A Lovely Valentine's Day
Yesterday was a really good day. I spent the morning being productive, then Alice and I went to our class at Isis Maternity, where we made Valentines by sticking her hand in paint and then onto a red heart--we got to make two, one for each grandmother!
In the afternoon Alice took a three-hour nap and then ate an enormous supper. J. and I got dressed up, dropped Alice off with my folks for the evening, and went to Rendezvous. It's one of J's very favorite restaurants and we hadn't been there in quite a while. It was a surprise to him and I inadvertently threw him off the scent by taking a clever back way that got us to Central without having to go through either Inman or Union Squares. We even got an easy, convenient and free parking space!
We started with cocktails--the tequila one for me and the pomegranate whiskey sour for J--and shared a plate of charcuterie: slices of heavenly smoked pork shoulder, some chicken liver pate and a terrine of pork confit with garnishes of stone-ground mustard, cornichons, olives, caper berries and a julienne of apple soaked in a mignonette that made a wonderful, sharp contrast with the rich meats. Next I had the chowder of smoked monkfish, oysters and leeks, which was lovely, but as with all chowders, needed more pepper. Jason had a salad of Boston lettuce with apples, dried cranberries, spiced pecans and cheddar with a vinaigrette. His main was a couple of perfectly roasted slices of lamb with marvelously seared edges. Sadly, the flageolets accompanying it were undercooked--beans should not be crisp. I had been toying with ordering the steak, but our server sold me on the veal and pork meatballs served with kale and piave cheese over toasted oricchette pasta, with an intense veal reduction. With the meal we had a Los 800 Priorat that paired beautifully with the rich meats, although it was entirely, but unsurprisingly, wrong with the chowder. For dessert we split the crostada of caramelized pears and golden raisins with clove ice cream, which was incredibly flavorful and a great combination of textures. We also had their Earl Grey tea, which I need to remember on future visits is too flowery for my taste.
We had a particularly wonderful conversation over dinner. Our relationship is in a notably good, mellow period of late and we were celebrating that. Discussing our current show led to memories of wonderful productions we've seen and from there to memories of our travels and to how lovely it is that while we didn't necessarily start out with the same interests, other than theatre, we've learned to share some and developed others together. It's a good life.
As we were finishing our meal, hammercock and trowa_barton came in and we got to wish each other Happy V-Day and chat a bit, which was nice.
Full and happy, we came back and picked up Alice, who'd conned Mom into feeding her a whole tuna sandwich and had a lovely time. She ate her yogurt and went right to sleep when we got home, so then J. and I could spend a while soaking in the hot tub, which we use shockingly infrequently, but love every time. We got to bed before 1am, for a change, and Alice slept through the night--she's been doing less-well at that this week, so we are being especially grateful for it.
In the afternoon Alice took a three-hour nap and then ate an enormous supper. J. and I got dressed up, dropped Alice off with my folks for the evening, and went to Rendezvous. It's one of J's very favorite restaurants and we hadn't been there in quite a while. It was a surprise to him and I inadvertently threw him off the scent by taking a clever back way that got us to Central without having to go through either Inman or Union Squares. We even got an easy, convenient and free parking space!
We started with cocktails--the tequila one for me and the pomegranate whiskey sour for J--and shared a plate of charcuterie: slices of heavenly smoked pork shoulder, some chicken liver pate and a terrine of pork confit with garnishes of stone-ground mustard, cornichons, olives, caper berries and a julienne of apple soaked in a mignonette that made a wonderful, sharp contrast with the rich meats. Next I had the chowder of smoked monkfish, oysters and leeks, which was lovely, but as with all chowders, needed more pepper. Jason had a salad of Boston lettuce with apples, dried cranberries, spiced pecans and cheddar with a vinaigrette. His main was a couple of perfectly roasted slices of lamb with marvelously seared edges. Sadly, the flageolets accompanying it were undercooked--beans should not be crisp. I had been toying with ordering the steak, but our server sold me on the veal and pork meatballs served with kale and piave cheese over toasted oricchette pasta, with an intense veal reduction. With the meal we had a Los 800 Priorat that paired beautifully with the rich meats, although it was entirely, but unsurprisingly, wrong with the chowder. For dessert we split the crostada of caramelized pears and golden raisins with clove ice cream, which was incredibly flavorful and a great combination of textures. We also had their Earl Grey tea, which I need to remember on future visits is too flowery for my taste.
We had a particularly wonderful conversation over dinner. Our relationship is in a notably good, mellow period of late and we were celebrating that. Discussing our current show led to memories of wonderful productions we've seen and from there to memories of our travels and to how lovely it is that while we didn't necessarily start out with the same interests, other than theatre, we've learned to share some and developed others together. It's a good life.
As we were finishing our meal, hammercock and trowa_barton came in and we got to wish each other Happy V-Day and chat a bit, which was nice.
Full and happy, we came back and picked up Alice, who'd conned Mom into feeding her a whole tuna sandwich and had a lovely time. She ate her yogurt and went right to sleep when we got home, so then J. and I could spend a while soaking in the hot tub, which we use shockingly infrequently, but love every time. We got to bed before 1am, for a change, and Alice slept through the night--she's been doing less-well at that this week, so we are being especially grateful for it.