Image Map

Monday, February 15, 2016

Valentine's Weekend

It's Monday!  I can totally tell by the looks of things around here.  Mama took a few days off of "housework" aka her job, and this place is a mess! I'll get to it after a little re-cap!

Of all days we had lots to do, it was SUPER cold out on Saturday! It was rather snowy too.


We had a birthday party about a half hour away, and I was worried about the weather, but I'm a good driver, took my time & knew that my truck would be a beast.


A little arm candy came in the mail for me!! I am IN LOVE with this new Ikat and Geo bar.


Brooke's friend Lily turned 3, and I think because of the roads, no one could come! I'm glad we decided to go. It was great for the kids to play together and the Minion theme was super cute.


Before we left another little girl came so that was good.  Brooke loved everything!


We then came home, changed into dance attire and went to dance class. Again, there were only 2 of us, but I'm glad she got to get her boogie on.


Then it was time to rush & try to get ready for date night! We had reservations at 7:30, the sitter coming at 6 so I did what I could while chasing after baby boy...who tried flushing his sister's toothpaste in our toilet. What is the obsession with toilets kid?! Haha


We lined up a sitter about a month in advance, and had no idea where we were going to eat.  Joe had found this amazing restaurant online, but they were full and only had a waiting list. They told us to sign up online, as lots of people tend to cancel. Well, I can't tell you how excited we were when we received a text message Tuesday night stating that we had 15 minutes to confirm our reservations for Saturday 2/13.


The restaurant is called The Kitchen and it only holds about 24 people.  We walked in and were brought to our table, and I'm not going to lie; my heart sank just a little bit when we were sat with another couple at a table for 4.  Now, I don't think I would mind so much if they had told us ahead of time, but as a married couple with two YOUNG kids, quiet dinner time talk, was really something I was looking forward to.

The other couple was nice, but not overly friendly and we certainly didn't have an awesome connection like, oh let's hang out again.  We made it work, but that was one thing that I didn't love.

The rest?

Amazing.

I chose to do the wine pairing with the 7 courses.  If you don't want to do the pairing, you can bring your own wine for a $5 corkage fee.


They brought out this yummy bread, house churned butter & goat cheese stuffed dates---like candy!


We started with "bacon" which was a delicious cut of pork belly and it fell apart in your mouth.  We were so excited to eat it, I forgot to take a photo.

Even though we were sitting with another couple, we did have the best seats in the house--right next to where they assemble all of our food!


The chef was so meticulous and it was really interesting to see him work.  Every course was like artwork.


The beet with some camembert cheese, aged balsamic...YUM!


Cranberry in sugar--so pretty!


Here they were lining up the pickled tomato dish.


Summer. In. My. Mouth.  This was my favorite of all! I love caprese salad and this was a delicate spin on it!  Pickled tomato made into a gelatin; purple basil, infused caviar, mozzarella cheese, olive oil....I'm drooling as I think about!


We had a palate cleanser, champagne granita--forgot to snap a photo---

Next up was the cod--it melted in my mouth.  The butter, garlic, white beans--really rich, but just enough leaving you wanting another bite or two!


The eel course came out with a little cup of miso broth to pour over it.



This dish was sweet and bbq flavor was really unique--once I poured the broth, it essentially became a soup.  I loved that interaction with the dish.


The lamb was pretty earthy and again, quite rich.  Joe loved it, I was still stuck on that tomato dish! It was served over some mashed potato and the olive was tasty!


The best cup of coffee I have ever had.  Local roaster, Glen Edith provided this organic brew and it was heaven in a cup.  They didn't offer cream or sugar.  They didn't need to.   I need to get some of this for home, stat!


Last but not least Creme Bruleé.  I was really looking forward to it, but honestly?  Far too much orange liqueur. I was quite full from everything else anyway, but it wasn't the best dessert to end on.  I did like the cotton candy, but I am just not a huge liqueur fan anyway.


It was really an amazing dining experience and I would go back and try out their summer menu for sure!  It's definitely a pretty price to pay, but you are getting the highest quality of everything.   Even the artwork was very nice!


Sunday we just stayed inside by the fire and munched on chocolates (hubby knows my heart--butterfinger!) and shared our cards.   We decided dinner would be our gift to each other since it was rather expensive & babysitters aren't cheap around here!


For dinner we opted for takeout sushi and of course I had to have the sweetheart roll!


How was your weekend?  I hope it was filled with much love!

KEEP

Stay beautiful xox

4 comments:

  1. That restaurant sounds like it was an awesome experience! Looks like Valentine's Day was a success as well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It felt like -30°F on Saturday?! WHOA! And I think that's awesome you braved the weather to get Brooke to her birthday party! I'm sure that meant so much to her friend :)

    Your dinner looks absolutely spectacular Saturday night! Wow! Every dish looks like a delicious piece of art!

    And there are few things that make me happier than Valentine's Day cards and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates! <3

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so much happy to know about your valentine’s weekend. Thanks for sharing these photos. We celebrated this valentine’s in LA. My cousin hosted a grand party at one of the best venues in Los Angeles and invited both of us. It was a fun and we enjoyed a lot there.

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear from you. Each & every comment is so very much appreciated!! :)