Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
We're home... we're tired... I'll blog about our trip tomorrow... but... there is one thing you must know...
This is the best ice cream EVER...
This is the best ice cream EVER...
Friday, July 28, 2006
So... dinner at Gary Danko...
Overall, I thought it was a fantastic dining experience. The service was impeccable, although there was some sort of weird tension throughout the meal between the waiter and two of my friends that dined with us.
I had the five course dinner. I started with Glazed Oysters with Osetra Caviar, Zucchini Pearls and Lettuce Cream. It was a perfectly lovely start to the meal, but it didn't blow me away like I hoped to be with every course. I followed that with Seared Foie Gras with Carmelized Red Onions and Brandied Cherries. This was the point at which the meal began to blow my socks off. The one ingredient I was unsure about when I ordered this was the carmelized red onions, but they totally made the dish. It was utterly divine and the flavors all melded perfectly.
Next up was Seared Yellowfin Tuna with Blue Lake Beans, Piquillo Peppers and Pancetta. The tuna was sliced in small pieces stacked on top of the vegetables. Again, everything worked perfectly.
Next up was the dish that knocked it out of the park for me... Pan Roasted Bison with Fricasee of Summer Vegetables and Black Pepper Gnocchi. Tbis was just insanely amazingly fantasticly wonderful.
Instead of dessert, I had selections from the cheese cart and I'm a bit foggy about what cheeses I had... I know I had Roaring 40s, a cheddar, a goat cheese and something that I've totally forgotten. They were all good, but I think perhaps Marisol had a better cheese selection.
And lastly, I ended the meal with a glass of 1995 Chateau d'Yquem.
Definitely one of the most decadent dining experiences I've ever had...
Overall, I thought it was a fantastic dining experience. The service was impeccable, although there was some sort of weird tension throughout the meal between the waiter and two of my friends that dined with us.
I had the five course dinner. I started with Glazed Oysters with Osetra Caviar, Zucchini Pearls and Lettuce Cream. It was a perfectly lovely start to the meal, but it didn't blow me away like I hoped to be with every course. I followed that with Seared Foie Gras with Carmelized Red Onions and Brandied Cherries. This was the point at which the meal began to blow my socks off. The one ingredient I was unsure about when I ordered this was the carmelized red onions, but they totally made the dish. It was utterly divine and the flavors all melded perfectly.
Next up was Seared Yellowfin Tuna with Blue Lake Beans, Piquillo Peppers and Pancetta. The tuna was sliced in small pieces stacked on top of the vegetables. Again, everything worked perfectly.
Next up was the dish that knocked it out of the park for me... Pan Roasted Bison with Fricasee of Summer Vegetables and Black Pepper Gnocchi. Tbis was just insanely amazingly fantasticly wonderful.
Instead of dessert, I had selections from the cheese cart and I'm a bit foggy about what cheeses I had... I know I had Roaring 40s, a cheddar, a goat cheese and something that I've totally forgotten. They were all good, but I think perhaps Marisol had a better cheese selection.
And lastly, I ended the meal with a glass of 1995 Chateau d'Yquem.
Definitely one of the most decadent dining experiences I've ever had...
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Not a lot of time right now... but SF is great. Blogger was wonky last nite and this morning so I couldn't post about our fabulous dinner last night. But I will soon.
The pictures below are of our day spent roaming the city with Richard & Jonno and our new friends Eric & Brian. Because, I know enquiring minds will want to know... the little hottie with his belly exposed is Brian.
The pictures below are of our day spent roaming the city with Richard & Jonno and our new friends Eric & Brian. Because, I know enquiring minds will want to know... the little hottie with his belly exposed is Brian.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
We're on day 3 of our San Francisco vacation. So far, we've mostly shopped and spent a ridiculous amount of money on food. We gorged on dim sum in Chinatown, had a nice homey meal at Chow, near the Castro, last night with Jonno and Richard and had dinner on Monday at Postrio, one of Wolfgang Puck's restaurants. We ate there out of ennui, because it's attached to our hotel and we were starving, but it was actually much better than i expected. And I had foie gras, of course... my favorite food that I have yet to find on a menu in Lafayette. Don had squab prepared three ways and I had suckling pig on a bed of polenta. The best part of either was the squab pate. Although, I think my favorite part of the meal was the amuse bouche of mushroom soup with truffle oil.
I imagine I'll have foie gras again tonight as part of my five courses at Restaurant Gary Danko tonight.
I imagine I'll have foie gras again tonight as part of my five courses at Restaurant Gary Danko tonight.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
So, to make up for the fact that I didn't get nearly as much rest yesterday as I should have, I spent today relaxing by making purchase at Lowe's gardening department and then planting 4 vincas, 3 pots of caladiums, a jasmine vine, 2 ornamental sweet potato vines and 6 shrimp plants.
Is there such a thing as yard addiction?
Is there such a thing as yard addiction?
If you happen to wonder how my life in Lafayette is different from my life in New Orleans... yesterday may give you a clue. A typical day off from work in New Orleans consisted of sleeping late because I was hungover, walking to Juan's Flying Burrito for lunch and taking the streetcar to the Quarter to have coffee with a friend. Whereas, here's what I did with my day off yesterday...
I mowed and edged the yard. I put fire ant poison on three ant mounds. I spent two hours cleaning out and organizing our outside storage areas... wiping, scrubbing, mopping, moving out huge amounts of scrap lumber and old Mardi Gras beads and lots of reorganizing. I brushed paint stripper on the bench in our yard and then scraped the cutesy painted flowers that the previous owner's kid had painted onto the tile surface with a putty knife and then followed that up with scrubbing with a soft scrub and then a good hosing until the bench looked all shiny and nearly new again. I mulched the camelia in the front yard that I've nursed back from oblivion and then worried about another camelia that seems to be fading. I spent at least an hour pulling Virginia creeper up by it's roots from the side fence. I LOATHE Virginia Creeper. I cut down a climbing rose and a random crepe myrtle that were growing in our front beds. I took the top out of a redbud tree in our front yard which was evidently damaged by the drought that we had been undergoing for most of the summer. I cut down 2 magnolia trees that were growing too high right at the base of our magnificinently giant oak tree in our back yard. Oh, and in the midst of that, I somehow found time to watch two episodes of Footballers Wives (I'm midway through the third season).
I'm off today too... I may actually rest a little today.
I mowed and edged the yard. I put fire ant poison on three ant mounds. I spent two hours cleaning out and organizing our outside storage areas... wiping, scrubbing, mopping, moving out huge amounts of scrap lumber and old Mardi Gras beads and lots of reorganizing. I brushed paint stripper on the bench in our yard and then scraped the cutesy painted flowers that the previous owner's kid had painted onto the tile surface with a putty knife and then followed that up with scrubbing with a soft scrub and then a good hosing until the bench looked all shiny and nearly new again. I mulched the camelia in the front yard that I've nursed back from oblivion and then worried about another camelia that seems to be fading. I spent at least an hour pulling Virginia creeper up by it's roots from the side fence. I LOATHE Virginia Creeper. I cut down a climbing rose and a random crepe myrtle that were growing in our front beds. I took the top out of a redbud tree in our front yard which was evidently damaged by the drought that we had been undergoing for most of the summer. I cut down 2 magnolia trees that were growing too high right at the base of our magnificinently giant oak tree in our back yard. Oh, and in the midst of that, I somehow found time to watch two episodes of Footballers Wives (I'm midway through the third season).
I'm off today too... I may actually rest a little today.
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