last night of vacation = ViJ's for dinner

Why do I feel frantic? Packing to go home, doing laundry as I pack, so I can't finish packing. Blogging. Conrad is cool as aloe on sunburn because he doesn't come back to Chicago until Sunday. I'm jealous. I feel frantic.

What a relaxing and somehow accomplished vacation. I have so many more photos to blog, but for now, an entry on our last dinner together this trip. We made it up to ViJ's
and really did our darnedest to have a fine meal. Not too difficult a task, really.

I've long loved this restaurant. It reminds me of Frontera Grill in that the kitchen takes what is generally regarded as a low-brow cuisine and elevates it extraordinarily well. Plus, no reservations. We were the first ones in line, right at about 5;10, for the 5:30 opening, and as a result we snagged a nice table for two in a front window. After a day in which we'd had lunch with a friend, swam, shopped a bit, and walked a bit, it was a great capper. And Conrad (my talented, handsome man - I joke, he's not actually got the spoon on his nose, just caught midwave)
was the company I craved.

We consulted with the sommelier and settled on a bottle of the Le Vieux Pin 2005 Belle Pinot Noir. In the end, it was fine - it paired especially well with the shrimp appetizer and the pork - but it wasn't a wine we'd want to drink without food. Good, but maybe not one we'll shop for soon. On to the food!

Dungeness crab with coconut, cilantro and candied beets. An amuse bouche that we paid for! But tasty, certainly.

BC spot prawns in coconut masala on grilled kale. You know how you have a dish and everything is great but one component really stands out much to your delight? Grilled kale. Brilliant! Plus, this went very nicely with the wine, something we shared with the sommelier.

Paneer, eggplant, and green beans in tamarind curry. Nice contrast to the sweeter prawns.

Eggplant and papaya curry with black chickpeas and roasted almonds. Great to have the crunch of the almonds for added texture and meatiness. The roasted vegetables on the left side were curious - I'm not sure how they related to the curry, though they were fine in and of themselves.



A dish of grilled pork tenderloin and back ribs in fennel seed, ginger, and coconut curry with roasted cashews. It had a wonderful sauce that carried the rich and satisfying aftertaste of butter. It, too, went well with the wine, and we ate every last scrap. Yes, we ate carbs tonight. I'm on holiday - cut me some slack!

No dessert for us (though we have chocolate here at home to nibble on). We each had another glass of wine to finish, the Bodegas Benegas Malbec for Conrad and the Nine North Rock and Vine Cabernet Sauvignon for me. No, shockingly, not BC wines (we've killed ten bottle of BC wines in our few days here, and I have 2L of BC wine to pack and bring home!), but look, I'm happy, so that's fine, right?