You had me at CHERRY BUTTER!!!

      I just want to warn you, my dear eggheads, before you begin this weeks entry.....this post will contain a lot of exclamation marks and a ton of over the top adjectives...so get ready!!!! This past Sunday Laura and I went to Mistral for Sundaylicious.  It has been on my list of MUSTS for awhile now.  It is one of those fancy spots (and more expensive than some brunch spots), that we wanted to keep on the back burner until the time was right.  We picked Memorial Day weekend figuring it would be our way of celebrating this holiday.  Since the weather was going to be crappy all weekend long, and we couldn't go to some nice place with outside seating, we thought this was the time to pull out our Ace and check out Mistral.  Let's just say this was the sunshine of the weekend....the highlight of our day...the silver lining in the dark grey stormy skies...get the point?  IT WAS A-MAZ-ING!!!!!
       I had been to Mistral years ago with my brother for one of his work events...and I was blown away then.  I have not stepped foot inside there since, and I still remembered the place all these years.  That's how nice Mistral is, and how good their food is...it stays with you.  Laura had never been there, and I really was only there for cocktails and apps....so I was excited to take her there, and actually get a sit down meal.  We had a guest bruncher with us as well.  Sarah (who was a guest bruncher before, featured in our post "Fraunch Fries, Fraunch Bread, and to drink..Peru") came along for the ride....boy did she pick the best day to join us!!!  We drove into the South End, and found a spot right near the restaurant....you all remember what I said about this last week right?  When you score a spot like this...it is an omen on how good your day is going to be...and the tradition continues :-)
       Mistral is located in the fancy South End, http://mistralbistro.com/, and we had a 1:00pm reservation.  We were seated right away, and from the moment we walked in we were welcomed by the lovely decor and warm atmosphere.  Mistral has a French, farmhouse, chic vibe to it.  The walls are butter yellow, and the big windows allow the sunlight to stream in.  It has a wonderful sense of warmth and sophistication about it, but you feel comfortable there and not out of place like you don't belong.   Honestly we could have sat there for hours and hours, and been super content...it was that comfortable!!!  The menu itself is full of sooooooo many delicious choices it was hard to decide what we wanted to eat.  In fact we kept asking our waiter for his opinion because we literally could not decide.....so we ended up getting a lot :-)  What can we say...carpe diem!!!

        For starters Mistral gives you a lovely crumb-cake muffin, and that came with cherry butter...yes I said CHERRY BUTTER!!!  Think apple butter...but cherry instead....AWESOME RIGHT?!!!!  I could have eaten this like ice cream it was sooo yummy.  I had to remind myself that it was actually butter I was eating so I didn't eat it all....but seriously this stuff was GENIUS!!  I also think that the fact that they give you this delicious muffin for free was top notch!!  You want to win over my heart.....give me free delicious muffins...I am easy to please like that :-)  Laura and Sarah both got Bloody Mary's as their brunch cocktail, but I chose the Mistral Sangria as my drink.  It was a holiday celebration after all!!  Everything was delicious, and this was only the beginning.....

     For our first course we got the Greek-style yogurt panna cotta, which came with pistachio granola, native honey, and fig glace.  Let me just say this was the most delicious, make you dance in your seat, yogurt I have ever had!!  This was better then our most favorite and beloved yogurt parfait from Temple Bar....we were ecstatic just eating it...dipping our spoons in again and again!!!   For my main dish I got the egg white, oven-cured tomato, Vermont creamery goat cheese, and basil Frittata.  It was delicious!  The goat cheese was the best part of the dish, adding a creamy texture and taste that melted in my mouth :-)   For my side dish I choose applewood smoked bacon, which was scrumptious!!  It was thick cut, and crispy...and everyone at the table helped themselves to it :-)  Sarah got the foraged mushroom, spinach, and Gruyere cheese Frittata which she thought was wonderful and she cleaned her plate (skillet actually, hehe).   She also added a side of ham, which she thought was the best ham she has ever had!!  WOW!!!  That must be some good ham!!! Laura got the confit of duck and root vegetable hash, with farmfresh sunny side eggs on top.  It was one of her favorite dishes ever!!!  It looked amazing, and she was very very happy with her choice.  She also added the Rosemary Frites as her side dish, and they were delightful!!  We all helped ourselves to them :-)  Somehow we scored a side of their lyonnaise potatoes for free, and they were also awesome!!  I liked the Frites better though:-)

This was a ton of food to eat, but we handled it with grace.  We topped this meal off with a cup of coffee...and it was just as tasty as the rest of the dishes we got that day.  It was strong, and came with the cutest set up: a special double dish filled with different kinds of sweeteners, and our very own pot of warm frothed milk to add to our coffee...CHERRY BUTTER and WARM FROTHED MILK!!!!...this place does not miss a single thing!!!  We could not even pick a dish of the day, because everything was sooooo bloody good!!!  Every dish was the dish of the day!!!!  Since we didn't have a special dish we chose the star of the meal....The star of the day was ROSEMARY!!!  It was in everything from the Bloody Marys, to the fries, to the main courses as well.

Everything was wonderful at Mistral, and done to perfection!!  We give Mistral....drum roll please....a 10 out of 10 eggs for food, and a 10 out of 10 for atmosphere!!  It was PERFECT in every way!!  The food was sublime, and the place itself is so warm and inviting!!  It makes you want to stay there for ever, and continue to eat and eat and eat....with all their delicious choices you probably could :-)   So Mistral joins the coveted 10 out of 10 perfect restaurants on our Sundaylicious list....we welcome you with open arms!!