John and I achieved another lovely date night last night - this time dinner at Mission American followed by a drive around the University of Minnesota and the Riverfront District (the dinner + drive combo is our fav). Mission sits in the old Aquavit space (sniff, loved Aquavit) in IDS Center. Playfully chic interior, pretty good scene for a Tuesday night, Doug Flicker from Auriga (sniff, loved Auriga) in the kitchen, and delicious food on our table, including a perfectly cooked piece of halibut. It's not easy to attain halibut perfection (I've decided that I've been preparing it without nearly enough fat, so I love to eat it in restaurants, blissfully unaware - don't tell me! - of how the chef achieves that fantastic crusty/creamy deliciousness of a well-prepared halibut filet). Also delicious -and deadly - were good ol' fashioned fried shrimps, in this case cornmeal-dusted rock shrimps. No question about the fat used to prepare those crispy little bombs, ha. Man I love 'em, smokin' hot and dipped in a genius double-dip combo of garlicky aioli + fiery red pepper sauce. Rarrr... We skipped dessert, jumped in the car, rolled down the windows, cranked the tunes, and had ourselves a gorgeous drive home, scoping out potential al fresco dining spots for our next date night...