Big Night
The Great River Bridge joining Burlington, IA to Illinois
W. BURLINGTON, IA - Our penultimate night on tour was one to remember. It began with a great meal at a restaurant overlooking the Mississippi River, and ended with three games of bowling in which all participants played well.
Martini's Grille had come highly recommended to us
by the staff at our hotel. Brian pushed hard for us to eat dinner there
Wednesday night, and we're all thankful now for his persistence. Martini's is on
the fourth floor of a building overlooking the Mississippi River. Windows
surround the three sides of the restaurant that face the water, affording diners
a breathtaking view of Burlington's Great River Bridge and the river itself. The
menu specializes in fine meats, but also contains an extensive selection of
seafood. Nightly specials are numerous and
varied.
In spite of its formidable arsenal of high-end beef entrees, Martini's signature item is something they call Chicken Lips. I was initially put off by the name, but was relieved when I learned that they are not, in fact, lips from a chicken. They are generous slices of chicken breasts that are soaked in buttermilk, floured twice, deep-fried to moist perfection, then bathed in a zesty sauce that uses Frank's Red Hot as its base. The Chicken Lips are served with Martini's own Budweiser blue cheese dressing. According to the menu, the restaurant has served more than 1.3 million of these things since their introduction, and after one bite, it comes as no surprise. Chicken Lips are the evolution of the classic Buffalo Wing. If you ever have occasion to pass through Burlington, it would be a crime not to try the Chicken Lips. They are delicious.
In spite of having a Butter Burger from Culver's for lunch earlier in the day, I was undeterred from ordering a mini filet as my entree. When it arrived, it was, as the menu promised, "buried in Iowa blue cheese" and partnered with a generous dollop of garlic smashed potatoes. Iowa is stocked with premium beef from border to border, and the steak I had at Martini's met my every expectation,. The meat was as flavorful and tender as any I've had anywhere in the country.
Brian, a generous soul, secretly ordered dessert for the table and made it his gift to us. The dessert was called the "Big Ass Piece of Ice Cream Pie." When it arrived, we all realized that there could possibly be no other name for it. One look will tell you all you need to know.
As you might suspect, this was a more than adequate ending to our wonderful meal. Built around a slab of Neapolitan ice cream, this pie featured a cookie crust, strawberries, cherries, pineapple, fudge, and caramel. There was enough of it for each of us to have at least two full helpings of it. The dessert may have been decadent, but it was also deserved. We've worked hard for more than three months, and Brian was wise and kind to recognize that we all had earned such a tasty reward near the end of our journey.
All throughout dinner, we recapped some of our favorite moments of the trip. Doing it over such fine food was a perfect way to spend some of our last moments together. Service at Martini's was impeccable. We've had our share of substandard servers on our tour, and it was refreshing to have such a marvelously able person attending to our needs.
The evening ended with a 25-mile trip west to Mount Pleasant for what would likely be our final bowling excursion of the tour. The six of us who made the trip all bowled well at times throughout the three games we played. In the final game, I enjoyed my first-ever Turkey (three consecutive strikes) en route to a personal best of 165, which eclipsed my previous mark by one point. Bowling had become one of this group's mutual pastimes, so it was an appropriate way for us to cap off a fun and relaxing evening.
The end is almost here, and there is a little bit of energy left in our tanks. Later this morning, we'll travel to Muscatine for an afternoon performance of Pigs and our final evening performance of Così.
In spite of its formidable arsenal of high-end beef entrees, Martini's signature item is something they call Chicken Lips. I was initially put off by the name, but was relieved when I learned that they are not, in fact, lips from a chicken. They are generous slices of chicken breasts that are soaked in buttermilk, floured twice, deep-fried to moist perfection, then bathed in a zesty sauce that uses Frank's Red Hot as its base. The Chicken Lips are served with Martini's own Budweiser blue cheese dressing. According to the menu, the restaurant has served more than 1.3 million of these things since their introduction, and after one bite, it comes as no surprise. Chicken Lips are the evolution of the classic Buffalo Wing. If you ever have occasion to pass through Burlington, it would be a crime not to try the Chicken Lips. They are delicious.
In spite of having a Butter Burger from Culver's for lunch earlier in the day, I was undeterred from ordering a mini filet as my entree. When it arrived, it was, as the menu promised, "buried in Iowa blue cheese" and partnered with a generous dollop of garlic smashed potatoes. Iowa is stocked with premium beef from border to border, and the steak I had at Martini's met my every expectation,. The meat was as flavorful and tender as any I've had anywhere in the country.
Brian, a generous soul, secretly ordered dessert for the table and made it his gift to us. The dessert was called the "Big Ass Piece of Ice Cream Pie." When it arrived, we all realized that there could possibly be no other name for it. One look will tell you all you need to know.
As you might suspect, this was a more than adequate ending to our wonderful meal. Built around a slab of Neapolitan ice cream, this pie featured a cookie crust, strawberries, cherries, pineapple, fudge, and caramel. There was enough of it for each of us to have at least two full helpings of it. The dessert may have been decadent, but it was also deserved. We've worked hard for more than three months, and Brian was wise and kind to recognize that we all had earned such a tasty reward near the end of our journey.
All throughout dinner, we recapped some of our favorite moments of the trip. Doing it over such fine food was a perfect way to spend some of our last moments together. Service at Martini's was impeccable. We've had our share of substandard servers on our tour, and it was refreshing to have such a marvelously able person attending to our needs.
The evening ended with a 25-mile trip west to Mount Pleasant for what would likely be our final bowling excursion of the tour. The six of us who made the trip all bowled well at times throughout the three games we played. In the final game, I enjoyed my first-ever Turkey (three consecutive strikes) en route to a personal best of 165, which eclipsed my previous mark by one point. Bowling had become one of this group's mutual pastimes, so it was an appropriate way for us to cap off a fun and relaxing evening.
The end is almost here, and there is a little bit of energy left in our tanks. Later this morning, we'll travel to Muscatine for an afternoon performance of Pigs and our final evening performance of Così.
Posted: Thu - April 14, 2005 at 08:52 AM
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Published On: Apr 14, 2005 08:58 AM
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Published On: Apr 14, 2005 08:58 AM