Alana's

For the month of June, the YUM Club dined at Alana's Food and Wine on North High Street in Clintonville. With only six in attendance, we enjoyed a quiet dinner on the patio of this funky little house restaurant. It was good to find another house restaurant to help ease the pain of our loss of Taverna Opa on South High Street.

Alana's is self-described as having an ambiance of French brasserie with flare and they serve "Food of Love" with an emphasis on fresh and delicious foods prepared in styles from all over the world. The menu changes frequently and several seasoned Yummers were surprised to find the dishes they chose online were no longer available once we arrived.

The drinks are just as special and fresh as the food, though RJ wasn't too thrilled with his watermelon cocktail made with fresh watermelon juice. Apparently it was too much like real watermelon and not enough like the uber-sweet watermelon liquer he's used to.  I had an unfamiliar white wine that our server described as "an interesting little beast, but pretty good" as well as a pasta and vegetable dish that was delicious.

During our dinner, Alana came around the restaurant twice with samples of new dishes she was trying. Both were excellent and I love the cozy notion of our chef (and the restaurant's namesake) flitting about among her loyal patrons offering samples.