bywoods [Italian / Mediterranean]

I was invited to Media Tasting dinner at bywoods (@bywoods760) and I can't help but feel excited since there's a lot of restaurant along St.Clair that seems to be so under-explore. bywoods is the latest endeavor of Tony Cappellano and the Boom Hospitality Inc team with Chef Craig Dehne helming the kitchen.

 
The space is divided into two adjacent dinning rooms with a small front patio.
.

The bywoods

~ gin, organic rosemary, lemon juice, sugar & club soda

I am disappointed to say that it tasted very bland to me, almost like gin with water and ice... even after squeezing the lemon wedge in didn't help much.
. 

 .
Prosciutto Pizze $15

~ fig, gorgonzola & dressed arugula

Love the crispy flatbread with the mount of fresh arugula on top and knowing how much I like fig and prosciutto, this was so perfect for me.

Vegetarian Pizze $14
~ goat cheese, leek, red pepper, grilled artichoke, tomato, red onion, black olives & fresh marjoram

 I was glad that this came second since this one has stronger flavor than the first one. What's not to like with this classic combination. Only wished I had a glass of wine in hand.

Mediterranean Salad $13
~ vine tomato, cucumber, red onion, black olives, feta cheese, marjoram

 With tomatoes in season, this was obviously delicious

Beet Salad $12
~ goat cheese, charred red onion & arugula tossed w/ walnut dressing
Beets will always be one of my favorites but Ican never justified paying that much for a small plate of beets given how easy it is to make it at home.
.

Pan Seared Scallops $16
~ grilled chorizo, avocado mash, mixed greens, black olives & jus
Thought it was a cute idea to have the scallops on top of the chorizo but not sure if it actually translate that well, though the whole thing look rather weird with the avocado mash on top. That aside, the scallops was perfectly cooked perfect with the saltier grilled chorizo and love the jus as well.

Linguine with Shrimp $21
~ spiced light cream sauce & spinach
At first glance, it looked rather dry and I was thinking that I will be rather bland and tasteless but although with the lack of sauce, it was delicious and flavorful.

Pan Roasted Lamb Sirloin $26
~ apricot, potato puree with smoked paprika & sautéed spinach, Moroccan spiced jus
Love love the lamb, it was perfectly cook and not overly seasoned so you can taste the yummy lamb flavor. Oh and did I mention that we all thought it was a sweet potato puree even after tasting it?! It was actually potato with smoked paprika that gave it the color and taste... really I still think they are lying and it's sweet potato since it was sweet and sweet potato texture-like.

Grilled Flank Steak $21
~ arugula, mushroom, cured tomato salad, salsa verde & jus
Never a huge fan of flank steak since it's always too dry/not fatty enough... but they did a pretty good job here and the salsa verde which tasted and look like more of a pesto to me was the real star of the dish. I will probably order this in a heartbeat just because of that pesto.

Chocolate brownie was rather bland and could have use a better quality chocolate when the dessert is made not that sweet.

Verdict:
Another great find on St.Clair, perfect spot for people who are only willing to travel to mid-town
Would definitely come back again


*** This meal was complimentary. Opinions are my own***