January 29th 2015: A Night in Salem

I drove all the way to Salem after work to check out the Salem Athenaeum,  which was pretty much a library for really old books.

I then headed downtown to Ristorante Gioia, a small but decently decorated place for some Italian food.

I got the Cozze San Silvestro (fresh mussels sautéed with fresh tomatoes,  onions and Garlic in spicy white wine sauce) for appetizers,

And the Salmone Picasso (Salmon topped with shrimp in an Artichoke,  caper and lemon butter sage sauce) for my main dish.

The mussels were delicious with the sauce,  while the Salmon was perfectly cooked, not dry at all.

It wasn't filling though,  so I decided to head nearby to Opus, a pretty chic bar restaurant for more food.

 The menu here was way more interesting,  and I was a little spoilt for choice with the $20 deal I had. I went with the Wild Mushrooms Tart (corn meal tart shells,  wild mushrooms,  sour cream,  lemon,  chives,  Fried Duck egg and Parmesan cheese)

And the Tropical Sashimi (tuna, salmon, mango, Blueberry,  orange, pineapple and white miso glaze).

The tart was absolutely amazing because of the rich Mushroom sauce. The Sashimi was really well presented, and at first I thought I had wasted my order on typical Japanese fare, but the combination of fruits and white miso went really well with the fresh Fish.

2 really good meals in one night, although Opus was way better in all aspects.