Creo

Date
1/2/09

Location
A mall up by Lisa's place
1475 Western Avenue, Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, NY

What I ate
Tagliatelle with caramelized onions, wild mushrooms, parmigiano, and white truffle oil

Who went
Lisa, Rob, and Matt

Website
http://www.creorestaurant.com/

Thoughts
First, let's just talk about the concept. Poke around their website to get a better idea, but it's a sustainability-centric restaurant with gourmet food. They're LEED-certified with awesome things like a grass roof, a floor made of recycled materials, and energy efficient equipment. They get high marks in my book before I even look at the menu.

The score just keeps going up after I do indeed look at the menu. They have a good variety on the menu and each item is thoroughly described. Every table gets a small bowl of edamame and a basket of bread, which were both tasty. My pasta was good and all of the flavors came through well, except maybe the truffle oil. Then again, that's probably because I haven't ever had it before and just couldn't pin down the specific flavor; there was an underlying but unidentifiable deliciousness to the dish, so I'll just assume that was the truffle oil. Everyone else finished their dishes with relative ease while making noises that suggest they were quite happy, but I'll leave it for them to describe their experience.

Our waiter was very helpful. He wasn't particularly conversational, but the place was packed and I'm sure he didn't have time to dawdle. He was friendly while answering our questions and giving advice. His manner of speaking suggested a good deal of familiarity with both the dishes on the menu and cooking in general. No one ever had an empty glass and our food arrived promptly.

The ambiance was a little busy, but nice overall. There is conversation everywhere and the odd lighting scheme surprisingly keeps the place well-lit without being too bright. I love that they have the kitchen open to view, though it can be a little distracting from table conversation. It's just too bad it's a 400+ miles trip from Charlottesville.

Recap
Pros - focus on sustainability, generally well-done, great food
Cons - it's too far from me, there are a few sustainability issues (some small things) that could make it even better
Overall - As if you couldn't already tell, this place is awesome. I highly recommend it to anyone who lives within about an hour. I'd say longer, but you don't want to drive too far while you're fighting the food coma.