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I've mentioned this before in my write-ups, reviews, musings and tipsy ramblings, but I'm new to Springfield. I have only lived here since late August and therefore have had the unusual privilege of not only trying and writing about places for work, but for personal, first-timer reasons as well. When my fiance and I were visiting the city back in the summer, we gambled on a spot near our hotel after my fiance found it on a local food blog that touted its ice bar (the only in town). We saw that the restaurant, Fire & Ice, had a menu online. We read it and decided it had to be done. Off we went.
Our first impressions of the exterior were, "This is a trippy looking place." What appears to be a swanked-up version of something considered by a location scout for “Boogie Nights” is actually a nice hotel and conference center parked on a particularly chain-choked strip of Glenstone, fresh off of Interstate 44.
Walking to the hotel (which houses the restaurant), we passed the security gate, the myriad fountains and the tall palm-like plant growth leading up to this sort of groovy (there really is no other word) façade and said to each other, “What the hell is this place? I feel like we’re walking into Hotel California.” Thing is, it’s quite a cool looking joint and stepping into the lobby, you quickly forget its proximity to Bob Evans and Sassy Reds. Not that there is anything wrong with Bob Evans and Sassy Reds, of course.
But back to Fire & Ice -- we loved it. He had steak, I had sea bass. We each had a dirty martini -- his gin, mine vodka. We ate till we were silent and then ate some more. Our service was wonderful and we left thinking, "Well, if the restaurants in Springfield are half this good, I think we're in OK shape." Two weeks later, we were living here.
I recently returned with my intrepid lunch pal in an official capacity -- the Metromix visit -- and it did not disappoint. We headed in for lunch, which turned out to be a really fantastic way to enjoy the place without dropping serious coin. Of course, it negates hitting the bottle (sigh) but the money saved is not a bad thing. In fact, considering the amount and the quality of the food, it was a serious bargain. Duck, prime rib and shrimp at one meal immediately recalls that instrumental intro from "Money" by Pink Floyd (crap, how old am I?) but it was silenced when I got the check and saw that we enjoyed all of that for just a hair over $30, including tax and tip. Sure a #7 down the street might be cheaper, but this is a fantastic option for a special meal out.
The menu is heavy on the Asian influences: stir fries, noodle dishes and miso-glazed ahi tuna, for example. I hear that the executive chef is the son of the guy that invented the ubiquitous (and polarizing) Springfield cashew chicken. With that said, Fire & Ice's menu does not pigeon hole itself as an Asian restaurant. They also offer burgers, panini, "Not Your Mom's Meatloaf", steaks, salads and pasta dishes. The kitchen spans the globe and offers quite a variety but the authentic flavors do not suffer as a result.
Service was very attentive (Jeree offered us to-go cups for our iced tea) and the configuration of the space made for a rather private lunch -- not that my coworker and I needed it, but it's nice to know that it was a possibillity.
The only beef I had with the place was the surfeit of televisions. While not loud or anything, their mere presence was a distraction from the great food and cool ambiance. It seemed like they were trying to be both a fine-dining establishment and a sports bar and I'm not sure that mix works. Having them around is not a big deal during lunch, but as any partner to a serious sports fan knows, if you're looking to have a romantic, one-on-one dinner with your dude, you need to ensure that ESPN is nowhere on his radar.
With that said, Fire & Ice is a delicious and inventive, if oddly placed, destination that I cannot wait to return to. Check out our recent lunch and see for yourself.
