Girl and the Goat with Amy, Andrew, and Ed

I've blogged the Rose Mary dinner, now for the other Top Chef meal.  Girl and the Goat, now a Chicago establishment, the flagship for Stephanie Izard since she became the first woman (and first Chicago chef) to win the show back in season 4.  I hadn't been in years although I had been to the LA outpost with Conrad and Van and had also been to Little Goat a couple of times when that was still open.  It would prove to be a welcome return.

I am a fan of Chef Izard.  During her season, she showed time and again that she was creative, technically skilled, managed her time well, and wasn't into drama.  Immensely likable on television, small wonder there was such buzz for Girl and the Goat when it opened - the fans wanted it.  And she delivered.  The first time we went there many years back, Conrad and I were joined by vegetarian friends.  For a restaurant that has goat as part of its name and identity, Girl and the Goat delivered on vegetables.  We had a wonderful meal.  Since the restaurant wasn't too far a walk from work, I went a few times after that for early bites with friends.  I don't think, however, that I had been back since we moved to SoCal.

Sunday dinner at conference was a nice little group affair, with Amy, Andrew, and Ed joining me and Conrad.  Three friends I absolutely treasure, and I know they all like good food, so I was excited about our meal.  The five of us rode the green line several stops, then walked on down to the restaurant.  We had a nice table tucked just inside the door, which gave us a view of the street or the busy restaurant interior.  We ordered cocktails - the Sun Kid for me

- and then food.  Ready? Here we go:

Green garlic brioche. 

Who doesn't love starting with some bread?  This was tasty!

Chickpea fritters. 

Oh, I loved these.  These were a surprise - no one was wowed about them on seeing them on the menu, but my gosh were they tender and good.

Goat empanadas. 

And I loved these as well.  A cocktail, two rounds of these, and a green vegetable, and we would have been happy with just that.

Roasted asparagus. 

Quite fine.

Pan-roasted halibut. 

Cooked nicely, and it was good, but it was also just halibut.  Happily, I rather like halibut.

Roasted pig face. 

Yum!  So good.  I love that they are getting that meat and using it.

I didn't get photos of the other four savoury dishes, but we had kohlrabi salad, grilled kalbi short ribs, wood fired chicken, and crispy pork belly.  The pork belly was good - I often find that pork belly is crispy outside and then a ton of fat, and this wasn't nearly so fatty.  The ribs were my least favourite course.  Not bad, just kind of chewy and alright.

For dessert, we got all of them.  All four. 

I wish that restaurants would post their dessert menus online more consistently.  I can't remember what all four were, but there was one that I think was an homage to ball parks with caramel and corn involved,  It was also the best of the four.  I liked the desserts, but they all struck me as more or less some sort of cake base with an ice cream, and some greater variety would have been terrific.  But I quibble, and we did finish off all of those desserts, after all. 

All in all, a terrific meal.  A couple of items that didn't shine as brightly, but nothing at all that I didn't like, and lots more that I would have been happy to try.  Aside from our friends being such good company, a group meant we could try and share a lot more from the menu than just two of us would.  We had such a nice night, then capped it off with drinks back at the hotel with some others.  And oh yes, I'd be very happy to go back to Girl and the Goat again some day. 

third weekend in June

Weekend wrap-up time, my friends.  You've already had the Friday holiday report.  Now for the weekend proper.  Here we go!

Where did we start Saturday?  I mean, after the walk, that is (and a shorter walk than usual - it was on Saturday morning that we really noticed the smell of smoke from the warehouse fire in Los Angeles).  Amara Cafe, of course!  I wasn't very hungry thanks to the lamb dinner the night before, so I stuck with an empanada

and a decaf latte and that was entirely enough.

But gosh, we got a lot done on Saturday:  the walk, groceries, four loads of laundry, two open houses (we are kind of sort of not really looking at condos), more travel planning, running the dishwasher, a stop for ice cream at Afters,

dinner and some television, a nap.  It's nice to feel accomplished, and we did.

Yesterday was lower key.  Not because we were tired or anything, no.  The air quality was still not great, and we wanted a bit of a lazy morning, so we stayed in and had coffee and ate lightly.  I did some sorting of things in my drawers and Conrad did some paperwork at his computer.  I also made some dinners for him so that when I'm at Van's tonight, he won't go hungry!  All in all, low key.  Shall I confess that I was listening to Christmas music to take an afternoon nap?  Hardly a surprise to anyone who knows me, I think.

We did, however, venture out yesterday evening.  Van came by, and the three of us went over to Union for an early dinner reservation. 

I can't recall the last time we ate there.  I have enjoyed it in the past, but I was also a little startled to see that their menu hasn't changed much.  I know, I know:  the Maestro menu hasn't changed substantively in years, and we still go and enjoy that.  I will say that the carrots were nice

and that the olive oil cake was good (and quite a portion!)

and that the bread was crusty. 

The meatballs were fine if a little solid and might have included a little more sauce. 

The spaghetti was also fine, but I remember it being plated more tidily and just having a little something better about it that I can't quite put my finger on.  The restaurant has expanded as well, opening up a back dining area that a friend had told us she rather didn't like.  I agree.  The front has a cool Italian bistro feel, the back is like being in a side room at a brewpub restaurant.  A disconnect between the spaces.  I did like that it was a little quieter and more spacious, though.

After that we wandered to the movies.  27 fricking minutes of commercials and previews later, the show started.  Stop! That! Train!  It was light and amusing.  A fun diversion.  Nice to see various drag queens and other familiar faces.

We got home, and that was that.  Van headed back to Olive, Conrad and I headed to bed.  A three-day weekend had finished, and it wasn't half bad, I have to say! 

three meals in the desert

Two dinners and a lunch for us to talk about.  Here we go.

Wally's Desert Turtle.  Our favourite place to get to.  Yes, there is better, more adventuresome food in the desert.  And, honestly, service was kind of lacking this time.  But we love it there.  My streak continued:  so far as I can recall, I have had liver and onions every time I have eaten there, and this time was no different. 

Yum!  Also, chocolate souffle shared for dessert. 

What a nice evening it was, service glitches aside.  So happy to be back.  Conrad was able to chat with the owner about a possible big birthday dinner for himself later in the year, too.  You know that made him happy.

King's Highway.  Brunch and an opportunity to catch up with Kent for the first time since he and Geoff moved to France, split up, moved back to the desert.  Nice to see him, and a nice choice for brunch.  A diner, but a few cuts above.  I had a mocktail to sip,

then a substantial breakfast burrito because I was in a breakfast-y mood. 

I stole fries from Van, yum.  I'd be happy to go back.

Bar Issi.  The other restaurant at our hotel.  Van and I had been there the year before, but it was nice to get Conrad there with us.  We had a table outside, and the temperature, while warm, was entirely pleasant.  We had cocktails and then dug into a few courses.  A tomato salad that was just dressed, thick slices of heirloom tomatoes - simple and good.  Puccia bread with butters, piping hot and delicious. 

Zucchini blossoms, a nice little treat. 

Two pizzas, one pepperoni and one with chicken and asparagus. 

We ate our fill and took the rest back to the room.  A very nice night, but Van and I did think that some of the little service issues we experienced last year hadn't yet been fully fixed.  Ah well.

All in all, good dining in the desert.  And there are yet new places to try next visit as well as old faves to return to.

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.

55

I've put a little distance between my actual birthday and posting an entry about it, and then my irregular habits at blogging took over.  But let's dial back to the Vancouver trip last month before the next Vancouver trip (tomorrow!) takes place.  How about it?

So, yeah, 55.  I'm ambivalent about it.  I still have this notion of myself as young and not fully baked yet, that I'm not a grown up.  I'll be with other people and have this feeling like I am the most immature one there.  So the idea that I am half way between 50 and 60 is just such an odd notion to me.  And it's not really a milestone either:  it ends in 5, and until I hit 75, no birthday that ends in 5 really matters that much.  So it was a just a birthday, it included a drive from Vernon to Vancouver, and it included a very nice dinner with Conrad, Van, Marie, Courtney, and Robert.  So let's not focus on the 5 at the end of the date but on the meal itself.

Zarak by Afghan Kitchen was my choice for birthday meal. 

I'd enjoyed my first time there, and I thought the others would as well.  It did not disappoint.

Cocktails first.  Oh, the cocktails.  I think I liked Van's Peanut Butter Manhattan most of all, but I was absolutely happy with my Band-e-Amir, a gin-based drink that went down easily. 

Of course, Marie's cocktail, the Dr. Damji's Negroni, was the showstopper. 

A smoked drink presented in a cloche, I am sure everyone around us watched the presentation.

The menu at Zarak has an option that is simply "Let us cook for you".  It wasn't a difficult sell.  We happily went along with it.  And we dined very very well, both in quantity and quality.  I don't think I captured everything we had on camera, but here's what I did get:

Chilled eggplant dip with naan.  A nice, light starter.

Buttermilk fried chicken.  I would order multiple of these if I could.  Yum!

Mantu - beef dumplings that were good and hearty.

Spiced cabbage dumplings.  The only spicy/hot thing we had, and too much for Van.  I loved them - I am such a fan of cabbage - and I delighted in how they set me aglow with a sheen of perspiration.

Slow cooked lamb shoulder.  I think everyone was slowing down by this point (there were at least two dishes I didn't photograph), and maybe not everyone loves lamb like I do.  So tender!

The were three desserts for us, one with a nice message and candle. 

As much as I love Zarak, I wish they could tweak their desserts a little.  The vegan chocolate mousse is alright but feels out of place,

and the tres leches cake also seems like it shouldn't be on an Afghani menu (or maybe not by that name).  I do like the gelato dish, though.

We enjoyed a couple of bottles of a BC red along with dinner, and I can't fully recall, but maybe even some dessert wine for one or two of us.  All in all, a wonderful meal that left us very very full.  The walk the next morning was badly needed!