515 Kitchen and Cocktails

Morning! 

Last night I had a wonderful dinner out with girlfriends at 515 Kitchen and Cocktails! 

This was another restaurant participating in Restaurant Week here in Santa Cruz.(Santa Cruz is holding Restaurant Week from October 22nd - 29th. Check out the restaurant lists here: http://www.santacruzrestaurantweek.com/)

515 is a small hole-in-the-wall but full of character and situated in downtown Santa Cruz near all the action. It has a casual yet intimate atmosphere. The only real con was that the tables were tiny and their plates overly gigantic lol! Staff were dressed very casual but super nice and attentive. I loved their Halloween decorations too! 

For the first course I chose the Butter Lettuce Salad. The added pear and pumpkin seeds were delicious. For my cocktail..whose name I can not remember...was good and refreshing. If you are into lemon and grapefruit this is the drink for you he he!

 For the second course I had the stuffed bell pepper. I wanted to step out of my comfort zone, not a huge fan of peppers, plus it was the only veggie dish....turns out it was really good! Plus I got to have potatoes! The accompanying yogurt sauce was really tasty too. My friends had the chicken and linguine, both of which they enjoyed.   

 For the third course, dessert, I had the tart. I was a little disappointed...the tart was indeed tart and a bit more of a hard log of dark chocolate. I gave it a try but dark chocolate is not my thing. Way too bitter. Craig was happy...I brought home the rest for him he he! The crust and strawberry balsamic sauce was wonderful though. 

Both of my friends tried the pear and I was instantly jealous, but they did share lol! I wouldn't have though of poached pear for dessert but the consistency was similar to baked apples...sweet, warm and comforting.

Over all 515 was great! It will be fun to go back and try some of their other dishes.

-Bunny