Kennedy Manor Dining Room
Update February 2015: Kennedy Manor is closed.
In a word: Mature.
The specs: #0296
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp; official web site;
Latest Kennedy Manor Dining Room news and reviews
JM ate the beef tenderloin with a lemonade.
Nichole ate the mushroom and spinach risotto.
Sue ate the poached salmon and a pinot grigio.
The bill was $86, or $28.67/person, plus tip.
JM gave Kennedy Manor Dining Room an A-; Nichole and Sue gave Kennedy Manor Dining Room an A (see our grading rubric).
For every A to Z disaster, we can only hope there is a Kennedy Manor to balance out the karmic scales. Finding a fine place like this, which we'd never even heard of before, is a real treat.
Kennedy Manor is in the ground floor/basement of a longstanding apartment building on Langdon St., across from the Edgewater. Though it looks nothing like it did in 1937, it has retained its charms. The dining room is decorated in understated black, white, and grey, with a long mirror along one wall. Decent jazz (as in, not Kenny G Manor) was playing over the sound system, and a waiter greeted us immediately. Kennedy Manor was an oasis of calm on this Freakfest eve.
Dinner started with warm bread, which had a nutty flavor despite being just white. Sue asked the waiter to surprise her with a white wine, and got a very nice pinot grigio. We (mostly Sue and Nichole) split a chicken liver and bourbon pate appetizer.
Our crackers and the small ramekin of pate were accompanied by little piles of toppings - diced red onions, tiny tangy dill pickles, and shredded poached egg (very mother-and-child reunion). We could dig down beneath a layer of chicken fat, or be decadent and just take it as it came - both were very rich and tasty.
Sue's poached salmon was very moist, flaky and flavorful, and a generous portion as well. The green beans (almost as light as haricots verts, but we wouldn't know for sure) had been cooked gently and retained their crispness.
The mushroom and spinach risotto was a winner for Nichole. It came in two sizes, the smaller of which proved to be plenty. A good olive oil made the dish very filling, and sliced white mushrooms, robust spinach leaves, and a thick blanket of grated parmesan tied it all together.
JM's faith in steak (after Johnny's and Kaminski Bros.) was restored by the beef tenderloin. It came in a reduction sauce that totally made the meal, hearty and rich. Each bite was full of flavor, and he used the potatoes to finish up the sauce, so he wouldn't just end up licking the whole plate. Sue and Nichole relieved JM of his beets and fennel, both of which were succulent as well.
We finished off with a house specialty: chocolate pudding cake. It seemed more pudding than cake, served hot on a plate with thick, deliciously bitter chocolate sauce and a sweet, light whipped cream. Dessert disappeared fast between the three of us.
Kennedy Manor is a bit of a splurge, but it's definitely worth it, especially if you're looking for a quiet, classy place to take a date or celebrate a grownup's birthday. With the annual rowdy State Street festivities geared for the too-much-is-never-enough-beer set, it was nice to have a place you could go and be an adult.
I think these are the most food-pornographic shots I've ever seen from you two! Must be the lighting. I love it.
Posted by: Kathy | November 17, 2007 at 05:04 PM
Hey, thanks! I like the bread one. It's a personal goal of mine to do better with the food porn pics.
Posted by: nichole | November 17, 2007 at 06:18 PM
The bread is very cool, but what about that ocean-sized slab of butter, hey? Let's hear it for the Dairy State!
Posted by: Kathy | November 18, 2007 at 01:02 PM