Birthday Fusion

It's not even my birthday yet, and I'm already having the BEST birthday I've had in a long time. After work tonight, I met my parents and my brother, Ben, downtown for dinner to celebrate my birthday's eve. I love the adventure of trying new restaurants, so earlier in the week, I scoured Nashville Citysearch and Chowhound for suggestions. I stumbled across a modest listing for the Parco Style Cafe, located in a darkened basement on the seedy Printer's Alley.

I was intrigued. The descriptions told of this hidden gem, owned by a Taiwanese couple, Mr. & Mrs. Fu, that combined Japanese and French cuisine for a unique fusion gourmet menu. The positive reviews were overwhelming, but I was still a little skeptical. Afterall, why hadn't I ever heard of this place? And in Printer's Alley???

Why not? I booked a reservation for 6 p.m. Mrs. Fu told me to come to the back door on Third Avenue, and she'd let us in close to our side-street parking. I was a bit nervous... I knew that if the food was disasterous, the bill would be damaging as well. A minute later, we were met at the door by the lone Parco waitress, and led inside the restaurant. Mrs. Fu greeted us warmly, and led us to our table. We were the only four inside the exposed-brick-wall restaurant.

Mrs. Fu was very attentive from the beginning, and Ben snickered and mentioned a Seinfeld reference to Babu, and his attempts to make his Pakistani cafe a success. We were all starving, and had a hard time even deciding on an appetizer. Our waitress recommended a shrimp and oyster stuffed pastry, topped with an asian slaw. Mom ordered Sunflower tea from the extensive tea list, and I began to open my birthday presents.

I got some really creative presents this year. Mom made me a photo scrapbook of our trip to Philadelphia last summer, and dad gave me a vintage container of Jergens face powder. Ben and Britt gave me a really cute monogrammed overnight bag and a monogrammed koozie to for cokes at work. I also got some money to go toward my iPod foundation.

We motored through the appetizer, and ordered. Ben and I split a soft-shell crab salad, and he ordered the shrimp and scallops, while Mom and I got the Galette, a orange roughy and grouper stuffed potato-hash cake. Dad also had the soft-shell crab, and the much recommended jumbo rock-salt shrimp. The presentation of each dish was beautiful, especially the soft-shell crab. And the food was so flavorful and satisfying.

Chef Fu is known for his pastries, and dessert left nothing to be desired. Our decisions were determined while standing in front of a huge glass case of confections.

I had a Strawberry-Banana Crepe.

Dad had the Tiramisu.

Mom had a Chocolate Mousse Ganache.

I really appreciated Parco Cafe's creativity and attentive service, and I had such a nice time with my family tonight!