Thursday, November 10, 2005

If you haven’t been to the new location of You and Me on Chestnut Street, put this paper down and go. Right now.

I’ll wait.

(Hums the “Jeopardy!” theme)

You’re back! Stuffed and smiling! Bearing neatly packaged leftovers!

I knew it – you love the place. And so do I: You and Me, which used to be on Old Morgantown Road, is now officially one of my favorite places in town. I love everything about it – the deep-orange-and-dark-wood color scheme, the wonderfully diverse Bosnian menu, the incredibly professional and sharp-looking waitstaff, and the giant windows that let you gaze out upon Chestnut Street should your dining companion become too boring.

Speaking of (non-boring) dining companions, two co-workers and I arrived at You and Me just after noon Wednesday and were quickly seated at a table by the wall of windows. We briefly debated whether to sit on the porch – after all, as one co-worker pointed out, it is an incredibly nice porch – but the strong winds and threat of rain made us change our minds. Our waiter, Will, who deserves a raise for being so friendly and charming, took our drink orders and asked if we had any questions about the menu, which we all agreed was a nice touch since many of the items listed may be unfamiliar to the cheeseburger-and-fries crowd.

We ordered cheese bread for an appetizer, and Bosnian sausage, chicken parmesan over spaghetti, and veal liver with mushrooms as our entrees. We chit-chatted about the restaurant’s great “classy but not intimidating” vibe and waved to a few people who were there to eat (the place filled up rather quickly once lunch-break-time came around) while waiting for our cheese bread, which was basically pizza with the sauce on the side. Fitting, we thought, since the menu boasts 24 different kinds of pizza, all of which sound divine.

We made it about halfway through the appetizer before the entrees arrived, piping-hot and looking wonderful. Mine, the liver and mushrooms, was accented by a large dollop of sour cream and a pile of raw onions, while the Bosnian sausage came with sauerkraut, mustard, mushrooms and a red sauce we weren’t able to identify, but which my co-worker said tasted excellent. The chicken parmesan was lacking in cheese, my other dining companion reported, but was still a hearty meal.

As we inhaled our meals, we lapsed into a silence broken only by the Bosnian sausage co-worker pushing away an empty plate with a heartfelt, “That was freakin’ good!” I ended up taking home leftovers, including some of the delicious fresh bread Will brought to our table along with our meals. We sized up the dessert options – baklava, “brownie sensation” and sour cherry cake – and chose one cherry cake and one brownie sensation, which is basically a brownie sundae.

Dessert was the less-than-ideal thing about You and Me – the ice cream in my brownie sensation had tiny ice crystals in it and the brownie itself was hard and crunchy. The sour cherry cake, though, was wonderful, said the “freakin’ good” co-worker as she spooned up the last bite.

Although the place is a little pricey – the take-out menu declares, “We’re not the cheapest … but we are the best!” – it’s worth the extra dough for the ambiance, great food and terrific service. It also strikes me as a great date restaurant – you can bond by ordering two new dishes and then swap halfway through. And hey, there’s always the great view of Chestnut Street if your date starts yammering about his collection of Batman lunch boxes.

And, speaking of wonderful local chow-houses, we’ll pause here for station identification and to recognize another great BG restaurant, 440 Main, which was recently given the Blue Plate Award by PREP Magazine, a statewide restaurant industry publication. 440 Main received first place in the Independent Fine Dining Restaurant category. Congratulations!

You and Me

729 Chestnut St. • 781-9411

Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mon.-Thurs., 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat.

Cuisine: Bosnian

Price range for dinner: $3.25 for a cup of soup to $29.99 for a combination plate

Libation situation: Domestic and international beer, wine

Smoking: No

– Our anonymous food reviewer has plenty of experience with boring dates. New restaurants will be given an eight-week grace period. Send comments to Managing Editor Mike Alexieff at malexieff@bgdailynews.com or call him at 783-3235.