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We heard
a commercial driving to work, which made the new operation at the
old Anthe’s sound fantastic so we gave them a shot. After going to
the wrong closed Anthe’s location (Nick Anthe’s) we pulled into the
right one, although I found the name so many different ways (Prime,
93 Prime, Prime at Anthe’s, etc.) I still wasn’t sure. The place
looks similar to how I remember it years ago, kinda classy, only now
it seems a little stilted for the much more casual clientele. The
service was relatively efficient but had moments of awkward thrown
in.
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We ended up ordering two appetizers and entrees, a gander at the dessert tray didn’t entice enough to garner anything additional, plus we were stuffed. One of the appetizers was a source of raves on the commercial, the pepperoni bread. Made with their housemade sourdough, three cheeses and pepperoni, the elongated roll is apparently deep fried (like you do) and served with marinara and alfredo sauces for dipping. It was pretty good but it sounds better than it actually turns out being, and certainly didn’t earn the paid-for hullabaloo on the radio. The
marinara is dark and dusky with a wide spice not herby profile and
the alfredo was pretty average. I really liked the tang of the
sourdough against the peppery sausage but the frying gave the bread
a difficult to chew texture and there was so much parm sprinkled on
top, it was a challenge to taste anything else depending on which
piece you grabbed. The thing tasted like it should have looked
similar to the desk at the end of Scarface. I like cheese, a bunch,
but some balance is required. |
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In a strange twist of events, Steph ordered the Olivation Sampler. Black olives stuffed with Asiago, sundried tomatoes and herbs and Spanish olives with chorizo, cheddar and herbs. Both are breaded and deep fried and served with a dill aioli and fried spinach. Seen fried spinach before…still don’t get it. Just cause you can doesn’t mean you have to. The chorizo were much better, delivering a punch of flavor where the black olives tasted more like breading than anything else. After we
ordered the appetizers we discovered you get rolls, salad and bean
salad. The pepperoni roll was very bready…I haven’t been eating a
lot of bread…I chowed down the sourdough roll anyways. The bean
salad is a hold over from the old regime and is one of those things
to which locals get weirdly attached. It’s fine for a mayo loaded
bowl of beans with some seasoning. Meh. The side salad was no
different than the beans. |
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 One Of These Is Better Than The Other |
 Can You Just Order The Spanish? |
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 More Bread...Ooops. Mine Disappeared |
 This Is The "Magic" Concoction Every Talks About? |
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Steph ordered the seared Ahi tuna with a
sesame crust and a little cup of burre blanc and another of a
zippier Asian sauce. The tuna wasn’t going to be as beautiful as our
recent trip to Blue Point Grille but it
was clean and fresh, making it better than many we have had to chew
like gum. The soy based sauce just seems to work so much better with
the nearly raw and fatty fish than the butter laden blanc, just a
bit too much. One cuts through the richness and the other just lays
atop it. She was happy with the tuna. Still unhappy with the dish.
There was a slaw of some type which I didn’t taste…but after
watching her face I had no interest. She had also upgraded her
starch to the Shitake and truffle oil risotto. This rice was tragic.
The consistency and look of a full diaper and, I imagine, little
difference in taste. Just plain horrible all the way around. |
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 The Tuna Wasn't Bad At All |
 But This Was A Sloppy Pile Of Garbage |
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The 93 Marsala caught my attention and our
server said she got a lot of happy compliments about it. Bone in
pork chop and garlic mash all coated with a dark, sweet and tangy
wine sauce. I was pleased when the server asked for a doneness on
the pork. They didn’t quite hit it but it did mean I had something
juicy instead of a hockey puck. Nice. The mash was well done and the
mushrooms in the sauce added a nice earthiness against the sweet
wine, where was that in the risotto? While some parts of our meal
were above average, I don’t find myself yearning for a return visit. |
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 The Marsala Chop Was Much Better |
 And Close To The Asked For Temp |
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| Ratings | |||||||
 Food |
 Service |
 Ambiance |
 What's Best |
 What's Worst |
 Overall |
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| C+ | C- | B- | B+ | F- | C- | ||
| Chop & Mash | Criminal Risotto | ||||||
