A pleasant fancy surprise in Clifton

?That was the best dinner I?ve had in a long time!? exclaimed my friend Steph after our dinner at Tink?s Café in Clifton. We were in need of a dinner date and wanted to try somewhere new so we settled on Tink?s.

We walked into the restaurant, which from the outside looks like a hole in the wall, but inside is a classy, upscale restaurant. We walked in and didn?t quite know what to do since there was no hostess but a waitress came by and told us to sit wherever we wanted. I was surprised to see a three person band in the corner playing soft jazz. I felt slightly overdressed in my jeans, rain boots, and rain jacket. Luckily, I had my pearls on to make me look fancier. We picked a table in the back of the small restaurant. The dining room was minimally decorated with a few painting and the big window. Apparently this is a great place to come in the winter for a romantic date when you can look out the window and see the snow falling. I could definitely imagine that!

Our waitress came over, introduced herself and gave us the dinner and wine menus. She was very knowledgeable about everything that evening from the wine to the upright bass in the band. With her help, we decided on a bottle of E. Guigla Cotes du Rhone 2006 from France. The white wine was crisp and floral. It was similar to a light Chardonnay but not as buttery or oaky. A young server brought us a beautiful basket of warm sourdough bread and room temperature butter. There is nothing worse than trying to spread hard butter on bread!

Then, another server brought out our cheese plate which was one of the specials. It was glorious! On the large plate were three different types of cheese ? goat, brie, and havarti, little slices of salty salami that looked like sticks, a couple dried figs (which I realized I do not like) and apricots, candied walnuts, grapes, and a little spoon that had a mysterious looking clear jelly. We tasted it and were surprised by the sweetness of it. We asked our waitress what it was and she informed us it was a wine chardonnay jelly ? no wonder we loved it! The wine jelly on top of the crustini was simply splendid!

As soon as we cleaned the plate, our entrees were brought out. Before we placed our order we asked for our waitress? recommendations and listened intently. I ordered the Diver Scallops with butternut squash, sage brown butter, apple arugula, and cider gastrique. This was unlike any scallops I?ve had. There was butternut squash that looked like potatoes (and kinda tasted them too), with four big scallops that had a little bit of a kick to it, topped with arugula and thin sticks of apple. The flavors were familiar but with a twist. Steph ordered the Beef Tenderloin and Green Apple Bruschetta with grilled rosemary bread, raisin compote, brie, and arugula salad. This was another dish where the unique flavors meshed well. It reminded me of an elegant open faced sandwich. The perfectly cooked steak slices slept on top of a pillow of bread, warm brie and sweet and tangy slices of green apple. I would never have thought to put these flavors together, but boy was it delicious!

Our bellies were full but we still felt the need to try dessert since everything else had been so wonderful. There was no dessert menu, our lovely waitress told us about the desserts off the top of her head. She was great! We decided on the ?hot chocolate,? which was a chocolate crème brule with cayane pepper. This was another distinct dish that we were very pleased with. You take a bite of what tastes like chocolate cake batter and then are hit with a big kick of spice. It was sapid!

At this point, Steph and I were on cloud nine! We had had such a fabulous dinner with such unique delicious food, perfect ambiance, soothing music, and erudite staff. On our way back to the car we stopped in Ludlow Wines, made friends with the owner Mike, and bought some Petite Syrah and seasonal beers for the boyfriends. We drove home quite excited about the great night filled with fabulous wine and fantastic food that we had just had.