Dressler's Metro

Sexy view of Uptown

The Food Baby bottom line:

• Dressler's was Lauren's absolute BEST dining experience since the conception of The Food Baby.
• The warm, friendly, knowledgeable, and prompt service was nothing short of perfect.
• Each and every dish was boldly flavored and highly seasoned, resulting in a totally-worth-it Sodium Baby.

I am so freakin pumped to write this blog post. I can't believe what an ahhhhmazing experience I had at Dressler's Metro last night. My friend Kiley (who you may remember as 1/3 of the blonde mafia) and I went after work on Friday night, and every aspect of the evening exceeded my expectations.

After having a glass of crisp New Zealand Ponga sav blanc, we were seated at a table with an incredible skyline view. Dressler's is a large, airy restaurant with entire walls of windows showcasing Uptown Charlotte. The interior is stylish without being overcomplicated. And something fun: in the ladies room I heard a Sinatra-esque version of Oasis' Wonderwall - where can I download this jam?

Upon being seated, we were immediately greeted by our server Jerry, or as I like to call him: my new BFF. Jerry was beyond wonderful. In addition to being incredibly sweet and polite, he had knowledgeable answers to our (zillion) questions, and he listened to our tastes and helped us settle on dishes. He also checked in often, and laughed at our tipsy jokes. Another person we heart at Dressler's is Stephan - who noticed that we had a camera on the table and offered to walk us out on the patio for a photo in front of the skyline. So. thoughtful.

We ordered a bottle of Alamos Malbec (32 bucks and extremely easy drinking) and some apps: Thai Crispy Calamari and Chili Rubbed Beef Tenderloin. I had heard from my friend Brandy that the calamari was crazy delish, and she was right. The mountain of calamari was filleted into hearty strips, covered in peanut glaze and drizzled with spicy wasabi aioli - a flavor bomb. The beef tenderloin (not pictured) came in four adorable 1 oz. medallions over a sizable smear of Dressler's house steak sauce. The steak was tender, and heavily spiced, and tasted great with just a dab of the heavy-on-the-horseradish steak sauce.

Flavor Bomb Calamari

Our entrees were delivered soon after: Kiley had the Organic Chicken Breast that came with a pan gravy and gruyere shallot bread pudding we were lusting after. I ordered the Just for the Halibut....a gorgeous piece of halibut, topped with crabmeat and served over a chive potato cake and a sun-dried tomato buerre blanc.

Before even trying my halibut, I dove for Kiley's bread pudding....which had soaked up all the delicious pan gravy. O.M.G. I waved Jerry down for my own serving of this savory bread pudding STAT. Her juicy chicken breast was on the bone, and had a comforting "homey" taste - no shortage of salt and seasoning.

Organic Chicken Breast

As much as I loved Kiley's chicken...I was obsessed with my halibut. This was a bold, highly flavorful seafood dish. While the fish was light and perfectly cooked, the crab, buerre blanc, and potato cake were all rich and creamy - and (again) everything was strongly seasoned and overall completely harmonious. Jerry said that this, along with the center cut ribeye, is one of the most popular menu selections.

Just for the Halibut

It seemed physically inconceivable that we could eat dessert after this feeding frenzy, but Jerry explained that several of the desserts were cooked at the owner's mothers' house...like, in Concord, NC. I was just wine-drunk enough to make naughty decision...we went for Mom's Apple Cake, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It just tasted like a big bowl of Fall - all apples and cinnamon and caramel, with a spongey, bread-pudding-ey texture. Defying the laws of physics, we polished that dish off too.

Mom's Apple Cake

I can't say enough good things about Dressler's. I know I can be dramatic and heavy on the superlatives...but trust me when I say this really was the best dinner I've had in a really long time. If I had to state a drawback, it would be the sheer size and longevity of my food baby. I would have to classify it as a Sodium Baby. All that intense seasoning (ie, salt) caused me to look like the Michelin Man until mid-afternoon the following day. But let me tell you it was worth it. When you give Dressler's a try, be sure to ask for our new bestie Jerry!

-Lauren