116 Crown: A New Twist on “Garden to Table” Dining

Fine dining with a friendly atmosphere, 116 Crown’s French-inspired dishes are perfect for a celebratory dinner or a nice night out.

The restaurant’s outdoor dining area is simple but elegant: tables sit spaced throughout the intimate garden courtyard, ivy grows up wooden fences, and strings of softly-lit bulb lights sway above diners.

Simple beauty also inspires 116 Crown’s dishes—they use fresh, wholesome ingredients and let the flavors speak for themselves. With so many great dishes, it’s difficult to pick a favorite: when we asked Chef Olivier for recommendations, he listed nearly every item on the menu, describing how he incorporates seasonal ingredients and his French background into each dish.

From beginning to end, every part of our meal showed meticulous care and attention to detail. What a treat to spend the evening here.

Drinks

Glitterati (left)

The Glitterati is a beautiful bright pink color served in a wine glass—immediately recommended by our waitress when we asked for her favorites. It’s a tangy, sweeter drink - more of a cocktail and “younger” drink in many respects—name, color, bubbles, personality. There’s a consistent, pleasant acidity throughout from the lemon juice that makes it reminiscent of a lemonade. The Glitterati is the perfect, refreshing drink for a summer evening.

Forth & Clyde (right)

Hendrick’s gin, maker’s mark bourbon, st. germain elderflower liqueur, local honey, lime juice, salemme chili flakes — served straight up

The Forth & Clyde is three drinks in one: an initial sweet flavor, quickly followed by the punch of liquor, then finished with a hint of lime. It’s a light, fresh drink—consistent in theme with the rest of our meal. The wide-rimmed glass shows off the drink’s yellow color and flakes of chili mixed throughout.

Appetizers

Heirloom Tomato Salad

Black mission figs, fresh burrata, shallot confit

This artful arrangement was made up of sweet black mission figs, creamy, fresh burrata, and garden-fresh tomatoes in a range of colors and sizes, all topped with a sweet balsamic. Each component was incredibly fresh and brought a different taste and texture to each bite. It was a refreshing, crisp, and wonderful start to the meal—exceptionally fitting with the garden atmosphere. We even watched restaurant workers picking the herbs fresh from the garden as we enjoyed!

Zucchini Blossom [Special]

Lightly-fried 116 garden zucchini stuffed with cheese

A seasonal special for the evening, this dish featured lightly-fried, cheese-filled zucchini (Christina: “is this a jalapeño popper?”) layered on a bed of sauteed zucchini. We were shocked by how much the preparation style changed the zucchini’s taste. The crisp freshness of sauteed zucchini slices contrasted the creamy burst of cheese in the fried zucchini. Plus, the drizzle of sauce below added an extra spicy flavor—perfect for dipping the fried zucchini. It was a surprisingly cohesive spin on fresh garden vegetables.

Entrees

Fresh Pappardelle

Tomato concasse, 116 garden swiss chard, pesto

This one was such a treat. We were shocked at first by how generous the portion was (Janie: “is this supposed to feed a family!?”), but it was surprisingly light and even refreshing unlike creamier or heavier pastas you’ll find at other places. The fresh ingredients (fresh basil, pesto, and tomato) spoke for themselves—the combination created a mild but delicate herb flavor, which again paired perfectly with the garden setting. We ended up being grateful for the large portion because this pasta did us SO well as leftovers (still fresh and held its texture the next day).

Mediterranean Sea Bass

Saffron braised fennel, dill oil, mariniere (mussels) sauce

Another treat—definitely our favorite of the evening because of how well each element was executed individually as well as how they harmonized together. While the pappardelle was fresh and herby, this dish was a bit creamier, though still light; it was richly savory from the seafood and paired a complementary range of textures from the melt-in-your-mouth mussels, to the crispy skin on the seabass, to the soft sea bass itself, and finally the crisp fennel. The creamy mussel sauce throughout clung to each bite and married the dish together as we worked through. Masterfully designed and beautifully executed—this plate was a highlight of our experience.

Thank you for a wonderful night, 116 Crown! To our readers —check them out every season for incredible rotating dishes, inventive drinks, and a charming atmosphere.