Last night I had dinner with my parents in Jamaica Plain. When they come to town, they stay at my grandmother's JP condo, yet we didn't start exploring the neighborhood until last year. After taking a stroll down Centre Street earlier in the week and checking out a few menus, my mother made a reservation at Vee Vee.
Vee Vee is an intimate restaurant that feels like it could also easily be located in either Brooklyn, NY or Savannah, GA. The salmon hued walls are adorned with brightly colored, painted portraits, and the cozy tables are surrounded by black chairs and covered with dark, stylish placemats.
Our friendly waitress brought over the menus as well as cards outlining the evening's drink and food specials. I love the idea that the manager put the time in to type out specials just for this one day (and every day). Its that extra step that makes a restaurant memorable.
We started by sampling two of the drink specials - a rose wine and a Lagunitas beer. The wine came in a small beaker and was a girly pink. It had a crisp, sweet taste. The beer, which came in a generously large bottle was a delicious dark.
To start our waitress brought some bread to the table, which is served with olive oil and salt & pepper. I've had many a memorable bread basket, and while this was not, it did give us something to munch on as all the mouth watering plates passed us on their way to other tables.
For dinner my father ordered the fish stew (a dish he frequently orders when dining out). As the waiter placed the bowl in front of him I could smell the rich flavors wafting across the table. The stew was largely monkfish and potatoes swimming in a tomato based, smokey flavored broth. Dad raved that it was one of the best fish stew's he had ever tasted. He had one small gripe though, he wished there had been a crostini with which to soak up every last drop of the broth.
My mother ordered two appetizers for her meal: the spring salad and the gravlax. The salad was fresh greens, thinly sliced radishes and pistachio nuts (her favorite). The gravlax came over a bed of greens, garnished with beets, and hard boiled egg. She also wished there had been a piece of toast with the gravlax.
I ordered one of two fantastic sounding vegetarian options. I picked the baked crepes which were stuffed with eggplant, peppers, sweet potato and chickpeas and covered with a light tomato sauce, goat cheese and almond slivers. The dish had bold flavors and was served with a side of field greens. A perfect veggie plate! Next time, I'll try the mole-crusted tofu.
While we took a look at the dessert menu, the options were a bit fussy for our taste. We are more of the brownie sundae, molten chocolate cake, chocolate mousse type of crowd. Given our dessert obsession, we couldn't just end the night, so we walked four blocks up for frozen yogurt at JP Licks (the original store location).
Before leaving Vee Vee the manager stopped by our table. She said she had heard it was our first time in and wanted to hear what we thought. We raved about our meals and she let us know they also have a great Sunday brunch menu. In fact, she brought it over for us to see and I can't wait to go and try their renditions of huevos rancheros and french toast. Not every restaurant manager makes the time to introduce themselves to new customers. I was very impressed.
Overall, Vee Vee was a superb dining experience. A beautiful and cozy restaurant, an immaculate and surprising stylish bathroom (a rarity!), outgoing staff, and unique, flavorful dishes. The best part? They take reservations for parties of three or more.
After your next victory, celebrate at Vee Vee.
