DANIEL'S IS LIGHT ON ATMOSPHERE, HEAVY ON GOOD FOOD

BY JANICE OKUN-News Restaurant Reviewer
September, 2008
DANIEL'S RATING: Four Stars

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   Daniel's is not a sexy restaurant. The lights are bright, the walls are white, and the sturdy chairs are comfortably old-fashioned. No music plays in the background, and you will look in vain for the crowd swarming noisily around a (non-existant) martini bar.

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    But Daniel's excels in the basics reasons serious food people go to restaurants in the first place. The food is well prepared with imagination and an acknowledgment of season; the service is impeccable (don't even think about pouring your own wine); and there is plenty of choice

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   There's a nod to today's stringent economic conditions. Tuesday through Thursday, Daniel's offers a fixed-price menu. At $28 it's not cheap. But you get three courses, and it's a deal if you're a particular eater. The portions are slightly smaller than those on the main menu, but there's a big selection. Here's what I ate for under $30 the other night:

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   Escargot in a homemade pasta sheet (an appetizer): That pasta was so tender and the escargot (which usually resembles little black erasers) gave easily to the tooth. Baked garlic and tomatoes were on the plate as well. Grilled hanger steak: It's newly trendy but, if the meat isn't properly cooked, it can be a chewy disaster. This one was perfect, accompanied by a shiitake mushroom hash and silky bordelaise sauce. Profiteroles (for dessert): Tiny cream puffs filled with caramel ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce.

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   The regular a la carte menu offers even more delights. A guest enjoyed a baked fig appetizer stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in prosciutto served in a balsamic reduction ($11). Now, goat cheese, too, can be tricky. It's ultra rich, and it has to be applied carefully. Hurl great chunks of it into a dish, as some local restaurants have been doing lately, and that dish becomes almost painful. This was admirably restrained.

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   A fresh tomato basil soup done Tuscan style (i.e. thickened with bread, $6) was actually not as thick as some tuscan soups I've eaten, but maybe it was better for that.

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   Then there was a four-chop rack of lamb served, a little surprisingly, with sea scallops ($36). It was good eating but, to me, and off-putting combination. Well, again, maybe not. Think, in a way, of a very upscale surf and turf.

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   And there was pan-seared halibut fillet ($26) heaped with lump crab meat, topped with arugula salad and pink peppercorn chive sauce--a colorful and delicious plate.

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   There's a huge dessert menu here. Just close your eyes and point--you'll end up all right. On the regular menu, all desserts are $7.50. And that homemade rectangular almond cookie filled with chocolate ice cream and raspberry sauces wasn't bad. Nor was the neatly shaped timbale, a flourless chocolate cake, really, sitting in a little pool of fresh raspberry sauce.

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   What else is on the fixed-price menu? Goat cheese and grilled vegetable ravioli with tomato butter, horseradish crusted salmon fillet with garlic mashed potatoes and leek cream sauce; and lemon custard tart. That's for starters.

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   And what else is on what the restaurant calls "the classic regular menu"? Angel hair pasta with wild mushrooms and Madeira cream ($9); chicken breast saltimbocca ($19), with sauteed greens, potatoes and white wine reduction; roast pork tenderloin with mashed celery root potatoes; and --a signature dish for the restaurant--tenderloin of veal with lobster (another spinoff on surf and turf, maybe?) but with lobster sauce. That one goes for $37.


Sense of Balance
Daniel's manages to keep the unusual within bounds
by Janice Okun
 Buffalo News Restaurant Reviewer
December, 2003

   It's wonderful to be creative in the kitchen, but you have to know when enough is enough. There isn't a restaurant in Western New York that does a better balancing act than Daniel's.

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   This is a quiet restaurant, located in a tiny cottage-like house. The decor is understated - neutral colors, gleaming white tablecloths, comfortable chairs. There's pleasant music in the background, expert but unobtrusive service. That means you can concentrate on the food; where there are many choices and well-thought-out partnerships.

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   Two menus reign at Daniel's. Five entrees and three appetizers can be ordered from the regular list, but every evening there's also a printed list of specials that depend on the market. This is where the seafood turns up. Four of us skipped, hopped and jumped from menu to menu, and here are some of the highlights.

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   My special appetizer, Butternut Squash Ravioli ($7.95), was served with brown butter, the dusky flavor of the butter an excellent foil for the vegetable. Sage added an interesting top note along with dried cherries and slivers of Parmigiano Reggiano. The pasta had the softness of a made-to-order creation.

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   Another special appetizer, Sea Scallops ($9.95), managed to combine seafood, pancetta, shiitake mushrooms, wilted raddichio and chive butter into one perfect whole. Not one flavor shouted out; not one superceded another.

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   Also on the specials menu that evening; Horseradish Crusted Salmon Fillet ($22.95), a zingy dish that's often found on the menu here. The salmon came with garlic mashed potatoes and leek cream sauce.

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   And my own choice, this time off the regular menu - Tenderloin of Veal with Lobster and Lobster Sauce ($26.95), an upscale version of surf and turf if ever there was one.

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   Tender moist meat stood up very well to the silky rich lobster.

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   Other good partnerships abound in this place. Chicken Breast is served at Daniel's - as it is served in every restaurant in the area - and it's the least expensive item on the entree menu too, at $16.95. But it's paired with risotto at least. That makes it a little more interesting. Cranberries and roasted chestnuts offer crunch and a welcome jolt of flavor.

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   Filet Mignon is wrapped in bacon and served with Roquefort butter ($25.95). The roast pork loin is served with celery root ravioli.

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   Even more interesting combinations were found on the specials list. Grilled Hawaiian Blue Marlin ($22.95) was accompanied by Romesco sauce, which will probably turn out to be the sauce of 2004, what with the growing emphasis on Spanish cuisine. (Romesco sauce hails from Catalonia and is made from tomatoes, sweet red pepper, garlic and crushed almonds.)

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   We also noted a salad composed of house smoked trout, asparagus, apples and walnuts for under $7 and an appetizer of Quail stuffed with pheasant mousse, served with truffle sauce and a wild mushroom risotto for $10.95.

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   It shouldn't come as a surprise then to find out the desserts are worthy here, as well. Lemon Tart was good, but the apple Bread Pudding was great. Ditto the Pecan Tart with Buttermilk Ice Cream.

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