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Cool Stuff About Business and Entertainment in the Greater Harrisburg, PA Area. |
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Cool Stuff About Business and Entertainment in the Greater Harrisburg, PA Area. |
| A Matter of Taste Great Dining Reviews |
| Heaven 706 N. Third Street, Harrisburg, PA 717-233-4681 by Dawn Eckenrode I’ve been to Heaven and the food is divine. We usually order several appetizers to share at the table, but picked only one this time. (I think my friends are getting wise to the routine and are saving room for the entrées and desserts that absolutely must follow...) Fresh, very good warm bread with a butter herbed crust arrived, along with a house-blended butter whose somewhat sweet taste was a nice pairing with the herb-savory bread. Our appetizer was several generous chunks of feta, breaded, deep fried, and served hot with a smooth Dijon dipping sauce. When the wine arrived, (they offer a good selection of varietals, bottled, and by-the-glass) I nibbled on bread and cheese, and contemplated my dinner, whilst sipping wine from an enormously large globe wine glass and indulging in the fantasy of being one of the Gods, atop the raised dias where our party of hedonists was seated. Now, I must tell you, everything was good. That being said, I want to cover three or four of the table’s favorites, beginning with the stunning Venus di Milo. This creation’s centerpiece is a swan of puff pastry, the head and neck gracefully rising above a bed of asparagus tips, large shrimp, and shitakes. It is complemented with a light seafood sauce. Continuing with seafood, the Shrimp Gabrielle, one of my personal favorites, is a shrimp and crab lover’s dream. There are several jumbo shrimp, broiled and stuffed with crabmeat, and topped with a perfect Dijon mustard sauce, attractively arranged with asparagus spears. Last but not least of the seafood, Leviathan’s Feast features a fresh rainbow trout, sautéed and stuffed with crabmeat and a melange of fresh vegetables, all drizzled with a lemon herb sauce that was absolutely fabulous. Moving on to fowl dishes, one of the rage hits at the table was Pegasus Rising, which no description will quite do justice, but here goes: julienned chicken breasts in a mix of spinach, olives, pepperoni, sun-dried tomatoes on spinach fettucini all with a wonderful creamy Alfredo-ish sauce with hints of feta and garlic - wow. Then, off of the Winter Menu Supplement, there was this incredible Chicken Edan which was a wonderfully updated version of a cordon bleu with crabmeat as a filling, swiss cheese inside, all covered with a tasty bacon horseradish sauce. The last entrée I must cover is the Tornadoes Athena, also off of the winter menu. This interesting creation from Executive Chef Richard Saullo was filet mignon tournedos, cooked to your order, atop mushrooms, then topped with a blue cheese ravioli, all drenched with a Jack Daniels sauce - a tasty and imaginative dish. There were many more equally tantalizing dishes, including at least two vegetarian entrées, but I will leave it to your lucky tastebuds to discover them, and move on to the coup de grace. There is a desert tray fortuitously parked at the Heaven’s front gate, and upon gaining entrance, you have a view of what awaits you on the other side. "One of each!" we proclaimed. (How often do you get to do that at dinner!) So, armed with our dessert utensils, and with strict instructions to my unruly friends that each desert must pass before me in new (or at least only slightly carved upon) condition, we descended into the netherworld of luscious chocolate mousses, cheesecakes and custards. Since I am a self-diagnosed chocolate junkie, I’ll go over the ‘good stuff’ first. There’s my fav - the Chocolate Mousse Bomb, which is layers of chocolate raspberry, milk chocolate, and white chocolate mousse covered in a dark chocolate ganache and finished with hazelnuts. The ever popular Heaven and Hell is a seven layer cake alternating white and chocolate sponge cake held together with a peanut butter mousse and covered with chocolate ganache. The cheesecakes were super, but the big hits at the table were two fruit concoctions - the Strawberry Bourbonnaise (ooo la la) and the Bananas Caribbean (uh huh). One had fresh sliced strawberries drenched in a caramelized butter sugar bourbon sauce, the other fresh sliced bananas sautéed in a rum sherry butter and spices all atop vanilla bean ice cream. Both are served in towering desert glasses and are absolutely delicious. Now that I have your mouth watering, you need to know that Heaven only accepts inductees Thursday thru Saturday nites, from 5 to 10 p.m. You should call for reservations at 233-4681 if your party is much larger than three. Entrees range from about $10-19, and include the house salad and sides. Now you know another of the best-kept dining secrets of Harrisburg, and if you don’t try it, you can go straight to dining purgatory! |
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