Restaurant Review: 101 Downtown

Last Friday was my boyfriend's 22nd birthday, hereafter known as "E." As a (mild) surprise I took him out to 101 Downtown, in downtown Gainesville. I say mild because E likes to know what he's eating in advance, so after he narrowed it down to two restaurants, I let him know which guess was right (his other guess was The Melting Pot, but that was more a place I wanted to go) and sent him to 101gainesville.com to view their menu. On it's website, the restaurant calls itself "fusion" food, but who doesn't? I would call it "upscale comfort" food. For example, you can order a burger there, but it's made from a blend of Kobe beef and Filet Mignon. Needless to say, we were pretty excited.

We started off with glasses of wine for me and beers for a few others in our party. I love beer, but I hear wine will make me live longer and look good while I'm at it. This is why the French have such long lives amid the buttery food and cigarettes. Unfortunately, our waitress seemed new (or something) and told us the wrong specials, so one of my friends left a bit poorer in the pocket. Luckily, birthday boy got his drink comped a few minutes after she paid. But we're here for the food, right? Oh, and it came in all dressed up and ready for prom.

E ordered an impressive appetizer of Florida ceviche with Atlantic Tiger shrimp. It came on beautiful, crisp tortilla chips that were perfect tan, not those pale chips you get as a side to your burrito that can barely hold up to salsa. In the middle was an upside-down wine glass with an orchid and various garnishes inside. It was so pretty. Even better, the orchid was edible! Don't get too excited, they taste just like lettuce. I soon came to realize that an orchid came with almost every dish. It was nice, but to be honest, I'd rather get the $2 to $3 back it must cost to have an orchid on every plate. My starter was the calamaricini, perfectly cooked calamari tossed with garlic, shallots, and pepperoncinis. Pepperoncinis... you know, those green peppers no one will touch that come with your delivery pizza. They are delicious, by the way. Not only was the calamari tender, crispy and tossed with heaven, but it was served with a Thai lime dipping sauce that was to die for. It had a great mix of sweet and tangy to compliment the pepperoncini flavor. Everything was in balance (thankfully, the pepperoncini were sliced thin). A friend had the garlic soup, which he praised but found a bit pricey.

So, we were ready and our palates were primed. On to dinner! Birthday boy ordered the Chilean Sea Bass with mango sauce, and I ordered the scallops. The sea bass was very moist but that is to be expected. Chilean Sea Bass is known for holding up to the roughest of cooking techniques while maintaining a moist interior. The mango flavors were good, but the fish fell flat. Sure, it was moist, but it had almost no flavor itself. He described it as a "previously frozen" flavor. I know, I know. We're smack dab in the middle of the state. Of course it was frozen at some point, but it tasted like it had been frozen for too long. Unfortunately, my scallops suffered from the same fate. They aren't even on the online menu anymore. I must have had the last of them. They were lightly breaded on one side, which added a great texture to the dish, but the breadcrumb flavor completely overshadowed the flavor of the scallops. Honestly, I don't know if the flavor was there to begin with since the dish has been pulled from the menu. It's a sad thing, because I could tell the scallops were cooked very well. This is a quality control issue, not a cooking issue. Another friend had the Lobster Mac 'n' Cheese, which seemed to be a hit, as was the Kobe Blues burger.

As a birthday gift, they brought a slice of vanilla creme brulee cheesecake. It was so creamy, and it had the brulee crust and everything! I'd go back just for the calamaricini and cheesecake. The place is a bit pricey, with apps around $10, pastas around $15, and entrees around $20 to $25. The apps are pretty large, and they definitely topped the entrees. Go there with a couple friends, order some apps, and maybe a slice of cheesecake. Unless you're really craving it, don't bother with an entree. The atmosphere is meh. They look pretty fancy inside, but they call themselves casual. I think they need to get the restaurant and the website in sync. As a side note, they are famous for their martinis, but I didn't get a chance to try one. If I had to guess, I'd say the Panty Dropper martini is probably pretty good.