A Day of Greatness

There are days that come along that just stand out and are meant to be savored.  Today was such a day.  Up early and getting the house ready, I was excited to see Michael, a dear friend from Long Beach, WA who has been working in Sea-Tac all week and will be joining me for dinner tonight.  We are going to a restaurant called Toulouse Petit ~ Kitchen, Lounge and Universe (this is right off their menu folks!).  Michael is a great friend and arrived while I was still at the office.  All too soon I got to the apartment and settled inn for a visit.  We share many laughs and within time Jodie and Rob arrive for cocktails.  We also use this opportunity to transfer the last of the liquor from my car to Rob's (OK, so it was all Rob doing it) and they were kind enough to drop Michael and me at the restaurant to avoid having to drive.

Within minutes, our table was ready and we were seated beside these glorious tall windows that were open to allow in the summer's breeze.  We took some time to take in the atmosphere of the restaurant and could not help but enjoy the quote on the front of the menu.

Our server took our beverage orders and while I opted for a martini, Michael decided to try out a Sazerac.  With cocktails in hand it was time to ponder the appetizers of which we decided on four.  The first was Dungeness Crab over Fried Green Tomatoes with Tarragon-Chive Ravigote also called ‘Crab Maison’ at Galatoire’s, the iconic
French Quarter restaurant on Bourbon Street.  In this case, the sum was greater than the parts.  The least favorite of the four.  Next, was a home run hit by far, the Duck and Chicken Liver Terrine which was super smooth with madeira, cognac, shallots, thyme.  Totally Divine!  The other two were  Savory Crawfish ‘Beignets’ with a Hot Pepper Jelly and Spicy ‘Louis’ Sauce and finally Seared Artisan Foie Gras over Savory Pain Perdu with a Pear-Vanilla Bean 'Conserva' that personally was too sweet for the foie gras, but lucky for us had not touched it on the plate. 
They arrived and this was the time I decided to share with Michael that this was actually a belated birthday celebration as I was in the hospital back in March when he hosted 6 people for a six-course dinner to honor his 60th birthday.  While I sadly missed it, he did a wonderful job in describing it to me the next day on the phone and mind you, this dinner cannot begin to touch that one, it was fun to share such a special evening with such a great friend.

 The above are the appetizers with Michael enjoying taking pictures of the food like I do. The top dish is the Terrine, below it are the ‘Beignets’ and then the Fried Green Tomatoes with Crab. To the right is the foie gras dish. We then proceeded to salad/soup course and ordered a lovely bottle of wine.

 As you can see I decided to go for the Grilled Asparagus Wrapped with Prosciutto with an Artichoke, Fava and English Pea ‘Salad’ poached egg, arugula, basil, fennel, broken sherry vinaigrette that was alright, but not something I would likely order again.  Michael was quite excited about the True French Onion Soup Lyonnaise with rich beef stock, cave aged gruyere, onion confit, but stated that he would likely not order it again and you can see it in the second picture below closest to Michael as the rest of the dinner arrived.  Finally, the wine, it was a marvelous 2007 Malvira Nebbiolo out of the Piedmont Region of Italy.  It is also referred to as a Roero on the bottle which is a recognized wine-making area of the Province of Cuneo in the Piedmont region.  Even before tasting it, just the smell was amazing and the flavors were just beyond words.  A Great wine for a Great dinner.

We were realizing all too soon that we needed to consider sharing the main course and sides if we were going to get through this gastronomic adventure.  So we decided on Slow Braised Beef Cheeks with Bleu Cheese Risotto and Walnut Gremolata using red wine, potato risotto, wild mushrooms, lemon zest, parsley.  Seriously, we are talking fork tender here people!  Amazing.  On the side was Spring Corn and Sweet Onion Macque Choux (for no better reference think a creole succotash with green beans and ham added) which was quite good and the balance made it home to be used in a breakfast scramble.  We also tried the traditional Pommes Frites with Aioli which was underwhelming.

Yes it was a Great meal, but what would a birthday celebration be without cake.  They did not disappoint.  We ordered the Red Velvet Cake cream cheese icing, valronah chocolate ganache, walnuts and berry coulee plus Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.  Really spectacular and, of course, Fonté French Press Coffee to give us a little pick me up as the night was not over yet.  But first, here is a picture of that dessert.

Before we hop in the cab for Seattle's Great Wheel, I do want to share two wonderful pictures taken that night at the restaurant.  The first is one Michael took of moi and the second I took of him.

It was time for the second part of our Great night.  That would be going to Pier 57 and riding the new addition to Seattle's waterfront.  The Great Wheel as they are calling it.  Mind you, it is smaller than the London Eye, but in their minds it is great.  Well, it is fun and here are some pictures taken by Michael.  The pier area, the structure of the 'Great Wheel' plus a picture where he got the Space Needle in the middle of the circle, can you see it?  Finally a look a the cafe below, granted it is closed for the evening, but an interesting picture.

Now it is my turn.  I had an interesting thing happen to my camera, it decided to take some drugs or something and so my pictures of the surrounding area is a bit more 'artistic' than Michael's.

Yes, the top two are looking south toward the football stadium while the bottom two are the Space Needle.  Like at the restaurant, before I close, here is a picture Michael took of moi (note the various stickers over my shoulder telling you all you can and cannot do in the cab of the Great Wheel) and one I took of Michael with his fabulous man purse he got from Belgium.  You can see why we left the driving to taxi cabs this evening, hope you enjoyed being part of a Great day.