Early Valentine's

Years ago, Baird and I went to a hip, popular restaurant on Valentine's Day without reservations.  The restaurant had strongly enouraged us to stop by without reservations, because they only set aside a third of their dining room for reservations on any given night.  We were young and stupid and figured, "why not?"  As soon as we opened the door to the restaurant, we knew we'd made a big mistake.  We also knew we were totally comimtted, as every other restaurant would be just as busy.  We settled into the bar to wait out the 90 minutes we were told it would take to get a table, only to have that hour-and-a-half turn into two...turn into two-and-a-half...

We were closing in on the three-hour mark when we were finally seated.  At that point I was so hungary I didn't even care what I ate.  While the conversation was good and the company was amazing, and when we finally did eat our food it was delicious, even tho it was going on 11pm, Baird and I looked at each other as we left the restaurant and said, "Never again."  We've stuck to that.  We've actually never eaten a meal out on Valentine's Day since then.  I've either cooked at home or we've eaten out very near the holiday, but never on.

This fall I scored a coupon for $40 off eating at Vermilion, and Baird and I thought that would be a lovely place to spend a pre-Valentine's meal.  This place has a hip, trendy vibe with Indian/Latin/South American fusion as its theme.  I know, it seems like an odd combination, but for the most part it works.  Our first course was blue corn crusted scallops on a kali mirch latin calabasa goat cheese puree.  The scallops were perfectly cooked, but the blue corn crust was a little stale.  And while the sauces were exotic and amazing, I thought the presentation was a little funky.  I couldn't help but see some dude with sunglasses and a funky ear ring staring back at me.

Next course:  artichoke pakoras on eggplant chili coconut sauce.  This one was quite good.  The fried artichokes actually reminded me a bit of the best bloomin' onion I've ever had.  The dipping sauce, however, was far, far better than anything I've had with a bloomin' onion!

Baird went with the chimichurri New York strip with Argentinean bife de lomo and “kadai” sweet potato.

Baird loved his steak, but when he gave me a bite, it was pretty spicy.  That's exactly why he loved it and I was happy with just one bite.  I loved my Tandoori skirtsteak with fried plantain chips, chorizo kale, and jicama citrus garnisih.

Celebrating a day early meant a quite, unhurried, on-time meal at a fun fusion restaurant, and we were back home at a very respectable 10:30.  We are such the old, married, suburbanite couple, and that's ok with me.  It's a good thing I've embraced this roll!