Trattoria stella (website currently down) is located just a few doors down from common grounds and the  three dogs tavern on 32nd avenue in the highlands.  With a two tiered patio, we were seated near the entrance and quickly noticed that housemade pasta dominated half the menu.  It was a game time decision but i settled on the 32nd street pasta, apparently a house specialty where as my friend settled on a classic spaghetti arrabiata (spicy tomato sauce).  My dish was pretty disappointing as the 32nd street pasta with tiger shrimp,, sun dried cherries, and goat cheese in a spicy lemon garlic olive oil sauce was pretty much a disaster.  The first problem was there was no sauce.....it was dry and both of us agreed it was flavorless, which made the dish taste only like goat cheese.  My friend's spaghetti arrabiata on the other hand was delicious, a classic dish that was well executed.  My dish was a 2 but hers was a an 8. The jury is still out.


So groupons are great when the restaurants are great.  I had read a lot about cafe bisque in lakewood highlighted as an amazing brunch spot in 5280 last year but when we drove up on saturday, we found it located in a small strip mall with just a few cars.  We were suprised to find only 4 occupied tables. The server asked if we wanted to sit inside or out, since it was a beautiful day, we quickly replied outside.  Apparently "outside" in lakewood means sitting in the entryway of a medical building/mall with skylight.  We found this to be hilarious in addition to the christmas lights that wrapped the railing by our umbrella and patio furniture.  The menu was a mix of brunch specialties, sandwiches and salads.  I settled on a duck confit salad with goat cheese, cranberries, and tomatoes.  The duck was good but nothing special.  My friend settled on the strawberry vanilla pancakes.  The strawberries were served defrosting on the pancakes.  Slow business does not mean it is ok to use frozen berries.  Use a different fruit next time.  We pushed aside the mess to eat the pancake but was not impressed.  I will not be returning.

Plate score: 3

South Broadway has been a new go to spot for me.  I recently gave mixed reviews to Beatrice and Woodsley and this time Deluxe just a few doors down faired much better.  The interior is a small space with a dozen tables, dim lighting, an exposed and large circular mirrors to give an illusion of a larger room.  To start, my friend and I shared a cesar salad and the monsoon dumplings.  The cesar salad was fresh with a parmesan tuile, however the monsoon dumplings were disappointing.  The filling was stiff more comparable to a chewy meatball and the "deluxe sauce" was a spicy lime (thus excessively sour) broth.  The star of the meal was my friend's paella, a heaping pile of rice with chicken, chorizo, mussels and shrimp.  It was absolutely delicious, served piping hot with delicate white wine and saffron flavors.  My smoked pork chop, though slightly overcooked had great flavor, the housemade chipotle bbq sauce, cabbage slaw and deluxe fries were solid accompainments.   Overall, the main courses were great with the star definitely being the seafood paella but the service needs work.  Our water glasses were empty for quite some time and our waiter manually transferred a piece of flatbread to my bread plate.  Pretty sure that is not ok.  We watched the next table indulge in a homemade ice cream sandwich of flourless chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream, but didn't have the room to order our own, maybe next time.

Plate score:  8.5