20 Years is worth celebrating so we made a week of it.
On Wednesday night we had an impromptu – and extremely delicious – dinner at my favourite Chilliwack restaurant, Bravo.
We shared 2 appetizers: braised calimari and gnocchi, and also shared the scallop entree which was divine.
Date Night at Bravo
On Thursday night we met our friends at Original Joes and I had fish tacos. There were tacos and there was fish – pretty basic, and not as good as I’d recalled. Our waitress was adorable and attentive though and explained that their chefs had called in sick and there were a couple of juniors running the kitchen. In that case the fish tacos were great! The company was stellar, and the movie after was excellent.
Romantic Dinner at Restaurant 62
On Friday night we booked Restaurant 62 in Abbotsford – it’s a farm to table fine dining restaurant and we had heard nothing but good things about it, so we were super-excited.
The food was amazing. I had decided before we got there that I was going to have their braised pork belly appetizer and had chosen a main course too, until the server told us about their halibut special. I cannot resist halibut, and it was cooked perfectly and tasted so buttery. There’s a real art to cooking a nice hunk of halibut. Delectible.
Jim started with a beef tourtierre accompanied by a roast beet salad and had a filet mignon for main course which he absolutely relished.
We were far too full to have dessert. Period.
Definitely couldn’t have eaten another thing…Would LOVE to, but no room…
So we ended up sharing a Paris Brest which made us both next-level full, but was like a slice of hazelnutty creamy, crunchy heaven. Now I am dreaming about it again – I must make that!
Saturday Night Bon Appetit - Tailgate Theme
We originally had drawn Italian as our October “Bon Appetit” theme, but we collectively agreed that Italian was lame. So we spun the wheel again and were collectively dismayed when we got “Tailgate”. So we tailgated on Saturday night and it was a really successful night with way too much food. Way too much GOOD food!
The groaning Tailgate table
Beef Chili, Chicken Chili, wings, smoked stuffed eggs, stuffed mushroom caps, bratwurst sausages, chicken sausages, followed by a delicious dessert called "Sex in a Pan" apparently! It was all accompanied by caesars, mimosas and boozy hot chocolate. It was a fun night with good company, followed by a (collective) food coma.
Anniversary Dinner Party
Seriously …where are you going to get a menu like this on a Sunday night in Chilliwack?
This is my menu, at my house, last night.
Tapas is our favourite way to eat – you get to try so many different, yummy things.
So I put this menu together and we gathered a couple of couples – and it was a delicious feast of all my favourite things.
And then, like the consummate food blogger that I am, I forgot to take pictures of the prep, the plating or the final meal.
Thankfully, my friend Tracey DID take pictures of each course – except she fell upon the panna cotta dessert and ate half of it before remembering to take a photo. Hence the half eaten, silky smooth, delicious dessert!
I was super-organized with this menu.
The pork belly was in the sous vide for 10 hours on Thurday night so it was all ready to braise.
On Saturday I made the panna cotta and had it set in the fridge. Then on Sunday morning I made the shrimp salad and prepped all the vegetables, dressings and toppings. I also made the watermelo/daikon and pumpkin pickle.
I plated the first course just before our guests arrived, then while the table was being cleared, plated the tomato/burrata salad.
Really the only thing I had to cook was the pork belly and bok choy, which I did outside – I charred the pork belly and wok fryed the bok choy on the side burner.
The guests (and Jim) didn’t even notice I was gone.
I’ll post recipes later this week.
Now, I am off for a walk before going to the gym. Ahem.
