Went to Cakes and Ale before a meeting the other night. We were actually going to the Watershed, but they had a 30 minute wait and we didn’t have time to wait. So, we decided to stroll up to C&A instead. Are we EVER glad we did that.

For what is considered to be a “soft opening,” I thought they did a fabulous job. Staff, food, and atmosphere were all excellent.

We started with the garden salad with champagne dressing which was very tasty, especially with the diced shallot and grainy mustard in the dressing. My wife ordered the chicken and dumplings, which had a very flavorful gravy with peas and carrots and mushrooms and little ever-so-slightly toasted gnocci. I managed to persuade her to let me have a small taste and I can concur with her assessment, it was delicious. But I had my own meal to eat — the burger’n'fries: A reasonably-sized ground beef patty containing both ground beef and ground pork which came nestled in a proportionate in-house made wheat bun. The burger was dressed with caramelized onions, cheese, and grainy mustard. The burger was phenomenal – the flavor of the meat was not at all overshadowed by the dressings and the combination of pork and beef was balanced and a real treat. The density of the bun worried me a little bit at first, but as I ate the sandwich, the burger imbued the bun with juice, which softened the texture and the actual flavor of the wheat bun was a good match against the rest of the sandwich. The burger came w/ very thin fries (almost like potato sticks, really) which were slightly crunchy but neither greasy nor overdone and had good potato flavor.

For desert, we had the pot du chocolat with candied kumquats which also came with some homemade coconut shortbread cookies. It was a good size for splitting, but not too big for an individual indulgence either. The chocolate flavor was not too strong, the citrus of the kumquats reminded me of a creamy chocolate-flavored orange. A great finish.

As for staff and decor: The place was very clean and comfortable and everyone was very welcoming when we walked in. I was amused by the boucherie poster on the wall outlining the various cuts of lamb and exalting the tenderness of this one or succulence of that one. Service was very attentive but not annoyingly so, and our waiter was very knowledgeable about the food, including ingredients, flavor, and prep time. They knew we were pressed for time, so they made a real effort to accelerate and synchronize the delivery of desert and check which we appreciated.

The price was about what we usually pay for dinner for 2 in Decatur at a restaurant operating at this level, around $40.

We will definitely be going very soon back for sure.

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