As I shared in a previous post, my husband, Bobby and I made a speedy trip (relatively speedy) to Richmond, Virginia. Because of his job with the Daily Record in Wooster, Ohio and his connection with Dr. Tony Tizzano, of The Cleveland Clinic Wooster, we were able to visit the set of the PBS/Lone Wolf Media original series, Mercy Street, a civil war-era medical drama. While we were in town, we stayed at the Residence Inn in Downtown Richmond, which fortunately is within walking distance of several restaurants. Bobby and I visited four of them in a course of 9 1/2 hours. I’ve already written about Cha Cha’s, where we went for lunch, which you can check out here. Now I’ll share where we went for dinner.
Dr. Tizzano took time away from his duties for Mercy Street, which this night included writing a blog or two, and joined us for dinner at the Irish Pub & Restaurant, Sine (pronounced shin-a). The meaning of Sine is “this is it!” Their goal is to make their patrons feel welcome and relaxed, free to visit with their friends. That is exactly what Bobby and I did with Dr. Tizzano.
We enjoyed the fellowship by first sharing an order of their Irish Nachos. This is a heaping serving of diced fried potatoes topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, jalapenos, tomatoes and ranch dressing. You could also have scallions on it, but because neither Bobby nor I like them, we asked them to leave them off. (Dr. Tizzano didn’t seem to mind that, although I’m sure he is too gracious to say otherwise.) These nachos hit the spot. In fact, they were quite filling, even with three of us sharing them. We, Dr.Tizzano and I, also shared an order of Crab Fritters. They were very good, as well. They had a nice flavor and a cripsy outer exterior.
For our main courses, we each chose something a little different from the other. Dr. Tizzano ordered a Reuben sandwich with sauteed green beans. He is usually a vegetarian, but he and his wife had come to the restaurant earlier in his stay (she had left by the time we arrived) and during their meal she had ordered the Reuben. He had a bite of hers and decided that the next time he came he was going to order it, because it was just that good.
Bobby enjoyed his Braised Brisket Mac and Cheese. Bobby is a huge fan of macaroni and cheese, but he was a little concerned that the port wine gravy that would be topping the dish would be a bit too strong. His concerns were unwarranted, as the gravy added a depth to the dish making it a very good choice for him. The mac and cheese also had cheez-its in it which made it interesting–in a good way.
I was on the fence on what to order. I am a huge fish and chips kind of girl. However, the last time I was at an Irish Pub (in St. Louis) I was torn between the fish and chips and shepherd’s pie. I was disappointed that I didn’t get the shepherd’s pie that time and didn’t want to make the same mistake again. So I ordered the Shepherd’s Pie! This dish had lamb instead of beef (which was a nice change) in the root vegetable stew that was topped with garlic mashed potatoes. All the different ingredients came together to make a nice, robust dinner. I ended up taking some of it back to the hotel. (Thank goodness Residence Inn has refrigerators in their rooms!)
It was a very pleasant evening. I really did feel relaxed at Sine. Their staff was very helpful to us, but didn’t hover. They gave good advice, which helped both Bobby and me to select our meals. It was good to get to talk with Dr. Tizzano and get to know him a little better. When we finished, he bid us good night, but Bobby and I still had many miles to go (so to speak) before we turned in for the night. More about that in a future post!
