The Valley Café @ NITE
 Wadsworth, Ohio        Date of Visit  03/11/16         http://www.valley-cafe.com

Yes, we were just at the Valley Café in Wadsworth. But just this month, they started serving dinner three nights a week. As promised, we were quickly back. A few small changes do a fair job turning the bustling diner into a more soft and suave spot for dinner. The service is also more refined and relaxed than during the day. The young man who served us was efficient and nice.

The owner/chef made the rounds and chatted happily with tables. It seems they have a fair bit riding on this added venture, it’s probably more expensive than most options in Wadsworth, certainly a little fancier, and you can feel some of the apprehension inherent in risk. We settled in with a glass of wine and ordered a couple of appetizers, entrees and both desserts.

The French onion soup is as herbaceous as it is loaded with sweet caramelized onion. The bread used for the croutons seems to be very close to a rye and is capped with a serious layer of cheese. An interesting take on the classic. Four wild mushroom ravioli were set in a rich bath and covered with enough grated cheese to nearly obscure them from view. Mmmmmm, cheese good, salty and good. The shrooms stood up to both the cheese and sauce, a nice start @ nite.
 

Steph stuck with the pasta and shroom route and ordered the wild mushroom pappardelle. Thick ribbons of fresh pasta, plenty of mushroom, just with a richer/creamier sauce featuring greater depth of flavor. I ordered the French classic, Cassoulet, it was a bit thinner than expected but was loaded with rich warm spices, white beans and local sausage. A duck leg was perched on the rim of the bowl. I found it chewier than I would have hoped for, particularly if it had been braised, I would have expected something more tender. The whole idea of the leg in a bowl made for a bit of a challenge. How do you get the knife and fork into…maybe I should just barbarian it…certainly bobbing for duck is inappropriate in public…? I scraped off what was easy and emptied the rest of the bowl but the duck wasn’t worth the pursuit.
 

Then there was the sirens’ song, which had ensured our rapid return. Dessert. Before the desired objective we ordered the other option, a blood orange crème brule which was excellent. Tart, sweet, smooth and glassy bitter crunch, I was pleased we hadn’t just stuck to the beignets. Oh, yeah, the beignets with Café Du Monde chicory coffee. Wonderfully bitter cup and while the original will still be what I picture in my head every time I hear that word, you certainly aren’t going to find anything closer around here fresh from the fryer and   a little puffier than what we had in NOLA, the powdered sugar pillows were tasty. Happy wife, happy life.