Rise No. 1 Restaurant Review

I recently went on a short little vacation down south. The vacation was super, but always too short. We did however visit Rise n°1, a French souffle restaurant. There are not many of these around. Actually, this is the first I've heard of and been to one. Rise is not a restaurant with spectacular dessert souffle. It is actually a restaurant where you have a souffle as an entree and perhaps a souffle for dessert afterwards. Very cool concept. Good souffles are difficult to make so I can only imagine what it took to turn entrees (that people would eat) into a souffle.

Pistachio Souffle with Custard on top

The decor of the restaurant is French themed. The inside is dimly lit and looked very cozy. Reminds of what homes in the French country-side would look like. We sat on the enclosed patio and it was perfect. It had big top to bottom windows that let lot of light in which made it feel like you were sitting on a patio, but yet completely sheltered from the weather.

 

We started with the Marshmallow soup and Rise n°1 salad with baby greens, I replace the blue cheese with goat cheese, roasted pecans, Granny smith apples, and pecan vinaigrette. For entrees we had the Truffle Infused Mushroom Souffle and that day's special the Crab Souffle. For dessert we shared that day's special, Pistachio Souffle. 

The Marshmallow soup were both of our favorites. The three "marshmallows" floating on top of the soup are actually really fluffy goat cheese and they were perfect with the tomato bisque. So very tasty! For the Rise salad, I especially enjoyed the pecan vinaigrette. It tied all the ingredients of the salad together very nicely. The goat cheese, as our waiter promised wasn't going to be too strong and he was right. We both really enjoyed the appetizers.

Now comes the beef of the visit - the souffles. I found out from this little excursion that unfortunately, having souffle for an entree is not for me. Please understand that I still think Rise to be very cool and I would still recommend this little gem to anyone, but the souffles were too savory for me. It reminded a bit of the feeling I get when I have risotto. It tastes really good, but I can only have a few bites. The Pistachio Souffle was good, but I also learned that I generally only like pistachios in their original form, pistachio gelato, and pistachio spread. Again, nothing to do with the quality of the souffle it is just not something I can appreciate like someone who loves souffle.

Truffle Infused Mushroom Souffle

Overall, decor and food fit together very well. It's a cute place to be on a Sunday for lunch with your date, with family or as a group of friends. Casual dinning on high quality food. We would go back in again for the Marshmallow soup and will certainly try a different flavored dessert souffle next time!!!