Today
Quite a full day. Much of it was taken up with doing a final proof, and a frustrating one at that, but two major events were spliced into it.
This morning, I had my first eye exam in five and a half years. Yes, I know, but I've not had any vision coverage since My All Time Favorite Job went away, and every time I had enough money saved up, something else came up requiring that chunk of change. Birthday money from my mother finally made it possible today.
Good: My eyes are very healthy--no sign of glaucoma or other disease, no sign of allergies. I didn't think there would be, but it's good to have it confirmed. Also, the contact lens technician introduced me to a new type of lens made of silicone, which is noticably more comfortable than the old type I was wearing; they're more expensive than the daily-wear disposables, but they're intended for two to four weeks of wear, so it works out in the end.
Not as good but expected: My myopia has gotten a little worse. I was intending to buy new glasses anyway, so that's not a big deal, and I can finally get some cute new frames. My astigmatism has also worsened.
Even less good and not entirely expected: I'm developing presbyopia, which is quite common as people get older. I've been noticing this the past few months, as I've felt compelled to up the font size on many web sites and very small hard-copy text has gotten to be a challenge. What this means in corrective terms, however, is that I am going to need *two* pairs of glasses: one for "regular" wear, where distance vision is important, and one for work and reading, to deal with the presbyopia. The doctor warned me very sternly that the latter pair needs to be worn from the beginning of the day, "not just once your eyes start to hurt." I definitely want to do this, as the sense of relief I got during the exam when reading small text with the proper lenses was huge; for someone who reads for a living, strain-free vision is very important. This wasn't precisely in the budget, however.
Then there's the astigmatism. Problem is that it's only in the left eye, but that happens to be my dominant eye, so it has an inordinate influence on my vision as a whole. And standard soft lenses don't correct for astigmatism, but we don't want to *over*correct and mess up my right eye. This means I'm going to need a special lens for my left eye to deal with the astigmatism, which is something else that wasn't in the budget. (I'm also going to need reading glasses to go over my contacts, for the presbyopia, but that should be addressable with some basic drugstore reading glasses.) These costs aren't unmanageable, but I would certainly prefer it if I didn't have to deal with all of them.
Kevin took me to my appointment and waited there for me, as I'd expected I was going to have my pupils dilated. They didn't do that today as it turned out; the doctor would like me to do it if possible, but it's extra money and my eyes seem to be healthy enough overall that it's not pressing, so I might wait a bit until money is better. In any case, it was incredibly sweet of Kevin to do that for me, and just another example of the myriad things that make him so wonderful to me.
Kevin had promised me a nice dinner out after Xmas, but as some might recall, I got way too sick on Boxing Day for this to be doable, and by the time I felt better our schedules had caught up with us. He'd originally planned for Canlis or Cafe Flora, but I suggested we try someplace we hadn't been before, and came up with Crush, which I'd seen several rapturous reviews of. Tonight was our night to go.
Crush is an experience. It's not just about the food. The interior is white--pale creamy walls and banquettes, white formica tables, white molded chairs. Touches of black and green offset the paleness. The dishes are all white and often in unusual shapes; the bread plates, for instance, are rectangular waves with little depressions to hold the butter (a tasty salty herb butter, BTW). The servers wear all black to offset the white. As Seattle restaurants go, it's pretty fancy, but not so fancy that it feels forced (since most Seattleites seem to be utterly at a loss when required to visit truly fancy restaurants).
Kevin started with the grilled prawns in saffron hollandaise, while I had the beet and watercress salad. Kevin just had a look of bliss from the first bite of his, so I'm guessing it was good. My salad was intricately assembled: thin slices of red beet formed the base, then a layer of watercress, topped with a neat line of halved baby golden beets and pink grapefruit segments, all dressed with dried currants and a light citrusy vinaigrette. The thinness of the red beets and the stems on the cress made it a bit unwieldy to eat, but I thought the flavors perfectly complemented each other (except for the currants, which I found mostly unnecessary). The peppery tone of the greens offset the earthiness of the beets, while the juicy tang of the grapefruit was a perfect counter note to both. The slice of warm ciabatta with melted gorgonzola was tasty and added a little heft to the dish, but wasn't anything spectacular.
Kevin's main dish was seared scallops with onion risotto; again, bliss prevailed, and he made mention of the scallops being quite tender. My main dish was roasted squash and mascarpone ravioli, served in brown butter and sage sauce with diced carrots and tiny golden grapes, topped with shaved truffle. This was mild and sweet and a nice blend of flavors, though the sage had almost no presence, and the tiny carrots and grapes were difficult to get into my mouth with just a fork. (If I had to make one complaint about this place, it's that they make their dishes needlessly difficult to eat.)
Kevin chose a sauvignon blanc for both of us. It was bright without being overly sweet, crisp but not overtly acidic, and had a bit of a tang on the finish. With my salad, it beautifully counterbalanced the earthy-spicy notes of my salad, and smoothed out the sweetness of the ravioli dish, while in Kevin's case it provided a contrast to the saltiness of the shellfish and the creaminess of the sauces and risotto.
I chose to have a cheese course between dinner and dessert, and picked an aged Belgian chevre. Because it was aged, it was firm, and while it definitely had the tangy, ripe notes of a goat cheese, the texture and the underlying flavors were almost like a medium cheddar. It was excellent. It was served with "fig bread," which was slices of a dense, dry fig loaf, the texture somewhere between a thick jam and dried fruit; I ultimately thought that too much of it overwhelmed the cheese, but a little bit of it complemented the cheese in a nice way.
For dessert, we split the banana "brulee" tart and the house-made-chocolates tasting. The tart was the only part of the meal I wasn't wild about, which is probably because I'm just not much of a brulee fan. The crust was crisp and light and the dolce de leche excellent, but the custard just seemed like a bland banana pudding and kind of brought the rest of the dish down. (Kevin disagreed.)
The chocolate, however...ah. We received six chocolates, made in-house, in different flavors all encased in excellent dark chocolate, and split them between us. The "PB&J" (almond butter and rasperry) was the least impressive; the individual flavors were pretty good, but it didn't come together. The "Almond Joy" (toasted coconut with almond butter) was better than most coconut chocolates I've had, but not something I'd seek out. The Earl Grey (just what it sounds like) wasn't as good as I'd hoped; the tea seemed to stand apart from the chocolate rather than blending with it, but it was definitely not at all bad. We had a difference of opinion about the rosemary fleur de sel (rosemary, sea salt, and caramel); Kevin found it too salty and the herbal note odd, while I adored it though I thought the filling might work better as a topping for vanilla ice cream or a simple butter pastry. The Liquor 43 (made with a vanilla-infused Spanish liqueur) was a big hit with both of us, and the hazelnut toffee (so gooey we got it all over our fingers) was the perfect end to the meal. Kevin also had a glass of tawny port, which I sampled; it surprised me with both its richly sweet, almost chewy first notes and a peppery finish. Taken with the chocolate, it was really almost too much richness and flavor for me.
The final bit of food came with the bill, in the form of two tiny lavender madelines. Much better than mints--not too sweet, light, and the herbal notes of the lavender made a cleansing end to the meal.
In sum, we had a lovely meal, even with the things that I didn't find perfect. The thing I liked best about the restaurant is that it manages to be haute cuisine without being either pretentious or making me feel like they were trying to hold my hand through all this fancy food; the ingredients were, for the most part, basic and understandable, but assembled in ways that made the dishes interesting and fresh. It's too pricey for us to go to regularly, but I think it will make a delightful indulgence for us every now and again.
I still want to write about our last new dining experience, on the dinner train, along with various other things, but I might not get to that for awhile. It's been a busy week with a lot of twists and turns, and I'm kind of surprised at how much I've got going on right now.
Info about the clothing sale has been provided to (I hope) all who need it. I'll post a reminder on Saturday.
This morning, I had my first eye exam in five and a half years. Yes, I know, but I've not had any vision coverage since My All Time Favorite Job went away, and every time I had enough money saved up, something else came up requiring that chunk of change. Birthday money from my mother finally made it possible today.
Good: My eyes are very healthy--no sign of glaucoma or other disease, no sign of allergies. I didn't think there would be, but it's good to have it confirmed. Also, the contact lens technician introduced me to a new type of lens made of silicone, which is noticably more comfortable than the old type I was wearing; they're more expensive than the daily-wear disposables, but they're intended for two to four weeks of wear, so it works out in the end.
Not as good but expected: My myopia has gotten a little worse. I was intending to buy new glasses anyway, so that's not a big deal, and I can finally get some cute new frames. My astigmatism has also worsened.
Even less good and not entirely expected: I'm developing presbyopia, which is quite common as people get older. I've been noticing this the past few months, as I've felt compelled to up the font size on many web sites and very small hard-copy text has gotten to be a challenge. What this means in corrective terms, however, is that I am going to need *two* pairs of glasses: one for "regular" wear, where distance vision is important, and one for work and reading, to deal with the presbyopia. The doctor warned me very sternly that the latter pair needs to be worn from the beginning of the day, "not just once your eyes start to hurt." I definitely want to do this, as the sense of relief I got during the exam when reading small text with the proper lenses was huge; for someone who reads for a living, strain-free vision is very important. This wasn't precisely in the budget, however.
Then there's the astigmatism. Problem is that it's only in the left eye, but that happens to be my dominant eye, so it has an inordinate influence on my vision as a whole. And standard soft lenses don't correct for astigmatism, but we don't want to *over*correct and mess up my right eye. This means I'm going to need a special lens for my left eye to deal with the astigmatism, which is something else that wasn't in the budget. (I'm also going to need reading glasses to go over my contacts, for the presbyopia, but that should be addressable with some basic drugstore reading glasses.) These costs aren't unmanageable, but I would certainly prefer it if I didn't have to deal with all of them.
Kevin took me to my appointment and waited there for me, as I'd expected I was going to have my pupils dilated. They didn't do that today as it turned out; the doctor would like me to do it if possible, but it's extra money and my eyes seem to be healthy enough overall that it's not pressing, so I might wait a bit until money is better. In any case, it was incredibly sweet of Kevin to do that for me, and just another example of the myriad things that make him so wonderful to me.
Kevin had promised me a nice dinner out after Xmas, but as some might recall, I got way too sick on Boxing Day for this to be doable, and by the time I felt better our schedules had caught up with us. He'd originally planned for Canlis or Cafe Flora, but I suggested we try someplace we hadn't been before, and came up with Crush, which I'd seen several rapturous reviews of. Tonight was our night to go.
Crush is an experience. It's not just about the food. The interior is white--pale creamy walls and banquettes, white formica tables, white molded chairs. Touches of black and green offset the paleness. The dishes are all white and often in unusual shapes; the bread plates, for instance, are rectangular waves with little depressions to hold the butter (a tasty salty herb butter, BTW). The servers wear all black to offset the white. As Seattle restaurants go, it's pretty fancy, but not so fancy that it feels forced (since most Seattleites seem to be utterly at a loss when required to visit truly fancy restaurants).
Kevin started with the grilled prawns in saffron hollandaise, while I had the beet and watercress salad. Kevin just had a look of bliss from the first bite of his, so I'm guessing it was good. My salad was intricately assembled: thin slices of red beet formed the base, then a layer of watercress, topped with a neat line of halved baby golden beets and pink grapefruit segments, all dressed with dried currants and a light citrusy vinaigrette. The thinness of the red beets and the stems on the cress made it a bit unwieldy to eat, but I thought the flavors perfectly complemented each other (except for the currants, which I found mostly unnecessary). The peppery tone of the greens offset the earthiness of the beets, while the juicy tang of the grapefruit was a perfect counter note to both. The slice of warm ciabatta with melted gorgonzola was tasty and added a little heft to the dish, but wasn't anything spectacular.
Kevin's main dish was seared scallops with onion risotto; again, bliss prevailed, and he made mention of the scallops being quite tender. My main dish was roasted squash and mascarpone ravioli, served in brown butter and sage sauce with diced carrots and tiny golden grapes, topped with shaved truffle. This was mild and sweet and a nice blend of flavors, though the sage had almost no presence, and the tiny carrots and grapes were difficult to get into my mouth with just a fork. (If I had to make one complaint about this place, it's that they make their dishes needlessly difficult to eat.)
Kevin chose a sauvignon blanc for both of us. It was bright without being overly sweet, crisp but not overtly acidic, and had a bit of a tang on the finish. With my salad, it beautifully counterbalanced the earthy-spicy notes of my salad, and smoothed out the sweetness of the ravioli dish, while in Kevin's case it provided a contrast to the saltiness of the shellfish and the creaminess of the sauces and risotto.
I chose to have a cheese course between dinner and dessert, and picked an aged Belgian chevre. Because it was aged, it was firm, and while it definitely had the tangy, ripe notes of a goat cheese, the texture and the underlying flavors were almost like a medium cheddar. It was excellent. It was served with "fig bread," which was slices of a dense, dry fig loaf, the texture somewhere between a thick jam and dried fruit; I ultimately thought that too much of it overwhelmed the cheese, but a little bit of it complemented the cheese in a nice way.
For dessert, we split the banana "brulee" tart and the house-made-chocolates tasting. The tart was the only part of the meal I wasn't wild about, which is probably because I'm just not much of a brulee fan. The crust was crisp and light and the dolce de leche excellent, but the custard just seemed like a bland banana pudding and kind of brought the rest of the dish down. (Kevin disagreed.)
The chocolate, however...ah. We received six chocolates, made in-house, in different flavors all encased in excellent dark chocolate, and split them between us. The "PB&J" (almond butter and rasperry) was the least impressive; the individual flavors were pretty good, but it didn't come together. The "Almond Joy" (toasted coconut with almond butter) was better than most coconut chocolates I've had, but not something I'd seek out. The Earl Grey (just what it sounds like) wasn't as good as I'd hoped; the tea seemed to stand apart from the chocolate rather than blending with it, but it was definitely not at all bad. We had a difference of opinion about the rosemary fleur de sel (rosemary, sea salt, and caramel); Kevin found it too salty and the herbal note odd, while I adored it though I thought the filling might work better as a topping for vanilla ice cream or a simple butter pastry. The Liquor 43 (made with a vanilla-infused Spanish liqueur) was a big hit with both of us, and the hazelnut toffee (so gooey we got it all over our fingers) was the perfect end to the meal. Kevin also had a glass of tawny port, which I sampled; it surprised me with both its richly sweet, almost chewy first notes and a peppery finish. Taken with the chocolate, it was really almost too much richness and flavor for me.
The final bit of food came with the bill, in the form of two tiny lavender madelines. Much better than mints--not too sweet, light, and the herbal notes of the lavender made a cleansing end to the meal.
In sum, we had a lovely meal, even with the things that I didn't find perfect. The thing I liked best about the restaurant is that it manages to be haute cuisine without being either pretentious or making me feel like they were trying to hold my hand through all this fancy food; the ingredients were, for the most part, basic and understandable, but assembled in ways that made the dishes interesting and fresh. It's too pricey for us to go to regularly, but I think it will make a delightful indulgence for us every now and again.
I still want to write about our last new dining experience, on the dinner train, along with various other things, but I might not get to that for awhile. It's been a busy week with a lot of twists and turns, and I'm kind of surprised at how much I've got going on right now.
Info about the clothing sale has been provided to (I hope) all who need it. I'll post a reminder on Saturday.