I am so thrilled to say that I am finally done with SAT’s. What an awful process. When I got my scores back a little while ago (and I was pretty happy with them!) I was reminded of the wonderful meal I had at a great restaurant that I went to as my well-deserved reward for finishing my grueling exam. That restaurant was D’Jeet?. It sounds like a pretty strange name for a restaurant, doesn’t it? They got the idea from saying “Did you eat?” in a fast and casual way… “Did ya eat?”…”Didja eat?”… “D’Jeet?”. Get it? It took me a while to figure out but maybe that’s just me… This restaurant is centered in The Grove, the high-end outdoor mall in a town near me. It’s a small café that serves local seasonal cuisine, and in order to maintain this platform, they change their menu every month or two using whatever ingredients are in season. I think this is such a great idea! Their food is always so fresh, and you can tell that the ingredients are top quality. Because of this though, I can’t guarantee that the items I ordered are still on the menu. So I’m sorry if you read this and run to D’Jeet for this meal and find that it no longer exists… But I’ll tell you about it anyways because it was a pretty spectacular meal.

My mom and I split two appetizers as our meal. First, we had the cannellini bean hummus platter. This platter was laden with fresh vegetables, pieces of grilled flatbread (pretty much pita) for dipping, and an olive tapenade to dip in as well. The savory hummus paired with the crisp veggies and salty tapenade made the plate a perfectly balanced masterpiece of color and flavor. As our second appetizer, we shared the Autumn Pizza, which was topped with brussels sprouts, caramelized onions, sweet butternut squash, and creamy dollops of ricotta. It was literally fall on a pizza. These are obviously not your everyday pizza toppings, but we should start a trend, because I think many other foodies would fall in love with them! (ha..ha..).

For dessert, I was drawn to the petit macarons that were sold at the bakery counter in the front of the restaurant. My mom and I split four of them- two pistachio, one raspberry, and one espresso. I decided on two pistachio because I wanted to be adventurous, but sometimes, it’s better to stick with your gut. And my gut told me espresso. Now, don’t get me wrong- the pistachio macarons were yummy as was the raspberry, but the espresso was in a whole different ballpark. I expected just a mild “coffee ice-cream” flavor in cookie form which is usually what you get when something is supposedly coffee flavored (as a complete coffee addict I’m quite sensitive to this). Instead, I got the taste of real espresso. It was rich and bold, but still sweet as a macaron should be. Perfection. I was so mad at myself for only getting one of them because we ate them in the car on our way home and there was no turning back for more. Oh well. You live and you learn. Anyway, it was a beautiful and rewarding meal and I highly recommend D’Jeet!

Enjoy!  Love, The Perky Foodie.