burgers and Bordeaux

Summer means a return to the Thursday night burger dinners at Julienne.  Hooray!  Last night was the first of a few opportunities we have planned this summer, and it was a nice evening for it.  A hot day turned into a comfortable evening sitting in shorts and a short sleeve polo-style perforated shirt.  Despite a service hiccup (a nice kid taking care of our table, but having to ask after the wine we ordered and not getting it until after the first course was not the best service), we had a good evening of it.  Conrad and I regaled Van with tales of recent viewings of condos, catching him up on our slow process of trying to find a new place to live.  We enjoyed the three courses,

headed back to his house, watched an episode of Stanley Tucci in Italy, went to bed early.  Nice evening.

Ah, photos!  Gazpacho as my starter, and that was a welcome starter indeed on a summer day. 

I opted for the salmon cake burger instead of a beef burger (we're grilling at Van's on Sunday, after all), and I liked it. 

A wee but dry, but the aioli served with the fries did nicely slathered on the salmon.

Oh, I should add that neither Van nor I opted for the Bordeaux.  Conrad did, though! 

And now on to the weekend!! 

holiday dinner at Julienne

I'll post this Friday morning, but it's Thursday night as I write this.  Conrad is upstairs reading in bed, and I will soon join him.  No cards to write - I got the last of the 105 cards this year into the mail last night.  So while I play some Christmas tunes, let me share a few photos from a very nice pre-Christmas dinner at Julienne.

And my gosh, is Christmas really only two weeks away???  Sheesh!

Anyway, as you may know, we've been enjoying some Thursday night dinners at Julienne since summer.  This was the last of the year.  The place was beautifully decorated. 

And you know what?  The food was the best it's been as well.

A nice Caesar salad to start. 

The three of us shared a bottle of Pinot Noir from up SLO way.  Rolls to nibble on during the meal, lovely and fresh. 

And then there was my bouillabaisse. 

Superb!  So beautifully done.  I made sure to pass along my compliments on that one.  Dessert followed, and although I enjoyed my apple tarte tatin muchly,

Van's Italian almond cake with a cranberry coulis was far and away the winner.

There were Christmas crackers on the tables.  And there was very good company at my own table. 

Of course!

Tonight starts a week of daily events for me if not for the others.  It will be lovely, and I'll also look forward to next Thursday and a quiet night in with a simple dinner and no drinks and maybe a Christmas rom-com.  For now, though, this was a terrific dinner at Julienne! 

Friendsgiving dinner out

Happy rainy Friday morning!  The rain should taper off in a little while, or so I hope.  Van and I are heading up to Santa Barbara after work today so that we can go to a concert there and then enjoy a day up there tomorrow before coming home to Conrad (who is in Chicago right now) on Sunday.  An inch and a half since yesterday morning!  Goodness!

The rain (and the chilly weather - yes, chilly for us, but live here for a year, and you would agree) didn't prevent us from making it to Julienne last night for another of their Thursday dinners:  Friendsgiving.  There was protection from the rain and some heaters on blast (Van and I each had to remove our sweaters).  A nice night.  We're not doing US Thanksgiving this year, so it was my one chance to have a turkey dinner,

and it was enjoyable.  Some freshly baked rolls,

a salad (that I didn't photograph), and then the turkey meal.  I won't gripe about cranberry on my plate - I don't HATE cranberry sauce, but I never eat it with my turkey.  Van opted for the swordfish, which is a great option - I've really enjoyed that one before.  Pumpkin cheesecake for my dessert,

an appropriate meal ender.  He had a glass of Lambrusco,

I had a couple of glasses of Pinot Noir,

and neither of us could finish the very generous portions.  Sated, we headed back up to his house to rescue Olive and feed her, then have a chill evening on the couch.

Burgers and Barolo

Thursday night dinners at Julienne has become a little tradition for us this summer, and I couldn't be more delighted.  We won't make it to the second one in July because we'll be up in BC, but at least we made it last night.  Burgers and Barolo was the theme (though I was the only one to have a glass of Barolo -

Conrad and Van opted for the Tannat instead).  It was a comfortably warm night (I even wore shorts, which is not something I do much!), and we did our best to tune out the large table of loud women behind Conrad (hey, they were having a nice time, so - sincerely - good for them).  The burgers

and fries

were great, too (and the salad was a nice and not-too-large starter

whilst the cobbler

- more of a crisp, really -was good but skirting the line of tart a little much, perhaps).  We talked of upcoming plans, ate our dinners,

and enjoyed this new little tradition.  We'll be back in August for Burgers and Beaujolais and hope that there will be similar events later in the year....

another Thursday dinner at Julienne

I really am delighted that Julienne has been doing some summer dinners.  Two weeks ago it was burgers and Bordeaux.  Last night was their Elegante dinner, and what a lovely evening it was.  No rush to it again.  A mild evening that cooled off as we went along.  These lovely men. 

And good food!  I liked my salad,

I liked my lemon tart

(though I think Van's peach dumpling was the dessert winner last night), and I LOVED my swordfish. 

It's not an easy fish to get right, and my gosh, did they ever!  A parmesan crust kept the fish tender, so nicely cooked, and the rest of the plate complemented it well.  Oh, kudos to them for the rolls as well

even if the currant and rosemary combo put me in mind of Christmas, not the day before the start of summer.

I'm looking forward to our next time there, in July, for another burger night.  If this is our Summer 2025 tradition, then... great!! 

burger night in San Marino

You know what was fun last week?  Burger night at Julienne, a short distance from Van's house, down in San Marino.  A Thursday night for the three of us, none of us having to cook.  We do get takeaway from Julienne sometimes (last night, in fact, for me and Van), but they aren't usually open for dinner, so a dinner there is a rare thing.  So rare I don't think I've ever done it before!

We'll head back next week for another of their special summer dinners, but last week it was burgers and Bordeaux night.  A little wine, a salad to start,

the burger

with some pretty good chips alongside,

a cobbler for dessert. 

We sat outside, the last table to be seated, and had an unhurried time of it.  Ahhhhh.  Just so nice to have an easy dinner.