Recap of my Final Wildwood Meals

I think I stated most of what I hoped to in my last Goodbye Wildwood post. So this is more of a food photo memories post of the last dinner and the last lunch at Wildwood Restaurant I had this week. They are closing on Tuesday February 25, so there are still a few days of service left if you want to try to catch a lunch or dinner with the Wildwood Restaurant Team. So without further ado, my simple recap of my final Wildwood meals, first dinner on Wednesday and then lunch on Friday.

Dinner at the Chef’s Counter at Wildwood Restaurant started with the cocktail No Ordinary Rabbit made with temperance trader bourbon, renig dag aquavit, carrot juice, ginger, lemon

It was an honor to watch the kitchen running on this busy night, as everyone was coming out to say goodbye by dining at Wildwood one last time.

After an amuse bouche of of coconut mint gelatin, I was on to my next cocktail, the Nice Looking Shrubbery that looked like I was in a vampire movie but actually I was drinking aria portland dry‎ gin, combier orange, vida mescal, beet juice, regan’s orange bitters, lemon.

I took my time with my first course of brick oven roasted mussels with bacon, leeks, cider,‎ fried sage, crème fraîche, toasted baguette. I was not ashamed to use a spoon once I had freed the mussels from their shells to eat this like a soup, including using the toasted baguette to sop up sauce. The bowl was completely empty and dry when I returned it.

For my main dish, I enjoyed every last bite of the clay oven roasted pork chop with grilled leek pudding, clams, foie gras butter.

I ended the night with the warmest of hugs from Wildwood, the cocktail of Unladen Swallow with green chartreuse, julianne’s spiced hot cocoa powder, house made combier orange marshmallow.

I took a half day on Friday so I could come to lunch. It seemed fitting that since my first meal was at Wildwood, so would my last. Since I didn’t need to worry about returning to work, I started with a cocktail, the Ni! I was lucky enough to get the very last one. It’s made with big bottom bourbon, campari, pierre ferand dry curaçao, hammer and tongs l’afrique, barrel aged fee bitters. And my final cocktail, the Blood and Sand with dewars, cherry heering, sweet vermouth, orange juice.

We had very grumbly rumbly stomachs by the time we got there for our late lunch after our office escape, so dived hungrily into an order of ken’s bakery bread with trapini sea salt and bamboo leaf salt on pats of butter and house made country pâté with pickles, lentil cracker, grain mustard. My dining friend S had a lunch of tandoori roasted chicken romaine salad with creamy garlic dressing, pickled chiles, grilled onions, naan.

I was super pleased with the final Wildwood sandwich I would have, dustin’s salame sandwich with rosemary focaccia, pickled chile cream cheese, butter lettuce, tapenade, shaved onion, and mixed greens in a miso vinaigrette with spicy‎ cashews. Why isn’t pickled chili cream cheese more common, it satisfies 3 great tastes in one!

Thanks for all the memories and deliciousness Wildwood!