We loved Bloom so much that we decided to return a week later with our friends from Staten Island. The food and presentation of Chef Woo was exquisite as always. We are privileged to have such an accomplished NY quality chef in the small town of Verona, which is only about 20 minutes away from us. However, the service was a little rushed and disjointed this time. One of the Chef/owners Joann was not there last night to keep everyone in line, and that might have had something to do with it. Although the food came out a little quicker than we had hoped for, we were not rushed to leave, and were able to enjoy each other’s company for about 3 hours. We shared multiple appetizers including a beautifully composed appetizer of watermelon salad with watermelon cubes topped with whipped ricotta, caramelized pecans, and a balsamic drizzle; escargot in mornay sauce; salt & pepper, and soy & ginger crispy chicken wings; a generous comp from chef Woo of melt in your mouth Bellota Iberico Jamon; beef tartare and octopus that were pictured in my previous post. For entrees I had the excellent bulgogi with kimchi fried rice and monkfish that was previously pictured in my last post. For dessert we had an excellent caramel sea salt ice cream. It was our friend’s wife’s 75th birthday a few weeks ago & this was the 1st time we saw her. We gave her a present, and the Chef brought out a little Tiramisu with a candle in it, and the Chef and staff all sang Happy Birthday to her, which was a very nice and unexpected touch. Our friends bought some fabulous wines including a 1998 Silver Oak cabernet and a 2009 Ridge Dynamite Hill petite Sirah. We bought a nice Châteauneuf Du Pape and red blend (not pictured). All in all great company and a fun evening.
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