The top floor of Riot is like walking into an office lobby (with a bar full of fringe benefits lining the whole back wall). I saw many attendees exchanging business cards over a glass of wine. Downstairs looks more like a friend’s basement: the low ceiling, closely packed tables, and busy bar tend to encourage more intimate conversation over drinks.
I’d like to mention two strapping young fellows who involuntarily demonstrated how not to have an intimate conversation – “Buttercup” and “Man Candy”. Man Candy, after failing to score with our guest, proceeded to try the same spiel on three other lucky girls, never learning from his recent rejections. Buttercup’s next action, after hovering over our guest’s shoulder and critiquing her work in a flirty tone, was to reassure his whiny girlfriend that he was just making conversation.
A house brew called Riot Act Red and the Summer Riot cocktail were the specialty drinks of the night, but Riot also offered a more common selection of wine and beer.
The food was appropriate for the setting: only one deep-fried item, but not too many unpronounceable words. The common presentation scheme was to poke a stick through the appetizer and arrange it such that the color contrast distinguished each bite from its neighbor.
The antipasto skewer featured artichoke, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomato drizzled with pesto sauce. It would’ve been great with some salami or capicola.
The next selection was a duck dumpling that I wished had been fried. The thick chili soy sauce, just spicy enough to complete the dumpling, made up for the missing crunch that I look forward to in a good fried dumpling.
The hibachi beef skewer, in my guest’s words, was “to die for,” but we couldn’t say the same about the severely dry chicken skewer with bell peppers and a bland teriyaki sauce.
A round of fruit skewers gave us a break from all the heavy food.
Riot then served two different takes on phyllo dough. The spanakopita wasn’t cooked through, so the pastry didn’t feel quite right. For some odd reason, I got a hint of fish in it. The brie, on the other hand, came wrapped in a toasty pocket of slightly overbaked phyllo. It won me over with a ribbon of sweet raspberry filling, and I’d rather have dough that is too crispy than dough that is inedibly soggy.
I can’t promise the same quality for an ordinary day at Riot, because few of the Grand Opening bites are on their regular menu online. The selections range from hearty pasta entrees to some decently-sized (at $10, I hope so) desserts such as tiramisu. I have a hunch that tonight’s appetizers represented the grub accurately at this comedy club, and you’ll be satisfied with what you paid for. If you’re going to brush off a sleazy guy and his obnoxious grin by pretending to be absorbed in your food, this is the kind of food you’ll want.
-Nina (NFG)
Disclaimer: I know something to this effect is stated in our “About” section, but (as sometimes happens), we received freebies. That said, our words are our own.
