Lunch at *17

Today, I went to lunch at *17 with my friend, Shannon, for Houston Restaurant Weeks.  During the month of August, the participating restaurants put together a 2-3 course lunch for $20 and a 3-5 course dinner for $35.  They also donate $3 for every lunch and $5 for every dinner purchased to the Houston Food Bank.

The restaurant mood is elegant, yet modern.  The paintings are back lit.  The furniture is sleek.  And there's a beautiful wall of colorful light in the rear dining room.  The colors are constantly changing.

The following was the 2012 Houston Restaurant Weeks lunch menu.  Highlighted in yellow is what I ordered.  Highlighted in pink is what Shannon ordered.  We both had the dessert trio.

2012 Lunch Menu 

• 
  1st
  Chilled Borscht
  organic beets, crème fraiche, dill
  
  Vol-au-Vent Texas Goat Cheese Salad
  baby arugula, artisan lettuce, tomatoes, endive, honey glazed kumquat vinaigrette
  
  Classic Caesar Salad
  chopped romaine, herb croutons, truffle oil, caesar dressing, parmigiano reggiano
  
  2nd
  Confit Short Rib Sliders
  sweet bun, caramelized onions, au jus
  
  Grilled Chicken Pita
  marinated chicken, arugula, bean sprouts, asian dressing
  
  Rock Shrimp Tacos
  cucumber salad, flour tortilla, hand breaded rock shrimp, chipotle dressing
  
  3rd (sampling of all three)
  Texas Peach Cheesecakepeach compote
  
  Copa de Tiramisu 
  lady fingers, marsala wine, mascarpone, espresso
  
  Tomato Confit
  
  
  Chilled Borscht

Borscht is a beet soup.  It was deliciously sweet & creamy.  It also had two small sprigs of dill floating just under the surface and cubes of beets resting at the bottom.  It tasted more like a dessert than an appetizer.  I absolutely loved it.

Vol-au-Vent Texas Goat Cheese Salad

The goat cheese added the perfect amount of soft texture and saltiness.  

Grilled Chicken Pita

The potato chips were more for the potato chip purist.  It did not have the standard added salt that most potato chips have.  The grilled chicken pita was tasty.  It was heavy on lettuce and light on chicken, which was great for lunch.  It left me perfectly satisfied, but not too full.  I hate leaving a restaurant feeling like I need to be rolled out like Violet from Willy Wonka.

Rock Shrimp Tacos

I only had a bite of one shrimp as it was not my entree but it was very tasty.  It was perfectly seasoned and slightly spicy.

Dessert Trio (Cheesecake, Tomato Confit, & Copa de Tiramisu)

My favorite of the three was the tomato confit.  Had I not been told that the main ingredient was tomatoes, I would have never known.  It was rich, sweet, and tasted more like a jam than a tomato dish.

Shannon's favorite was the vanilla cheesecake topped with a peach compote.

The tiramisu was okay but nothing to rave about.

Overall, it was a great experience.  We got to dine at one of Houston's best restaurants for cheap and, together, donated $6 to the Houston Food Bank.  The restaurants who participate in this cause should all get a pat on the back.