New Resturant.

Whitney and I always like trying new restaurants so when she wanted to take me out for my birthday dinner on Wednesday we decided the new restaurant Haven. It's located over by all of the car dealerships on your way into Bloomington. Anyway, they had a cool logo, so we decided to check it out. The first thing I noticed when we got there was there very cool feel of the place. It somehow seemed classy, and... groovy at the same time I dug it. Our table was right in front of the kitchen, which in a normal restaurant I would hate... alll the yelling, the loud cooks, the servers taking a break back there can be really distracting. But Haven actually has a window for you to observe the goings on of the kitchen. Everyone was professional, and quiet back there. At one point of the night we een overheard a conversation with the Executive Chef, Francis vander Stappen, and a very curious little girl who was peering over the counter. It was very charming.

We started with an appetizer that was simulationously a great start to a fancy dinner, and the prefect super bowl dip. (See Buffalo Chicken Dip) And soon saw that this was a theme of the resturant. on their home page Haven owners say that "The chefs blend the old with the new. They specialize in making something comfortable and familiar with a contemporary, sophisticated twist." Menu items like Macaroni and Cheese, and Meatloaf speak true to this.

The service there was great and so was the food. I have to tell you that working at a very good steak house has made me incredibly hard to please when it comes to eating steak. But I decided to risk it and I ordered the ribeye. At first I was didsappointed because my steakwas obviosuly over cooked (let me add that for being well done it was surprisingly tender and juicy) but at the first mention of it my server, Paul, immeidietly had the kitchen going on a new steak. This one was perfect. Really one of the best steaks I've ever had. Perfectly cooked and the flavor was beautiful. My hats off to the chef.

The whole evening was very enjoyable. It's a little priceyer than applebees or chilis but much less than scaldonis. Menu items range from $10.00 to $26.00. If you're looking for a new place to tryout I definitely reccomend it.