Restaurant Week at Fig & Olive

One of my favorite things about having guests in town is the chance to go out to eat and take them to new places.  When I realized that my British friend’s visit last week would overlap with NYC Restaurant Week I made sure to get us a table at Fig & Olive.  One of the best things about restaurant week at F&O as opposed to many other spots is that the offerings on the specials menu are exact replicas of the entrees on the regular dinner menu. 

On Monday night our schedules did not sync perfectly and while usually I would have explored the neighborhood in 98 degree weather I decided to head straight to Fig & Olive and enjoy a cold drink while I waited for Esmé to join me.  You may remember that Aperol Spritz is one of my favorite drinks and I have not had one in months so it was an especially welcome delight to see that it was on the drinks list! 

Once Esmé arrived we flipped our summer dinner menus over and took a look at the wonderful Fig and Olive restaurant week options where all three dinner courses were served for $42.  To start I had the octopus gallega served with fingerling potatoes and pimenton dressing while Esmé had the burrata heirloom tomato with watermelon and basil served with an apple cider dressing.   Then when it was time to order our entrees I knew what I was going to get before we sat down – the branzino at Fig & Olive is incredible – and Esmé decided to mirror my order of Mediterranean branzino glazed with 18-year aged balsamic, fig, and snow pea served over mashed potato. 

Even though we were getting full when dessert comes with your meal you must order it even if that means only a few bites.  For our third course I got the chocolate pot de crème which was served with praline financiers and vanilla cream while Esmé got the strawberry vacherin served with strawberry marmalade, strawberry sorbet thyme meringue and whipped cream – both delicious! 

Which of these options sounds the best from Fig and Olive restaurant week?