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Valentine’s Day Lunch at Bottega Café 

By Jan Walsh 

Bottega Café takes no reservations. So, we show up early to get in line for Valentine’s Day. We are third in line at 10:45. In minutes the line is from the door, through the gates, and onto the sidewalk. The sun shines warmly on this cold day. So the wait just builds anticipation and appetite. Recently I noticed that after several years of a different seating arrangement, our old table was back in the window above the driveway. And today I have my heart set on it for Valentine’s. Promptly at 11:00 the doors open and we are welcomed inside. Surprisingly the first couple in line choose to sit at the bar. The two ladies in front of us are taken to the opposite side of the restaurant. I point and ask for our table. And it is ours! So many years since we have sat right here in this corner. Déjà vu, this happened to us a couple of months ago at Chez Fonfon! Just like that, our tables are reappearing. Both restaurants along with Bottega Dining Room, next door in this building, are the Culinary masterpieces of Chef Frank and Pardis Stitt. 

We order cocktails, Margarita for Kev and French Dispatch for me, and settle into our table. His margarita is a tasty classic served on cubes of ice with a salted rim. My rich sipper speaks a heavy French accent in every ingredient: dark rum, couvignac, Paris Tea, Bigallet China-China. Highly recommended! With our cocktails we enjoy the Marinated Olives and Focaccia with Bottega Infused Olive Oil, which are always a must. As the olive oil soaks into the soft, fluffy bread, still warm from the open fired oven, aromatics of the chewy olives whet the appetite. A synthesis of fennel, coriander, cumin, lemon, and garlic delight the senses in this colorful, glistening mix of thick fleshy cerignola, briny picholine, tangy kalamata, and nutty nicoise, along with oil cured olives. The recipe for his marinated olives is found in Bottega Favorita cookbook. I planned to make this dish at home, but once I saw the complexity of the procedures for toasting and cooking the spices, I turned the page. The book does have other dishes that I cook, including Bottega’s famous Chicken Scaloppine. It also has sections of what is in Bottega’s pantry, along with techniques, tools, and sources that I find useful in preparing the recipes, such as the pounding technique of the chicken for the scaloppine. 
















Next, we order glasses of Champagne Gaston Chiquet Brut 1er Cru Tradition to toast Valentine’s Day. Served in Champagne flutes at appropriate temp, the grower estate wine is straw in color and displays a marvelous mousse and consistent effervescence. Intense notes of fresh berry, peaches, and biscuit delight in this blend of pinot meunier, chardonnay, and pinot noir from Grande Vallée de la Marne. Dating to 1919, the Chiquet Brothers, Fernand and Gaston were the first winemakers to grow and keep their grapes, make Champagne, and sell their own wine. This sustainable and extraordinary Champagne is also available by the bottle. Be forewarned, you will never drink prosecco again. 

We pair our Champagne with Gulf Shrimp Crostini and Roasted Winter Squash. Generous bites of succulent Gulf shrimp top the toasty crostini, slathered in avocado and topped with the heat of Calabrian chili. Best crostini ever… catch this dish if you can! When in season, I am a huge fan of Bottega’s roasted butternut squash. And the roasted winter squash is reminiscent of it. Winter roasted squash is presented atop polenta in a brown butter vinaigrette, integrated with pomegranate, molasses, and pumpkin seeds. This comforting, down home dish makes a vegetarian meal-in-itself. 

For mains, Kev chooses the Roasted Pork Chop, and I select Shrimp and Scallop Risotto. The bone in chop is finished with a tasty tomato chutney aioli that adds acidity, creaminess, and tanginess. Bone in is always better. Extra fat keeps it from drying out while cooking and is fuller in flavor. On first cut, it is moist and pristine white inside. On first bite it is tender, rich, and sweet in its savoriness. The chop is rounded out with a generous array of wintry warmth: pretty polenta, hearty roasted potatoes, and Bottega’s signature, scrumptious Venetian spinach. A man pleaser! My risotto is also large in portion. Fragrance of saffron teases. Texture of al dente rice satisfies. The plate is swimming in the succulence of shrimp and scallops, in a sauce that is textbook perfect in porridge like consistency. And carrots bring the dish back to earth. 

For dessert we share a slice of Coconut-Pecan Cake. This is our holiday go to, and Valentine’s Day is a holiday for us. Toasty coconut tops this tower of texture, above a glistening crème anglaise. Each beautiful bite boasts moist, flaky mouth feels highlighted in nuttiness and creaminess. We fall in love with this cake all over again!

 

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