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! 

a Tuesday dinner

Conrad messaged me late afternoon yesterday, before he got home from the office but after I was home from a day of meetings at an airport hotel.  A frustrating day for him, he said.  Being the good (I hope I am good) husband that I try to be, I knew that dinner had to be a nice one for him.

And I think it was.

Humble bragging or something?  Perhaps.  But sometimes the cooking is going just right.  I set to work on dessert first, using up the leftover fresh rhubarb from the weekend to make a few individual crisps from the Mark Miller recipe that I've relied on for decades. 

Then it was on to the pork tenderloin.  I know, I make that often - it's an easy cut of meat to cook, doesn't take too long, and we both enjoy it.  I made a saffron carrot puree and cooked a bit of asparagus to go along with the pork. 

Tasty!  I was pleased with it all.

Conrad sipped a martini, I enjoyed a white wine from Paso Robles,

we watched the first episode of the new season of Top Chef, and then we strolled around the neighbourhood before I tackled dishes.  I think that I gave him a nice evening to unwind.  It was, at least, a delicious enough time!

short ribs

Another in my series of exceedingly brief check-ins on a quiet week.  Van and I celebrated Valentine's Day with dinner in last night.  I cooked up beef short ribs and served them atop a saffron carrot puree with some Brussels sprouts.  A bottle of a nice wine, music, great conversation.  It was a good evening.

And now to get to LAX to pick up Conrad!

Thursday dinner

Our usual habit is to order sushi from Mama M on Thursdays, but we'd already had sushi this week (this past Monday, after our neighbour, Les, came over to have drinks).  Plus, it was a rainy evening, and even a short amble over to get sushi was not appealing.  I got home from work, dried off and changed, and got in the kitchen instead.

Pork tenderloin and green pea puree plus some carrots.  A bottle of a Côtes du Rhône.  An episode of Great British Bake Off (noooooo, not Nelly going home - we loved her!).  The makings of a very nice Thursday night indeed.

dinner and a show

I told you that there would be more to come this week, and here we are!  A report out on a nice evening.  Ready?  Let's go!

A while back I saw an ad pop up on my Instagram feed for a production of La Cage aux Folles at the Pasadena Playhouse.  Now, I should explain:  I'm not much for live theatre.  Never gotten into it.  Oh, we saw Ron earlier this year.  And I have been to the Playhouse before.  Twice.  Twice only in a dozen years, and the first time was a musical production of Sleepless in Seattle that was pretty terrible.  I did enjoy seeing Fun Home a handful of years ago at the Ahmanson, but we're still at fewer than one time a year going to see a play or musical.  It's just the way we're wired, perhaps.

Anyway, I suggested to Conrad and Van that we go to the play for a change of pace, and the response was ambivalent at best.  So I set it aside and didn't think about it again.  And then Van and I went to Bar Chelou one night last month, and that visit coincided with the opening of La Cage, and boy, was it a big hoopla.  Actual celebrities there.  A big, gay crowd.  That set me to thinking maybe we should reconsider, and the guys were amenable.  I bought us tickets.

A show at the playhouse meant a dinner opportunity for the three of us at the restaurant that shares the complex:  Bar Chelou.  Conrad had not been there before, so it was a great opportunity to bring him there.  Van booked us early seats at the bar,

and we were able to have a leisurely meal.  Cocktails to start

- a Gibson for me that I vacillated between enjoying and finding too sweet. 

And then on to an array of food that we all shared:

• Crispy potatoes - so soft inside, they were like fried gnocchi
  
  
  
• Breakfast radishes with fromage blanc - these came with some toasted bread and made a nice, light bite
  
  
  
• Carrots - a dish they have become known for, a little peanut-y, the best carrot salad I have had because it goes savoury rather than embrace the sweet
  
  
  
• Sprouting cauliflower - served with a sauce that I still want atop a nice steak
  
  
  
• Pork chop with cabbage - simple and good, but perhaps my least favourite of the night, which sounds critical but isn't meant to be
  
  
  

Conrad was still a bit hungry, and we agreed, so we ordered a bit more

• Burrata toast with ham - the pickled peppers were piquant, he says, alliteratively
  
  
  
• Duck leg with couscous - so glad we tried this, and one I want to have again
  
  
  

And, of course, we had to have dessert!  We shared the caramelized banana bar and enjoyed it a great deal.

From there it was across the courtyard to the theatre

and our seats. 

No, no photos of the performance, of course not.  Not allowed.  And that's fine!  It's good to enjoy something.  We did enjoy it, for sure.  It's funny, I've been reading the reviews of La Cage aux Folles this morning, and they are decidedly mixed.  The LA Times gave it a generally good review, including praise for Cheyenne Jackson, one of the leads.  Another online publication said that Jackson (who is 49) is too young to play a papa and too beefcake-y.  Jeff Kahoon, who played the other lead, comes in for some praise but more criticism for not nailing the roll and the singing as previous actors have.  The young couple whose engagement sets off the conflict are praised for their performances.  And the drag queen troupe gets mixed reviews.

Not our experience.  We loved Jackson and Kahoon, we thought that the young couple were the weak spot in the production, and we delighted in the drag queens.  But I will concede a point a read, that the production is more fun than emotionally relatable.  And that's fine!  Conrad asked me this morning how much tickets were ($44 each), and we agreed that we very much got a lot for that.  A show we all enjoyed, one we left the theatre feeling great about.

A Wednesday night dinner and show, not our usual midweek night.  And a long night, too!  Totally worth it.

Bar Chelou

Conrad is in Chicago, and Van and I have a handful of days together here, so we went out on a dinner date last night.  Destination?  Bar Chelou!

Van had been there at least a couple of times, but it was a first for me.  The restaurant has had good buzz in its relatively short lifespan, garnering a mention last year in the LA Times top 101 list.  And good for it!  I'm glad that there was Pasadena representation on that list, and I think - based on our experience - that the mention was merited.

We settled in the lounge

to wait for our table on arrival, but we were soon seated.  A Sazerac for Van,

something spirit forward and fragrant with thyme called the Coquette for me. 

We shared four savoury dishes and two desserts, and I would be hard-pressed to pick favourites.  The carrots were a surprise, not just because I expected a roasted preparation but also because I kept finding new flavours in them. 

The sprouted cauliflower came in a delicious sauce that I would have happily had with a steak. 

The heritage tomato pan tomate was one of the best iterations of that simple Spanish classic that I have ever enjoyed.  The lamb ribs were meaty and satisfying. 

I loved the combination of lemon and chamomile in the semi-freddo,

and the buttery crumble with the roasted peach sorbet was excellent.

Other things I liked:  very friendly service, the fact that we had a table tucked in a back corner that gave us a somewhat quieter setting for dining and talking (Conrad would love the food, but as with many restaurants, the din among the hard surfaces would make hearing conversation difficult).

Meanwhile, the Pasadena Playhouse, whose structure is the home to Bar Chelou, was having a big evening.  The red carpet opening of a production of La Cage aux Folles starring Cheyenne Jackson and including a queen I recognized from Drag Race.  Fun.  We might consider going to it before it closes.  But when Van and I left the restaurant, it was intermission, and Van spotted among the gatherees outside my erstwhile twin, Jesse Tyler Ferguson.  A rare celebrity spotting in the wild!  I hope he enjoyed the show.  Van and I certainly enjoyed our date!

13

No, not the Blur album.  Good album!  One of my faves by them, and I do like a lot of their stuff.  I'm getting off track....

Yesterday marked 13 years of marriage for us.  23 years since our first date as well - that anniversary was this past Saturday.  Hooray for us!

No going out to celebrate this year.  We'll save that for a milestone ahead, perhaps.  Or just a regular date night.  No, I wanted to cook us a nice dinner.  And I somewhat succeeded - that halibut was a little over, sorry to say.  But anyway....

Shopping at Eataly this past weekend helped.  We started with a Vesper each

and some tarallini to snack on while I put together a simple burrata platter. 

Once that was on the table (and oh, what lovely flowers from Van to celebrate our anniversary - that was so sweet of him),

I poured us each some chenin blanc.  Music in the background, no other distraction.  Sitting and enjoying food and wine and talking.  I told Conrad it would be a slow meal - finish making one course and then it was on to the next.  Our second course was a simple pasta with some truffles. 

Reminiscent of what we had in Italy, but the truffles were preserved from a jar.  Not the same as the fresh item, of course, but it was pretty decent anyway.  And a splurge.  Speaking of splurge, a 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella - an Eataly purchase.  We enjoyed that one,

but when I went to the wine fridge to retrieve it, I found that we also had a 2006 of the same style of wine but a different vintner.  That one will be saved for Christmas, and may it have survived what likely have been years of moves and doubtless variation in storage condition.  We shall.  Anyway, I cooked us a bit of halibut with some lightly roasted carrots, drizzled with some olive oil we brought back from our Italian vacation and dotted lightly with some very good aged balsamic vinegar.

That was a lot, and we decided to forego the cookies and ice cream I had for us for dessert.  Otherwise just a nice and - yes, truly - simple dinner at home with some good wine to toast each other and 13 years of marriage!

a return to cooking

I have not cooked since I got back from Ireland, so it's been, oh, almost two weeks since I was last in my kitchen.  Hmmmm... maybe two weeks on the dot, and maybe the same protein as two weeks ago.  Whatever.  I plan to reclaim my kitchen this fall after weeks of travel.  I love dining out, but I love pulling a meal together a feeding Conrad, Van, and whoever else may be at the table.  Pork tenderloin tonight with a carrot puree.  Not a bad return, all in all!

three meals with C&R

Continuing on with the long weekend in CO (and more still to come), a post about a few meals shared with very dear friends.  One of the advantages of having a concert to go to near Denver is that it's not far from Courtney and Robert.  And so it was that we had two brunches and a dinner with them.

The first brunch, in Golden, was fine.  It was food.  It was a nice setting, and we got to begin catching up with each other. 

And then we walked around the fine little downtown of Golden,

poking in stores, enjoying the sunshine,

then walking back to the hotel along Clear Creek.

The second brunch, in Denver, was better.  We met up at Root Down

and sat out on a partially shaded patio.  Mimosas and coffees for at least some of us.  Savoury scones to share,

and then a simple late breakfast of a pancake for me

and a side of chicken sausage.  We'd dined well the night before, as you'll see in a moment, and I didn't need a lot of food in me.  What we had was tasty, and the service was great.

The dinner between the two brunches was a really lovely time.  We drove into Denver to meet Courtney and Robert at Guard and Grace, a nice steakhouse in the downtown.  Cocktails to start (more than one, I confess), including this delightful pumpkin drink that I ordered,

and a good GSM with our dinner. 

Each of us had steak, a small filet for each of us. 

Friends, that restaurant can cook a steak very nicely indeed.  Also impressive was the octopus appetizer we shared - so tender! 

The carrots appetizer was also nice, not too heavy. 

We shared some desserts, too, including a goat cheese cheesecake that I enjoyed greatly

and a chocolate dessert that was impressive to look at and pretty good to eat.

Full bellies this past weekend, which is no surprise for us, I know.  I was especially taken with the dinner, saying over and over again what a great experience it was (though an unfortunately loud one for Conrad who is still struggling with adapting to his new hearing aids).  It will be great to meet up with Courtney and Robert again and enjoy more dining with them!