Exploring something new through Restaurant Week

First, let me explain what Restaurant Week is: a joint marketing effort between a city and several local restaurants, presenting a fixed price menu – typically lower than regular prices – to attract new customers. I learned of this winter’s Restaurant Week from the Facebook page of nearby Geneva, and thought it would be a fine opportunity to explore something new. We were originally going to try a different restaurant on a different day, but postponed due to incoming snow. When I checked the next day, as we were getting ready to leave, our original choice was completely booked, we decided to wing it by driving to a part of Geneva that featured several restaurants, hoping that our first choice there would have space.

They did have space, so we ended up having a lovely lunch at Barrel + Rye. You’ll be shocked, I’m sure, that a restaurant with an extensive whiskey menu was already on my radar. I had walked past it one morning, over a year ago, after shopping at Geneva’s farmers’ market.

What appears to be a bland white soup garnished with snippets of something green was a delightfully tasty celery root and coconut soup.

Their Restaurant Week lunch menu had two courses with two choices to choose from: Celery Root + Coconut Milk Soup or Citrus Salad, then Italian Roasted Pork Sandwich or Chicken Shawarma. (Dinner had different entree options, plus a dessert course.) We both selected the soup. (This was also their Soup of the Day, so it’s not listed on the normal menu.)

Cheese curds are a Midwest staple. Brie cheese curds, however, are something I had never encountered before. They were tasty with the raspberry jalapeño jam.

But wait! The Shareables section of their normal menu has Brie cheese curds with a raspberry habanero jam. Since we both love cheese curds, and had never tried brie ones, we opted to include an appetizer as well. (There are also white cheddar cheese curds available as part of another appetizer.)

Italian Roasted Pork Sandwich (including broccoli) with a dipping sauce and a side of tasty seasoned fries.
Chicken shawarma and vegetables tucked into naan bread, with a side of tasty seasoned fries

After all that deliciousness, we made it to our entrees: an Italian Roasted Pork Sandwich (listed as Philly Italian Pork on the normal menu, which explains the dipping sauce) and Chicken Shawarma, both with sides of tasty seasons fries. And yes, I tried a new (to me) whiskey: Rabbit Hole Dareringer.

Given the tasty food and fabulous service, I suspect we’ll be returning to Barrel + Rye before the next Restaurant Week.