To start, Cookshop has good bread, rock salt and a pepper mill on the table, and a fantastic concoction of creme fraiche with chopped caramelized onions and some other stuff (can't remember). I like the clean and comfortable look of the restaurant and the beautiful open kitchen. Lon liked the silverware.
We started with a smoked trout appetizer paired perfectly in taste and quantity with some fromage, thinly sliced grapefruit, and an excellent arugula salad. It was a really nice appetizer to have with champagne even if it was just a so-so champagne.
The entrees are broken into categories based on preparations methods: Sautee, Grill, Wood Oven, and Rotisserie. We ordered Skate Wing served with roasted fennel (Sautee) and the Strip Steak served with creamed collard greens and giant onion rings (Grill). I wanted the duck but they didn't have it. =(
The portions were huge. I think I had 4 skate wings which were battered and pan-fried perfectly and didn't taste greasy but were slightly over seasoned and the fennel was slightly under-seasoned. There was an herb and caper gremolata on top but it was so little I barely tasted it and at the end I felt like the dish just needed something more to it. It got boring. We ordered the steak medium rare but it came closer to medium. The onion rings were just good. The creamed collard greens were really good but nothing amazing considering shoelaces would taste good with that much cream and lardons.
We were so full but still ordered dessert because I really wanted to know what their ice cream sandwich tasted like. Unfortunately, it was pretty disappointing because it was nothing special: a thin chocolate cookie with chocolate ice cream served with 2 tiny pieces of banana, some hazelnut, and a pool of caramel.
I'm torn about whether I would go back. I wasn't really impressed by either entree but didn't dislike it either. The appetizer was great but the dessert fell short. The draw is that there's so many interesting things on the menu that I want to go back to try them but in hindsight, I think they just have really good menu writers.
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