Four Rivers Thai Prix Fixe

One of our very favorite restaurants has rolled out a summertime prix fixe Chef’s Tasting Menu for the second year running. This is The Four Rivers (1201 N. Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale), an extremely classy fine-dining Thai joint so warm, so friendly, so designed to make you feel welcome and at peace and loved that you’re always a little surprised when they deliver your check.

They must deliver that check, of course, but if you do the prix fixe thing (Sunday – Thursday), dinner will set you back only $35. The items on the prix fixe tend to rotate, but you’ll like whatever you get. This is a menu that includes “Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras” with pineapple and spiced lychee compote; “Tempura Oysters Stuffed With Scallop Mousse,” which comes in melting Singha batter with sweet chili and cilantro; an amazingly moist and savory “Steamed Escolar” with baby bok hoy, salted yellow bean-caramelized shitake, and crisped ginger in mushroom-ginger broth; and desserts like “Kaffir Lime-lead Flan” (!) with cardamom cream and homemade lemongrass sorbet. You eat all of this in a room illuminated by low red and blue light, dotted with tiny infinity pools filled with floating tea lights and flower petals, frozen lotuses in glass encasements, and a huge stone bas relief of Buddhist poetry. Without the prix fixe, a three-course meal at The Four Rivers might (and should!) set you back $60 - $70, sans wine, so enjoy this while it lasts. Call 954-616-1152 for more info, or visit www.thairestaurantfortlauderdale.com.

--Brandon K. Thorp