum! Just when we thought we were done, three waiters came out and set up a table in front of us and put down 2 huge colorful mugs with lots of whipped cream on top. This is always a good sign. Then, the three of them carefully held out 5 gravy-boat looking bowls stacked over each other at different heights, and the top waiter lit the contents of his bowl and poured it into the next one underneath it, which flowed into the next and the next and the next until there was a flaming river of fire pouring down between the 3 of them on top of the whipped cream. Then, the drinks were presented to us: a coffee drink with tia maria and kahlua, and a hot chocolate drink made with Godiva chocolate and chambord and coffee. The whole restaurant burst into applause at the production, which is a great little side show, particularly when it's dark. Besides, the drinks were so over-the-top, it was worth the trip alone for them. These will sure be a talk of the town this summer! Confettis, 10 Wilmington Ave., is open Wed. - Sun. Call 227- 1227. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 10, No. 4, May 5, 2000. |