Celebration Divine at Opus 9

In celebration of eight years of togetherness as well as six months of being married, my husband and I decided to go to Opus 9 Steakhouse in Williamsburg to celebrate. Since we were going to be dining on a Friday night, I called ahead to make reservations. The person that I spoke with asked if we were celebrating anything, so I explained to them our mixture of anniversaries, chuckling to myself because I wasn’t expecting them to make a big deal out of such a small occasion.

When we arrived, we were warmly greeted and led to a large, round booth. We were pleased to be seated at such a prestigious table considering it was our first time dining there and even more impressed by a printed note on the table that read, “Here’s to a Happy Half-iversary and  Wonderful Eight Years!” Having never experienced this kind of specialized treatment before, we were beyond delighted and knew that we were in for a wonderful dining experience. 

Our waiter promptly came to the table to take our drink orders and to let us know that we could ask him any questions we had about the menu. We started out with the Bourbon Pecan Brie, perfectly softened brie drenched in warm bourbon caramel sauce and topped with crispy, sweet toasted pecans, fresh apples and juicy sliced strawberries encased in a puff pastry croustade and served alongside crunchy baguettes. Even though it was November, the strawberries tasted as though they had just been picked on a warm spring day.  The rich and creamy brie oozing from the puff pastry had a mild flavor that paired nicely with the tartness of the apples, the nuttiness of the pecans and the luscious decadence of the bourbon caramel. 

 Next, we ordered the Seafood Trio, a jumbo lump crab cake, sautéed gulf shrimp and pan seared scallops served alongside a colorful mix of greens. The crab cake was perfectly assembled with succulent chunks of crab throughout, and it was served with a creamy Creole remoulade sauce, adding just a touch of spice. The scallops were seared until a golden brown crispness slightly coated the outside. Inside, the smooth and buttery scallops tenderly melted away in our mouths. My favorite portion of the trio was the plump and juicy, divinely sautéed shrimp topped with a rich and buttery beurre blanc sauce. Although mild in flavor, the sauce lended itself to the natural flavor of the shrimp as well as the herbs and spices in which it was sautéed. 

To accompany our trio of delicacies from the sea, we ordered a side of asparagus. The bright green shoots were perfectly wilted and still maintained a bit of crisp in the bite.  The asparagus was immersed in a velvety hollandaise sauce, giving a smooth, buttery essence with just a touch of tartness. 

Throughout the dinner, our waiter was attentive and friendly, offering wine suggestions and answering questions we had about different sauces we had tried during the evening. What was even more impressive was the warm demeanor we experienced from other servers passing by our table. During visits to most other restaurants, it’s been common for servers to ignore all other guests except for the ones they were attending to. However, at Opus 9, nearly every server who passed by our table politely smiled at us, and one waitress even stopped by to tell me how tasty my martini looked and how she was looking forward to having one later in the night. It’s been rare for us to enjoy such pleasant service from not only our assigned server, but also nearly every employee in the restaurant that night. To top it off, at the end of our meal, our server surprised us with a complimentary bottle of champagne for us to toast to our special day. We raised our glasses to the celebration of our time spent together and also to the extraordinary time we’d experienced that night at Opus 9.

Opus 9 is located at 5143 Main Street, Williamsburg, VA. For more information, call 757-645-4779 or visit www.opus9steakhouse.com