Pittsburgh: Eleven

My CMU friends treated me to a wonderful dinner at Eleven. The food was outstanding and the wonderful atmosphere gave us the perfect chance to reminsce.

We started with a selection of breads. I chose the cherry bread, which added a fairly subtle touch since the bread wasn't sweet.

My first course was the squasy soup. It was rich but very well balanced between cream and squash and it was perfectly seasoned.

Phil's first course was the crabcake which also came with a small potato and a few other items. Phil enjoyed it but said that the crabcake came with a full dose of Old Bay.

My bread for the main course was salted focaccia. My main course was this amazing beef tenderloin. I was drawn to order it by the promise of bone marrow. But the Flintstone bone spanning the plate was an impressive surprise. The meat was superb. The marrow was excellent (although probably not the best marrow I've ever had but, hey, how often do you get bone marrow?). This dish was a huge success both in terms of flavor and style.

For dessert, I ordered the dark chocolate cake. It was very good although not quite the chocolate orgy I was hoping for. Chocolate and beef make an excellent pairing for some reason..l

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