Last week my friend and I met up for dinner at Biscotti’s, a Jacksonville staple in Avondale, a historic row of buildings not far from St. John’s River. This section of town becomes quite busy when evening rolls around, as there are more than a few restaurants serving different cuisines, each unique and popular.

I had never been to Biscotti’s but heard great things about it over the years, so I was excited to try it. For an appetizer, we split some burrata with bread, honey and arugula. I’m a sucker for burrata, and it was the perfect start to the evening.

We each got a drink. I got the white sangria, which came with cucumber and mint, while my friend ordered the paloma. Because we got to dinner on time, we made it just in time for happy hour prices on these delicious concoctions.

Of course, we saved space for our entrées. Biscotti’s is known for its mushroom risotto. It’s rich, creamy and topped with goat cheese and roasted pumpkin seeds. It was a great fall-inspired dish (even though Florida has yet to actually feel like fall). I couldn’t eat it all, that’s how rich it was, but it lived up to the hype, especially considering I’m not a big mushroom person.

Aside from the mushroom risotto, Biscotti’s is famous for cakes. You walk into the restaurant and are instantly met with a glass case displaying so many cakes, you wonder how you can actually decide. We went up to the display and looked at a few before returning to our seat and asking our waiter for his recommendation of the ones that caught our eye.

He highly pushed the white chocolate raspberry, the main one I had been eyeing myself. This cake was heaven. Not too sweet, the raspberry filling was tart and tangy, and the slice was so big, I took the rest of it home. (It disappeared within the next 12 hours.)

— Aoife O’Riordan, associate editor