Amani's BYOB

Our little burg is gaining somewhat of a reputation as a foodie destination. Well, OK maybe you're not going to leave West Chester to come here, but I'm thinking that I have fewer reasons to venture out of town when I want a special dining experience.

So the Friday before New Years, Mr. DS and I find ourselves facing the same Friday dilemma we face every week: where to eat? On this particular Friday, I had been contemplating the novel, so I suggested that if we arrived before 5:30, we should not have trouble getting into Amani's on a Friday night.

Tramp that I am, I get too hungry for dinner at 8:00pm especially after working all day. So we grabbed a bottle of table wine and showed up at Amani's just a hair after 5:00...another uncool couple beat us to the place.

Mr. DS started with the soup of the day which was a creamy chicken chorizo soup. As dismayed as I am by the ubiquity of chorizo these days, I have to admit, the soup had a subtle, smoky flavor that was just right.

I started with the exotic mushroom terrine. Which is locally sourced fromagina cheese, truffle balsamic glaze sauteed Swiss shard in puff pastry. The cheese is a goat cheese, but if you are not a fan of the gaminess that is typical of goat cheese, this is a pleasant surprise. The cheese is very light, very creamy and has a hint of goat-ness which was the perfect foil to the earthy mushrooms. If I had one complaint, it would be that the bottom of the puff pastry was a little soggy. That did not stop me from cleaning the plate.

There was a goat cheese amuse bouche served between courses...another stunning goat cheese concoction if I must say so myself!

Mr. DS enjoyed his wasabi encrusted grilled sirloin with a soy demi-glace. I don't recall tasting any of the wasabi, but the steak was cooked well, tender and flavorful.

Continuing the gamey theme, I ordered the duck breast with balsamic glaze. It was outstanding; crispy on the outside, pink fleshed, tender and gamey on the inside. I was in duck heaven and I will need to drink hundreds of green smoothies to balance out the terrible sin of ordering and enjoying the flesh of that lovely duck. I wish I could kiss that duck on the bill for being so tasty.

For afters, Mr. DS ordered the maple cheese cake, which was lovely and light as air and hinted of maple. I ordered the poached pear tart, which was good. The weakest part of the dinner, were the afters...just not as strong as say the desserts at the Parc Bistro in Skippack. The coffee was wanting as well, it tasted a little burnt. HOWEVER, we did receive complimentary homemade limoncello, which packed a cool, lemony wallop. Next time I will skip the coffee and go straight for the limoncello. It was buzz at the base of your skull out of this world.

By the time we left, which was close to 7pm, the place was packed and you know why, they are serious about the food here and much of it is locally sourced, which is a really great thing to know when you think of all the wonderful farms we have here in Chester county. Overall opinion, this is a lovely place to eat. I'm looking forward to the next incarnation of the menu.