As I slowly blinked awake this morning, a sunshine song came to my lips. I sleepily hummed and sang it a bit as I shuffled around for my slippers... Then I stopped short, as it dawned on me...what the heck song is this? Good Lord, am I singing a Chipmunks' song? (I can't stand The Chipmunks.) I rushed out here, typed the lyrics into youtube, and voila...not The Chipmunks, but darn close. It's Pebbles and Bamm Bamm!? Yep, I woke up humming a Pebbles and Bamm Bamm song, total dorksville, ha. It's actually a sweet little song, and if you're anywhere near my age you'll recognize it immediately - Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sun Shine In. Awww... Check it out for a little random reminiscing.

I was smiling last night too - albeit sans television-baby song - when John and I stole out for dinner at Cave Vin (image, below, is from their website). Man, it really hit the spot, we hadn't been out in awhile. And Cave Vin always delivers - consistently delicious, simply prepared food. (Half-price bottles of wine on Monday nights is pretty sweet too, especially given their neat wine list.) I had a gorgeous (forgot my camera, kicking myself) golden beet and fennel salad - paper thin slices of sweet beets, layered with roasted fennel, drizzled with a bit of vinaigrette, dabbed with Dijon mustard around the edge of the plate (great complement to the sweetness of the vegetables), topped off with a generous grind of black pepper. Perfection.

For my main I scored seared scallops, served atop a little pile of roasted parsnips and sauteed spinach. Salty, garlicky, crunchy, tender, the perfect background for sweet scallops, I loved it all. In fact, I'm pretty stoked that I have a leftover scallop and a smidge of veg for my lunch today. They (Cave Vin) make it look casual and easy to toss together a plate of perfectly cooked and seasoned vegetables, alongside a piece of perfectly cooked and seasoned meat/fish. It's not one bit easy, which makes me appreciate it all the more. I never walk out of there feeling weighed down. Every neighborhood should have such an unpretentious, delicious spot (like mine! Please!? But no, it's not meant to be...). Good thing it's easy enough to head over in Cave Vin's direction (54th & Xerxes).

For a bit of bloggy incest, check out my newly minted Moderate Epicurean Facebook page.

If you're needing tips on where to head out for dinner, check out these fun MSP Magazine videos (including Zim).

After reading Andrew Zimmern's blog yesterday, I immediately called the much-awaited Porter & Frye to see if John and I could score a table for Date Night. We love the stylings of Chef Steven Brown (Levain, RockStar) and were psyched to sample his new wares. And The Hotel Ivy (the restaurant is a part of the hotel) is a brand-spanking new downtown hotspot, certainly worthy of scoping.

So scope it we did, knowing full well that it's all very new and not totally up to full speed (by design, soft opening). They didn't appear to staff a full dining room last night, presumably taking time to work out the inevitable kinks - especially when opening a restaurant as ambitious as Porter & Frye intends to be. We arrived a bit early so enjoyed a glass of prosecco in the chic bar, chatting with the excellent bartenders. Our waiter and support staff were top-notch as well, attentive and professional. Good start. Of course we ordered the frites (called "fryes" after the name of the restaurant), especially the truffle-vinegar-and-parmesan-sprinkled version. They were...OK. Little soggy, little not-quite-hot, and not particularly truffly. Darn! But my next course was delicious - a pretty bowl of chowder, served deconstructed with tiny brioche croutons, little rock shrimps, and bits of ham in the bowl, with creamy broth poured over at the table. Lovely to witness and eat. John had the celery bisque, served in a similar fashion, but despite the celery-intense creamy broth (yum), the presentation included thick slices of slow-cooked (but raw-looking?) pork, which didn't quite work.

For my entree, I had an incredible piece of grilled swordfish, dressed with a pile of crispy parsnips, in my mind a real Steven Brown dish - salty, sweet, crunchy, smooth, man it just hit every note, I could have licked my plate. (Perhaps I did just a little...) John had prawns sauteed in their shells, with quince raviolis, tasty and quite light. We were too stuffed for dessert, plus, we'd hatched an evil little plan during dinner...

...to spend the night in the hotel! Totally spontaneous, which of course made it a blast! The hotel hasn't even officially opened yet, but the staff is up and running and we were curious to check it all out. They not only had a room for us, but put us in a huge, fabulous suite. Very modern/chic, with a beautiful front entry, hardwood floors, earth tones, and a glorious bathroom and bed. I had a lovely, hot bath (the hotel has their own signature spa/bath products, heavenly scent), wrapped myself in The Best hotel robe ever (silky-thick, yum, I want one!), ordered room service breakfast (of course), and did the walk of shame across the hotel lobby this morning, still in my party clothes. Although if you're married, is it really a walk of shame? Hmmm...I say not. (However we were totally aware that we looked unmarried at check-in last night, and walking out this morning, which made us chuckle all the more...)

Like the restaurant, the hotel has a few kinks to work out too, but minor things, little details. The service was polished and friendly. And like the restaurant, the promise is real and exciting - great fun for Minneapolis, giving us another luxury-hip, hotel-restaurant combo (a la The Graves 601/Cosmos and The Chambers Hotel/Kitchen). Definitely worth keeping in mind for those times when you're itching to get away, but can't really leave town. Sweet!

Even though in this photo it appears that I just happened to whip up a little roasted chicken over risotto for lunch (ha), it's in fact (tasty!) leftovers from last night's...

...lovely Date Night meal at Cave Vin. No frites this time (no!), instead I had a delicious salad, lightly dressed greens (I very much appreciate that they know not to soak their salads in dressing, if only every restaurant would take their cue), plated with toasted hazelnuts and roasted grapes and topped with a bit of melty goat cheese. I've always liked - but not loved - goat cheese; but lately, I can't get enough of the stuff. That crisp-white, chalky, goaty-clean taste, especially warmed, especially against dark greens, is just heavenly to me. Crave-worthy. I crave goat cheese. What next? Good Lord.

Anyhow, for an entree, I sank my claws into chicken again, which sounds dullsville, but I couldn't help myself - the way they stuff herbs under the skin and roast it to crispy perfection just has me, it's ridiculously, simply good.

And oh, half-priced bottles of (seriously nice) wines on Mondays and Tuesdays do not suck either...

Dinner and a movie, pretty hard to beat. Even (or especially?) on a bitterly cold, slippery-snowy evening. John and I hit a late-afternoon showing of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the intense true story of French Elle publisher Jean-Dominic Beauby. Beauby, at the age of 42, suffered a sudden, massive "cerebral event" which left him with "locked-in syndrome" - a fully functional intellect trapped inside an immobile body. He could hear, and blink his left eye...but that's it. Dedicated therapists worked out an eye-blinking code so that he could communicate, and he eventually used it to dictate the memoir that the movie is based on. The story is far too grim and frightening to be uplifting, but it's powerful, and redemptive, and I walked out feeling a little dazed. (John loved it.)

As often happens to me, the setting of the film stirred cravings for the featured culture and food, in this case French. (Italian movie, Italian food. Asian movie, Asian food. Heck, a strain of a Mexican tune conjures a hankering for margaritas and guacamole. I'm hopeless.) So off we went to our favorite little bistro, Cave Vin, for Gallic treats. To start, half-price bottles of wine on Monday nights, a particularly sweet bonus given their lovely wine list. Smokin-hot frites with crushed garlic (but of course). Plump, tender mussels bathed in a perfect lemony-garlicky broth (insert copious amounts of crusty baguette, soak briefly, sigh deeply). A crispy-roasted chicken breast, with fresh herbs stuffed under the skin, served alongside simple sauteed vegetables. A few decadent bites of a warm chocolate pot-de-creme. And with sips of strong coffee to finish, and chats with the tables on either side of us (we happened to know both parties, random), we rolled on out into the snowy cold, (temporarily) blissfully unaware of its nasty bite given the protective presence of warm food and drink. Oooh, bon, bon, bon. Date Night!

And tonight, more French fabulousness, this time with Stu The Wine Genius and his lovely wife Debbie. Stu belongs to the Twin Cities' chapter of a Bordeaux wine-enthusiasts group (wine frat!) called the Commanderie de Bordeaux. Commanderie members host dinners and wine tastings, called parlements, and occasionally invite guests to attend. Tonight's parlement will feature the wines of Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte. Tonight's guest list will include - moi! John was invited too, but he wussed out because he gets too overwhelmed by multi-course, multi-taste dinners. I surprisingly (har) dig them wildly and can't wait. Yay! I'll check in with the details tomorrow.

Until then, stay warm, my friends!

Again, I rave about Lucia's. I know, I know, but I can't help it, I love the place. Last night John and I ducked in for another perfect Date Night dinner - cozy, simple, relaxing, delicious. I had a roasted chicken breast, boned but with crispy skin, served alongside mushroom bread pudding in a pool of truffle demi-glace. Shut. Up. As you might already know, I am over-the-moon for savory stuffing/bread pudding/panzanella/panade-type dishes, and for truffle-anything, and I occasionally (!) like me a crispy roasted chicken as well, so I was all over this dish. I even smacked John's fork away with my own - clack! - when he went in for a bite of the bread pudding. He doesn't particularly enjoy stuffings or mushrooms, what the heck was he doing? After I chased such silliness away, I fell into a lovely, truffly trance, mmm... I'd say I ate every bite, but I couldn't pull it off. I gave half the chicken breast to John, and had to leave behind a few carrots and brussels (Lucia's always does the yummiest veggies), but I gave it a good go! And I was stuffed. But in that good way - warm and buzzy and sleepy. I slept like a rock. Man I love that place.

Good thing I got such good sleep - busy weekend! 'Tis the season! Tonight, Baseball Moms, tomorrow night, the neighborhood Frat Party, uh, I mean Afterglow Party, where all the grownups get dressed up and party down and have a grand old time. John would rather die than attend such a fete, so he'll be home with Nathan (boys' night!) while I happily head out on my own. Fa la la la la, la La La Lucia's!

Here, there, and everywhere, blowing around with the wild November winds! Of note:

A Persian-style Saturday lunch with Mary Pappas and Kathie Radcliffe, at Shiraz Fire Roasted Cuisine. Always fabulous to giggle and gossip with Mary and Kathie, especially while sipping hot tea from tall cups and eating fluffy saffron rice with beef/lamb skewers and fragrant stews. No belly dancer (she only shakes it on Friday and Saturday nights), but a belly full o' tasties, with a side of belly-shakin' laughs (and I'll quit with that now, belly-up).

A wild-n-crazy trip to JoAnn Fabrics, of all places, to buy supplies for Nathan's FACS class. Who knew that a fabric store could be so, so, so, PACKED?! (Uh, obviously not me.) Look out for aggressive ladies who sew, sheesh! I had to come home and make spaghetti to recover...

Date Night dinner with John at 112 Eatery. Good, but not great, which is noteworthy given that it's, you know, 112 Eatery. Nothing horrible, just not...fabulous. Except for the boned, pressed chicken, served with lots of fresh lemon and parsley. That is one delicious dish, and it was its usual crispy, juicy, flavorful self.

Tuesday Morning Coffee with Suz and...Cooper! The Maven couldn't make it, but The Coopster could (shown here in various snuggle-bunnies with his cat, Co, aka the snuggliest cat EVAR; I've been itching for a reason to post these insanely cute pics), and he acquired a new word in the process: "Susie!" Yay for Susie!

And speaking of Susie...a hootin' Holiday Open House, hosted by my neighbor (and co-Badger) Lindsay Polyak and her sister-in-law Kristi Hykes! At Kristi's gorgeous home, at which Silpada Susie was a vendor, along with a few other lovely ladies and their wares, including my neighbor Jen Baxter. Lindsay baked piles of decadent goodies (she's an amazing baker), including her dipped ginger snaps, as well as lemon bars and several versions of chocolate-caramel-deadly-little-mothers. Goooood stuff.

Nathan's first basketball game, which his team won in over-time, very exciting! We celebrated by doing... nothing, it was a school night and everyone was wiped (and I was at above-said party). Nathan did homework, and I think had cereal for dinner, poor soul. (Although it was his choice - John offered his specialty, nuked hot dogs, but Nathan took a pass...) We'll get back on track tonight with a traditional pot roast I actually made yesterday (cooking ahead a bit). I think I'll serve Nathan his as a sandwich, he's had a hankering for a roast beef sandwich lately.

Or not. We'll see where the wind blows us...

Anniversaries. I don't go overboard for the required celebrations (other than my 40th birthday, ha). Oh, John and I saw an amazing movie (Into the Wild), followed by a lovely dinner tonight, in the bar at La Belle Vie (always a winner) to celebrate our 5th annivesary. But the forced part of it, that this should be an amaaaazing night, better than all others, meh. Rather unromantic, I know. But I'm not that uber-romantic girl. I don't love surprises. Plus, romance requires a certain amount of sentimentality, don't you think? And I'm too practical to be terribly sentimental. The day-to-day is where the pedal meets the metal! Our weekly Date Nights are really fun to me, because they're not forced, we just go with what sounds good. Spontaneity that I have a say in, much more my (sometimes cranky, often controlling) style, ha.

So...sorry to have been absent for more than a week! Sheesh! Not cooking terribly interesting things - the Good Calories Bad Calories book has me thinking - a lot - about grains and sugar. Hmmm...especially in light of diabetes in my family, and other health issues, just a lot to think about. A bit of an awakening, perhaps. Doesn't change things terribly much, but while I'm all contemplative and such, I tend to withdraw. Hmmm...

Hope all is well with you!

My office is clean. I'm roasting a chicken (again). John and I had a gorgeous Date Day brunch at La La Lucia's. Life is goooood, my friends, at least right now, ha.

That brunch, that scrumptious brunchious (or something), just unbeatable. Today we sipped mimosas and nibbled on popovers, frittata (their version is more like crustless quiche than the traditional omelet and that's just fine, it's lovely), crispy oven roasted potatoes dipped in sour cream, and lots of coffee. I hardly knew what to bite or sip, all good, all good.

Same goes for last night, by the way, dinner with Andrew & Rishia Zimmern at Harry's Food & Cocktails, in the now-hoppin' riverfront 'hood in the shadow of the new Guthrie. No Chef Steven Brown in the house (darn, he's amazing) but plenty of tasties nonetheless. Rich, rich gastropub (AZ's term) fare, I kinda sorta rolled out of there. We shared a whole mess o'things... A lovely chicken liver amuse bouche. Then bites of salt-n-pepper shrimps, beef short ribs, crispy pork belly with lentils, mussels & frites, burger, walleye sandwich (with avocado & radishes, nice), green goddess salad, BLT, banana cream pie. Uh, yeah, no wonder I was stuffed, uff. Fun though! Some hits, some misses - I'd really like to go back when Steven Brown is in the kitchen. Skip the BLT, but try the plump mussels, fat burger, crispy walleye sandwich, or creamy pie.

And tonight, as I said, back to roasted chicken. It was just so damn good, we had to give it another go. In fact, I'm roasting two this go-round, since Nathan is here for din, and hopefully we'll have some leftovers for sandwich fixin's tomorrow. Nothing like a chicken sandwich washed down with a cold beer on a Sunday afternoon, huh? Sweet. Salty. Sweeet.

Glorious day, eh? Wow, spectacular. What a difference a break in the humidity makes - the air positively sparkles in this late-summer sun. Saucy Suz and her kids, Vivian and Sullivan, came over for a lovely swim today, and we just soaked it all in, knowing - and feeling, for the first time - that September is right around the corner. Sniff.

Tonight, John and I had big plans to go out for Date Night, but after I picked up my LaFinca veggie share, and saw all the lovely possibilities (carrots, new potatoes, baby cabbage, arugula, tomatoes, green beans), I called John and said, Dude, let's eat here! Nothing can beat a fresh vege-ful dinner on our own deck on a night as spectacular as this! So John's happily picking up a couple of killer NY Strips at Byerly's on his way home, and I'm roasting those new potatoes with fresh rosemary, garlic, coarse salt, and oil (400 degrees, for about 45 minutes, turn several times) until they're crispy little bombs, perfect for a dippy-poo in cool, creamy sour cream. Yeah, baby! Chopped arugula salad with lots of shaved Parm and cracked pepper, alongside tomato slices, should finish us off nicely. I'd better get to it, tee hee!

Well, I got to it, and it rawked! Especially with the Cain Five 2003 we sipped with all the tasties, ooooh, Napa Nice. And XM Satellite Radio tuned to the 70s, ha, I love it. We could hardly make a dent in the Cain Five, however, with its high alcohol content, ack. Too early to be drinking it, but we went ahead anyhow (decanted it a couple of times) with at least a bit of it, and it was delicious.

Tomorrow, I gotta come up with some way to use the 10 + cukes I now have in my fridge. Sauteed? Raita? Greek salad? All of the above? Ha. Stay tuned...

After Saturday's Date Day and Monday's Date Night, we've had a couple of days of very simple, low-key eating (and tough, tough walks and bike rides in this heat, makes me feel like I've hit a brick wall, ugh). Moderation, you know, ha - woo hoo! Mostly salads, although tonight I made a simple, garlicky, brothy shrimp sauce to toss with pasta. I sauteed spinach and ripe tomato as an optional add-in (we had both kids tonight, neither of whom would be thrilled to find wilted spinach in their pasta, ha) for John, Stacey, and me. Turned out light and so pretty, with pink shrimps, dark green spinach and fresh parsley, and red tomato, yum.

Tomorrow night, we're back on for a bit of part-ay-ing. John's partners Stu The Wine Genius, Bill, and Joe, with their wives Debbie, Karla, and Genie (respectively), are coming for a casual dinner. Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Tomatoes and Onion will be the main course, alongside creamy polenta and a medley of grilled vegetables. A nice tart for dessert, I think (can't get enough of summer fruit desserts, rarrr...) Looking forward to it!

Date Night! At night, this time, a rather last minute affair, and quite nice at that. We went for al fresco casual, in Dinkytown, at Kafe 421, so I kept the bling-age to a minimum, just this funky ring I got for a song a couple of weeks ago (sorry, Maven, I can't do the "oh!" naughty face even half as well as you do, you own it, baby, you own it...). We scored a lovely sidewalk table for scoping the university scene. Purple hair, beards, combat boots, and pierced faces are still the college-usual, I'm glad to see. Made me feel not-quite-old (even though I soooo am, I know). Kafe 421's Monday-night special - half-price bottles of wine - does not suck, and the food is terrific to boot. We opted for a pasta tossed with chicken and a verde (green herb) sauce, as well as a crispy tilapia sandwich with radishes, arugula, and a killer homemade tartar sauce.

Afterward, doing our usual post-din drive, we accidentally stumbled upon several different riverside spots with limited views - and lots of gawkers trying for pics - of the I-35W bridge collapse. Chilling and devastatingly sad, to say the least. It hardly seems like it happened here, in Minneapolis, in a place we've all been a hundred times before. Sigh.

Date Night - I mean Day! Due to my stepdaughter feeling under the weather, John and I ended up with some unexpected free time today, so we quickly reconfigured our plans and headed straight for La La Lucia's for a decadently late and romantic brunch, sipping mimosas while watching the rain fall outside. Sigh. When we finished (I could have sat there all day), we took our pleasantly plump tummies (full of a bevy of shared tasties, including a perfectly fluffy ham omelet, giant popovers, cool-n-crunchy gazpacho, smokin' hot crispy potatoes dipped in sour cream, and "Baby Buddhas," aka mini-cinnamon streusel coffee cakes) over to the Lagoon Theater to continue the romance...by seeing the movie Once. Spare and bittersweet, it's a lovely (Irish) film, the music is gorgeous (and the real star of the film), in effect the perfect rainy-Saturday Date Day movie. Sigh again. Hope you had a nice Saturday too...

Date night, woo hoo! For me, date night's appeal is threefold. Time with my Johnny, of course. A chance to sample the tops in Minneapolis restaurant offerings. Aaaaaand a reason to spiff up a bit, straighten the ol' hair (or not), put on lots of mascara, don the bling, dig a little further in my closet for dresses and blouses, spritz on one of my beloved fragrances (right now it's Azuree Soleil, a limited-edition Tom Ford for Estee Lauder fragrance, aka Summer in a Bottle, yummy, yummy), and slip into mile-high heels. Sheesh, with that description, John and the restaurants are losing out a bit, sorry guys. What can I say? I'm a grrrl, I love the girly-girl accoutrements, love 'em all. Like these walk-only-from-valet-to-table sparkly purple beauties. Not one bit comfy (in fact, ouch), but fabulously par-tay, they're tonight's stilts of choice. Stay tuned for details on the Mexican tasties at Masa...

Masa, Masa, mui bueno indeed, man I am as stuffed as the fat little chicken enchilada topped with crema and pickled jalapenos I just downed, ole, baby. Whew. We opted for al fresco tasties and sangria (sparkling sangria, no less, aka Hot-Humid-Day-Elixir), which meant bye-bye straightened hair, sigh, but it was worth it for the people-watching on Nicollet Mall. I soothed myself with carnitas (good Lord, whoever invented pork slow-fried in its own fat was a lovely, twisted soul) and sopas (more tender chicken, this time napped in a creamy, spicy sauce, topped with avocado, and piled into a two-bite-sized, sizzling hot fried masa boat). After a few bites of tres leches cake (one of my all-time fav desserts) and feathery-crisp churros dipped in gooey melted chocolate, I was DONE. I am done. Soooo done. Yeah. It is bedtime for this chica, hope y'all sleep as well as I'm about to...

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...

Moderation? Mwahahaha...

The day started nicely - I dropped Nathan at golf, then went for a lovely walk in the North Tyrol Hills neighborhood of Golden Valley (I walk all sorts of cool Minneapolis-area neighborhoods, especially the hilly ones; much more interesting to me than walking around the lakes and more potential for torching cals). Then off to Byerly's for a few tasties in preparation for a Golf-Moms-and-Kids lunch and swim here at the hacienda, with Kris and her boys Nick and Andy, Suzanne and her boys John and Tommy, Susie and her kids Sam and Jane, and of course Nathan. Another great day for a swim - hot and sunny, but not humid at all, so we moms had a lovely chat while the kids swam and played. We had a very simple lunch - salad and hot dogs and chips and fruit, all anyone wants on a summer afternoon. After everyone said their good-byes, Nathan and I had a nice game of volleyball in the pool, and I thought I was heading into a light dinner and early bedtime. But no...

...I "let" John talk me into (twist my arm, yeah, ha) heading out for tapas and a glass of wine at Solera. So I put on some makeup, and a cute top, and heels, and a little bling, and off we went, back downtown (for him), and enjoyed a fabulously not-moderate dinner. Ham & manchego on tomato bread...shrimp croquetas...potatoes in spicy tomato sauce...braised green beans...chocolate cake... It was all absolutely delicious, particularly the potatoes and green beans, eaten together, rarrr... Quite filling, uff. We worked it off with a lovely drive home around Cedar Lake - so idyllic, with the windows rolled down, man it smells like summer tonight and I will miss that smell in just a few short months. Damn, but it goes too fast.

So now, yawn, it's definitely bedtime. Unless I motivate for a dusky walk, hmmm, that might make me feel better about all those tasties. We'll see how loudly that bed calls my name as I walk by to get my walking shoes...

Dinner in the bar at La Belle Vie? Va va voooooom, my friends, sensual delights galore. Whew, I'm still recovering. We sat right at the elegant, candle-lit bar, watching the bartender do her thing. Beautiful drinks, one after the other, with fresh fruit purees, freshly squeezed juices, and clever combinations. I, who rarely order an actual "drink," fell for a Cuban - muddled mint, sugar, and rum a la a mojito, but with a splash of bitters and topped off with champagne instead of club soda. Tobacco-hued, complex, and refreshing - gorgeous to look at and sip. Off to a very good start.

And oh yes, we did order food! Lots of food. They graciously let us open with the soft-shell crab offered on the tasting menu (in the bar you can order off the restaurant's tasting and a la carte menus, as well as the bar menu), perfectly crispy-fried and resting in a spicy-cool pool of curried yogurt, garnished with shaved fennel. Giggling like schoolgirls, tee hee, we next devoured a salad and goat cheese tart - yes, could be the overplayed version at every restaurant these days, but no, 'cuz this is La Belle Vie. Perfect greens, perfectly dressed, with creamy-whipped goat cheese between layers of crisp pastry. And then, a bowl of three handmade (but of course!) pea tortellis in a truffle broth. Bright green and creamy, I damn-near licked the truffly bowl, that broth was so fragrant and salty and delicious. And there's more! (Each of these courses is small, thankfully, plus we shared each...). Skewered crackling jumbo shrimps, smokin' hot and served atop a dollop of zingy mustard-caper-mayo. And last, the creme de la creme, my friends....lamb burgers. Appetizer-sized, on fresh, soft, homemade buns, toasted crispy in butter. Juicy, lamby, tender, decadent. Ohhh so decadent. Served alongside a pile of spicy olives, you can achieve taste-sensation-perfection by savoring one of those olives between each bite of lamb burger. Rich. Spicy. Rich. Spicy. I can't stop thinking about those damn burgers, I could even eat one right now, at 9:15 in the morning. Rarrrr...

And so. Date Night was a big, BIG success, we basically had a blast. Back to moderate (ahem) reality for the weekend, and that's OK. A little dose of fantastic can take me a looong way - I'll ride that La Belle Vie wave for at least, like, two weeks. Ha.

Date Night! John and I are goin' out, just the two of us, and it's about time! OK, OK, yes we've snuck in a couple of fabulously romantic La La Lucia's lunches - but dinner, alone, not in a long while. So tonight's the night, baby, time to pin up my hair (this rain, oy, I have no choice but to pin it up) and throw on heels, a little bling, a smudge of black eyeliner, lots of gloss, and head out on the town (sort of, ha). Couple of options, but the most likely to win is the bar at La Belle Vie. Elegant, little funky, downtown, and the food is to die for. Yeah, sounds like a plan. For a full report, stay tuned...