Kit’s Unforgettable Four Courses

Customers always have a plethora of menu items to choose from at Kit n Kitchen, the Euro-Asian eatery located in Varsity Center. However, clients by the numbers have been ordering the restaurant’s four-course menu, of which there are three options.

“I would say the four-course (menu) is our signature thing,” says May Yiu, who opened the restaurant 11 years ago with her husband, Kit, and is one of the eatery’s chefs. “It’s a very good price ($20.95) for all the food you get.”

All three four-course menus at Kit n Kitchen are slightly different. The “regular” four-course menu includes a first course with the choice of Garden Salad, Milano Tomato Soup, Creamy Corn Soup or Creamy Mushroom Soup. Customers then receive a combination of Escargot Wellington (escargot encrusted in a flaky pastry and baked until golden), Grilled Beef with Chimichurri (grilled beef with the restaurant’s popular Chimichurri sauce) and Garlic Basil Shrimp (shrimp baked with pesto basil garlic butter).

“You have two pieces of escargot in puff pastry, a few pieces of the beef and two more pieces of the shrimp,” explains Yiu. “The Beef with Chimichurri has been very popular for the past five or six years.

“In this second course, you get a little bit of everything.”

For the third course, customers choose from nine different entrees, such as the Roasted Lamb with Rosemary or Basil Salmon. This regular four-course menu has been offered on the menu for the past six or seven years.

The Napa Four Course menu was a result of one of May’s trips to Napa, during which she was inspired by the truffles she tasted.

“The truffle is very popular in French-style cooking,” she says. “When I was in Napa Valley and I had some truffles, I said, ‘I’m going to go back and let people try truffles.'”

Under the Napa Four Course menu, customers start off with the Napa Tomato Soup. The second course features a Truffle Fountain — Black Truffle Creme, Prosciutto Melon and Garlic Basil Shrimp. For the third course, customers can opt for entrees including Beef Osso Bucco Milanese, Rosa Lamb Risotto and Rib Eye Steak.

“The way of cooking (for the Beef Osso Bucco) is really popular in Italy,” Yiu shares. “They use veal, but instead of veal, we use beef shank. The Euro-Asian (rib eye) steak is very popular in America.”

The newest four-course menu features a new dish for the second course — the Beef Carpaccio. This four-course option is soon to be added to the eatery’s menu, according to Yiu.

“The Beef Carpaccio is thin slice of raw beef — it’s high quality, like filet mignon —and we sear the outside, and then it’s filled with spinach and onion and it comes with a balsamic vinegar,” Yiu says. “It’s a popular plate in Italy.”

The last portion in each of the four-course menus is dessert. Customers may select one of several dessert options — chocolate cake, ice cream, creme brulee or cheesecake.

If guests prefer to order individual entrees, Kit n Kitchen offers a variety of options, such as different types of risottos and the popular “Create-Your-Own-Spaghetti” (ranging from $9.95 to $12.95).

“We have a big selection of the spaghetti because (customers) can mix and match by themselves,” Yiu says.

Other desserts include the always popular Banana Crepes ($6.95) —

French-style light pancakes filled with fresh bananas and light whipped cream and covered with walnuts, chocolate syrup and chocolate chips — and the Crepe Suzette ($6.95), French-style flambe crepes with a sauce composed of caramelized sugar, orange zest and Grand Marnier brandy.

“We just added the Crepe Suzette a few months ago,” Yiu says. “We make our own sauce; this one is especially popular because of the flambe action.”

Kit n Kitchen’s ever-changing menu continues to attract numerous customers, so Yiu recommends that larger parties make reservations.

“We’re the most crowded for dinner on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights,” she says. “It’s good to make reservations if you have a party of more than six people.”

Kit n Kitchen

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