A Bit of a Let Down

Little late in posting but... About a month ago several of the restaurants in Loudoun County participated in Farm to Fork. They created a special menu where at least 75% of the ingredients came from local farms in our county. The event coincided with my birthday and so I told Michael that for a present all I wanted was to go out and eat!

For lunch we ate at Palio's in down town Leesburg. I had eaten there before, about a year ago, and really enjoyed it. It's not a place that we can afford on a regular basis (though their lunch menu is kind of reasonable) so I was excited to go back.

We started to meal off with some bread and pesto.


I got an inkling that this meal wasn't going to be as fantastic as before because the pesto wasn't as amazing as I recalled.


It was still better than anything I've made in the past (or anything you buy at a grocery store) but... I don't know... I recalled the pesto being so good I wanted to punch someone in the face, not this time around.

The waiter raved about the Farm to Fork salad so I suggested it to Michael. This is what he got... for NINE DOLLARS:


It was so hilariously ridiculous I couldn't even get mad at the price. I tried beets for the first time and did not hate it. Since the "salad" obviously wasn't going to fill him up I suggested he order another appetizer so Michael ordered this:


Also $9 and very delicious, especially when eaten with the bread.

I ordered the entree off the Farm to Fork menu.


The first time around the steak was completely over cooked- brown through and through. I was just going to keep quiet and eat it but Michael pointed out that if I'm going to pay that much for a steak, I should expect to get them to get it right. True that! So, for the first time ever, I sent my plate back. Steak #2 was still a bit over cooked but much better, though the steak itself was a bit of a let down. They went way over board with the char and it was all I could taste. The vegetables were good. The potatoes were over seasoned but once you got past the salt and thyme and all that other stuff it had an awesome buttery-ness to it.

I was a little disappointed in Palio's that day. I've had better meals in places that charges way less. It was the first day of Farm to Fork so maybe that day was kind of like their practice run? It was lunch time and maybe they bring out their best chefs for dinner? Maybe the place has gone down hill since last year? Maybe I should have known better to order steak and potatoes at an Italian restaurant? Whatever. Overall all, a let down.