The Gables at Chadds Ford

The outside of the restaurant

I like a nicely presented dinner once in a while. I get excited waiting for the food to come! Brian and I went to a place called 'The Gables at Chadds Ford' earlier this evening. We were the first diners there.
From their website:
The Gables at Chadds Ford, established in 1997, is situated in the heart of the historic Brandywine Valley. Located in a converted 1800s dairy barn, the setting is simple yet elegant. The menu offers a contemporary twist on traditional American cuisine, utilizing French and Asian influences.
I was looking at the menu on the website and it's almost completely different than it was tonight. The only thing that was the same is the Caesar salad that Brian ordered. They didn't even have it cut up which he would have preferred. I had a spinach salad with pecan fried goat cheese, marinated cherry tomatoes, olives and roasted peppers in a tomato basil vinaigrette (I brought a paper menu home). The flavors were intense and the presentation beautiful.
For our main dishes I wanted the pork tenderloin with a crusty pecan coating, rhubarb compote, etc., but they were all out of it. I did say we were the first diners of the evening, so that was strange. I ended up getting Salmon with English peas and pea tendrils (looked like watercress), garlicy new potato and lobster salad (skimpy on the lobster), with a cucumber dill yogurt. They gave me a huge piece of salmon. It was a little raw in the middle, so I didn't eat that part.
Brian had the Red Snapper (Hawaiian) with mango barbeque and pecan fried rice. I was getting pretty full but the chocolate mousse on a brownie base with ganache sounded too good to pass up. It was like eating an elegant chocolate Easter egg. I brought half of it home.
Poor Sean didn't have the car keys for the Taurus so he ate leftover pasta. Bummer. He had other food to work with though. Brian tries to make me feel guilty when Sean isn't along, but he can fend for himself at 18.
All in all I enjoyed it there. We don't usually treat ourselves that often.