Dinner last night was pretty amazing. Far better then the last dinner we went to at Jujube. Eron, Rob, and I shared a table with a nice group of four - Allison, Deb, Joe, and Brent, they were actually a Meetup group (see meetup.com - "a social networking site for social networking" - Robert J. Call III). They talked among themselves mostly but were friendly and engaging.

The beers... Hmm. I did not find my new favorite beer, but I might go so far as to say that I have gained an appreciation for proper parings of beer and food - just like wine - they compliment each other. I may or may not give the Founder's Pale Ale or Red's Rye a chance if I ever see it on a menu. Eron's favorite was the Double Trouble IPA.

Crispy calamari with warm arugula salad and polenta croutons -Pale Ale

So good, so salty. Not only was the calamari seasoned with salt and pepper but we think the arugula was tossed in an olive brine dressing. The best part were the polenta croutons - slightly crunchy but soft and warm. Mmmm. I might have to try my hand at those.

Mussels steamed in citrus curry with -Red's Rye

Hmm... also delicious and served with rice so we could sop up the delicious sauce. The curry sauce was creamy and smooth with a great little kick of heat. It was definitely an interesting paring of mussels and curry but the flavors melded well and washing it down with the beer finished off pretty well.

Honey cured chicken with vanilla brown butter -Double Trouble Ale
Lackluster. I was so disappointed. the general consensus at the table was that this dish needed something else. The woman sitting beside me and I thought it needed a crunchy or crispy aspect, Eron wanted something sour. Meh... buttery, sweet and soft. Served with wilted garlic spinach.

Braised pork cheek with bok choy, almonds, and garlic frites -Porter

OMG This was by far the best dish served last night. Seriously. The entire table raved and wished for more. The meat itself was pretty salty but so tender and when coupled with the bok choy it was a dream. I can't describe this well enough to do it justice. Yum.

French Toast with bacon-maple ice cream -Breakfast Stout

What can I say... french toast with ice cream. You really can't go wrong here. Okay, so there was a hint of bacon and just a smattering of bacon bits in the ice cream but not overwhelming. I almost kind of wish there was a little more bacon in it... or maybe I just got light scoop. I think I wished that my french toast was warmer - it was nothing compared to my Mother's (which I made this past weekend). Now that would have been truly unbelievable.

I'd like to tell you that I'll be eating canned soup for the next 3 weeks but I can't. Eron is making a stuffed tenderloin tomorrow. Eron bought an entire tenderlion over the weekend and spent part of Sunday playing butcher (I wasn't there) and got 12 filet minions, 1 roast and "other meat" out of it. Not bad. Eron's dinner on Sunday looked like exactly like the picture to the left.

I might be eating nothing but green things after tomorrow. I will be going to the gym tonight and squeezing in a run tomorrow before the sun goes down. Hope ya'll are having a good week and are staying warm. Later kiddies.