LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
EATING Out |
by Jennifer P. Rubenstein |
An Out of This World Dining Experience If you've wandered up wonderful Wilmington Avenue in downtown Rehoboth Beach, you've probably seen Planet X Caf. It's the purple and green Victorian with the large porch, steep stairs, and trees out front wrapped in rope lights. If there were mythical creatures in Rehoboth, this is one of the places where they would hang out. Planet X (some people pronounce it as Planet Ten, but I have always said "X" as in the name of the letter) is decorated with Victorian silk fabric tablecloths with long fringe, pillows in animal prints and gold satin. Red and purple paper lanterns hang along with strings of beads and tiny mirrors. Wispy curtains divide some of the tables inside. The dcor provides an air of fused cultures: everything American, European, Asian and African. The manager, Jeff, showed us to a lovely corner table on the patio last Sunday where my honey, Sharon, and I enjoyed a fabulous meal. We were joined at our table by a tree trunk. There is this large tree growing right through the porch and our table snuggled up to it. We couldn't see the base, nor the top of the tree, but we just had the trunk there, sitting with us at the table. After that meal, I decided that I like dining with foliage. Chef/Owner Justine Fletcher originally opened the caf as a dessert and coffee house in College Park, Maryland, but moved it to Rehoboth in 1995 where she began to explore a wider variety of organic vegetarian creations. The current menu offers a balance of vegetarian, seafood and meat creations. Sharon and I started our meal with the famous stacked eggplant appetizer. It has been on the Planet X menu for a long time, and it's well-loved...for a good reason. It is a tower of melt-in-your-mouth slices of fried eggplant with a delicious layer of herd goat cheese in between each delectable slice of eggplant. It all sits on a dab of fresh tomato sauce and is topped with a slice of fresh parmesan for just the right complement. We also shared another appetizer which was out of this world. The duck confit made me groan with pleasure, and I noticed later that everyone within earshot ordered that dish after they saw us eating ours. The shredded duck is very tender and perfectly seasoned served sitting on top of one of the best risottos I have ever had. This risotto is flavored with white truffle oil and manages to be tender without being mushy. Cooking risotto correctly is difficult, but they've got it figured out at Planet X. Yum, this rice dish was cheesy and rich and provided a wonderful companion to the duck. But wait, there's more. The duck and risotto were served on top of braised cabbage. You might not think of cabbage as something you typically get in a fine dining establishment, but this braised cabbage was divine. It was crunchy and it seemed like the edges were a little broiled to get that nice smoky flavor. Can you tell that I really enjoyed this dish? Enough said. Next, we sampled two entrees: the salmon and the filet of beef. The salmon was a colorful and summery dish, served with orange-glazed sweet potatoes and a little swirl of yellow that the menu calls "Meyer Lemon Confit," which is a sweet sauce made with baked lemons. It was a beautiful orange and yellow dish served with perfectly cooked green beans to create a colorful dish that made you happy just to look at it. The filet of beef was heavenly. It was a large filet, perfectly cooked and so tender that I barely needed to press my knife into it to slice it. The beef was well-seasoned with shallot butter, served with scalloped potatoes and drizzled in a delicious glaze that had me licking the plate. After all this food, we relaxed on the breezy porch and watched the greyhounds trotting by with their owners during their annual pilgrimage to the beach. It was an almost perfect evening. All we needed was chocolate. We ordered the molten chocolate cake and some cappuccinos as the perfect ending to our meal. The cake was a small round with a delicious creamy rich chocolate center. It was served with their amazing whipped cream made in house. But I hate to call it whipped cream because it's more like a sweet, dense creamy bonus that comes as a surprise with your dessert. If it were colder, you might think it was ice cream. Next time you are trotting around Rehoboth Beach, make your pilgrimage (hopefully more than annual) to Planet X. It is a wonderful out of this world treat, full of surprises and happy endings. Planet X, located at 35 Wilmington Avenue in downtown Rehoboth Beach, is currently open Thursday through Sunday from 5:30-9:30 p.m. Reservations can be made by calling 302-226-1928. You can see lots of pictures and the menu at www.planetXcafe.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 17, No. 14 October 12, 2007 |