Why I Revisit The Wood Every Year
I visit The Wood at least once a year. Not because I don’t like it — actually, it’s because I don’t go out to eat very often unless it’s for “work”. Every year when Baldwinsville Dining Weeks comes around, I help out, and that usually means a return visit to The Wood. And every year, I leave pleasantly surprised.
The food is consistently good, but more importantly, they’re always doing something just a little different. Not different for the sake of it, just enough to keep things interesting.
A Dirty Martini, Reimagined as a Dip Why I Revisit The Wood Every Year
On this visit, that “something different” was a dirty martini dip.
Now, listen, maybe I am just uncultured swine, and I’ve never lived the life to have seen something like this before. Maybe this is incredibly popular and I’ve somehow never encountered it. That’s possible. I’m also not a big martini person. The one and only martini I’ve ever had was the caviar martini at Touché in downtown Syracuse.
But they presented me with a dip, and I never seen it before and so I got really excited. It doesn’t have to be anything earth shattering. It doesn’t have to be anything incredibly innovative. Even just a simple way of presenting a typical dish in a different way is exciting enough for me.
What Makes This Dip Work
I love it when restaurants rethink familiar flavors instead of chasing trends. This dip doesn’t try to reinvent anything, it just reframes it.
And this dip was delicious.
It gets served with fried pita, which I wish there was something else. Nothing worse than distributor level pita that then gets deep fried. But this dip was very good. It’s made with blue cheese, so it is funky but it uses the olive brine and chopped up and sliced olives in this dip. Until you get this salty, briny, funky, creamy dip that’s just delicious.
The Wood’s Dining Weeks Happy Hour Special
During Baldwinsville Dining Weeks, they are going to be offering, in addition to the regular dining weeks menu, a $15 happy hour special that includes one dirty martini, and one order of this dirty martini dip. I highly recommend going out there to try this. It’s fun it’s delicious and I think it’s just what any weekday needs to make it just a bit more enjoyable.
When Baldwinsville Dining Weeks Takes Place
Baldwinsville Dining Weeks runs from January 26 through February 8, with restaurants across the village participating. Each offers a different menu or experience, and The Wood will have several options available throughout the event.
Visiting The Wood in Baldwinsville
You can find The Wood at 7439 Canton Street Road in Baldwinsville. More details about Dining Weeks are available at BaldwinsvilleDiningWeeks.com.
